‘It’s a great honour’: Ticats’ Kenny Lawler not frustrated by double coverage, stunted production in 2026

Photo: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography / 3DownNation. All rights reserved.

Take a look at the CFL receiving yardage leaderboard, and you’d be forgiven for assuming an egregious clerical error has occurred.

Kenny Lawler, widely regarded as the league’s most dominant outside threat, doesn’t sit atop the league. In fact, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats star is nowhere to be found in the top 10. You’ll have to scroll all the way down to the 24th rung to locate the two-time All-CFL target.

No mistake has been made. Defences have worked hard at erasing Lawler this year and have been surprisingly successful, but he’s not complaining about it.

“I’m still okay with it. I have no choice to,” Lawler told the Hamilton media this week. “It’s a great honour, I ain’t gonna lie to you, going into every game getting double coverage. If you think that much of me, and this is what the game plan is going to be, I think it makes me a better player if I’m able to defeat that.”

The 32-year-old hasn’t been recording those victories as frequently as fans have become accustomed to. Through 10 games, he has recorded just 33 receptions for 452 yards and five touchdowns. Though he has been targeted a team-high 66 times, he sits third in yardage, behind Kiondre Smith and Keric Wheatfall.

In his view, that’s the result of defensive coordinators rolling coverage in his direction. However, Lawler isn’t looking for his quarterback to chuck more passes up into double coverage.

“Hopefully he’s not because we’ve got someone else open,” he chuckled. “If that ball does go in the air while I’m getting double coverage, being able to come down with it is always a good feeling. At the end of the day, I don’t really see any other receiver being held to that much regard, so I’ve just got to roll with it.”

Of course, it isn’t just defensive schemes that have stood in the way of his usual production. The Ticats have started four different QBs this season, a chaotic turnstile behind centre that began when Bo Levi Mitchell went down with a potentially season-ending ankle injury. It’s no coincidence that Lawler’s three most productive games came before his franchise pivot got hurt; he hasn’t surpassed the 50-yard mark in a game since.

Mitchell and Lawler formed a dynamic duo during their first season together in 2025, as the Pomona, Cal., native caught 86 passes for 1,443 yards and 14 touchdowns — good enough for third in the CFL in receptions, second in yardage, and first in touchdowns. Much of that success came against Saturday’s opponent, the Toronto Argonauts, including a 207-yard, three-touchdown outing in Week 5.

“To be honest, it was just one of those games that everything that we talked about in the week of practice just aligned. It was an awesome game plan. The quarterback was seeing everything that we talked about, and it’s just about letting the ball go,” he recalled.

“When Bo let that ball go last year, it seemed like it was always a big play when we played Toronto. I go out there and make plays, unbelievable plays, but all the credit is to the coaches, my O-line, the running back, quarterback. I think I’ve just got to go out there and do the easiest part of it.”

Across three meetings with Toronto last year, Lawler caught 18 passes for 393 yards and seven touchdowns. The first meeting of the QEW rivalry this year wasn’t nearly as fruitful, as he caught just two balls for 34 yards and a touchdown. However, Hamilton still eked out a victory led by Canadian pivot Tre Ford, who is also set to start this week.

“My biggest thing is winning. How do we win? What does winning look like? Winning looks different every game,” Lawler said. “If I’m able to open my guys up to make plays, that’s what I’m going to do if it allows us to win. I’m not frustrated at all.”

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-6) will visit the Toronto Argonauts (4-5) at BMO Field on Saturday, August 22, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Tiger-Cats are coming off a 26-19 upset win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, while the Argonauts got blown out by the Edmonton Elks by a score of 42-12.

The weather forecast in Toronto calls for a high of 23 degrees and a 40 percent chance of rain. The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on the Ticats Audio Network in Hamilton or TSN 1050 in Toronto.

J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.