HAMILTON — Greg Bell has left some pretty big shoes to fill with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The 27-year-old American amassed 1,464 yards from scrimmage last season. He was fifth in league rushing with 1,038 yards (five touchdowns) while adding 62 catches for 426 yards (one touchdown) in helping Hamilton (11-7) finish atop the East Division.

But if the six-foot, 200-pound Bell records a second straight 1,000-yard campaign, it will be in Ottawa. Bell joined the Redblacks in February as a free agent.

Hamilton currently has five running backs in training camp, including Americans Larry Roundtree III, Avery Morrow and Shane Watts. The others are veteran Canadians Johnny Augustine and Ante Milanovic-Litre.

Roundtree, 27, is a 2021 draft pick of the Los Angeles Chargers who spent two seasons with the team. The five-foot-11, 210-pound Roundtree joined the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions in 2024 and was a member of their championship squad.

Morrow, 24, spent three seasons at Colorado State (2022-24), rushing for 2,102 yards and 15 TDs in 34 career games. The six-foot, 210-pound Morrow began his collegiate career at Nevada (2020-21).

The five-foot-nine, 195-pound Watt rushed for 1,979 yards and 18 TDs on 334 carries over 44 games at Fort Hays State, adding 61 catches for 606 yards. As a senior, Watt led the MIAA in rushing with 1,303 yards and became the first player in school history to post consecutive 200-yard games.

Augustine and Milanovic-Litre are both longtime CFL players, entering their seventh and ninth seasons, respectively.

The five-foot-eight, 202-pound Augustine, of Welland, Ont, ran for 242 yards on 61 carries last season, his first with Hamilton. The five-foot-11, 233-pound Milanovic-Litre, of Vancouver, rushed 21 times for 75 yards (3.6-yard average) with two touchdowns in 2025.

Augustine enters the season having rushed for 1,512 career yards on 283 carries (5.3-yard average) and three TDs while adding 29 catches for 303 yards and a touchdown. Milanovic-Litre has run for 890 yards (3.6-yard average) and 13 TDs over his CFL tenure and recorded 60 receptions for 489 yards and a touchdown.

But Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich said running and receiving abilities won’t be the determining factor regarding who’ll start in the backfield June 4 when the Ticats open the ’26 season hosting the Montreal Alouettes.

“The thing that’s consistent is they’ve got to be able to protect the quarterback,” Milanovich told reporters this week at Ron Joyce Stadium. “I told them (running backs) if you can’t protect I don’t care how good you run it, you’re not going to be able to play for us.

“The defensive co-ordinators in our league the last 10 to 15 years have got so good with their pressures. The guys have to be so smart otherwise you get a bunch of quarterback injuries.”

Milanovich has been blessed with many top-notch running backs over his CFL coaching tenure.

During his time as Montreal’s offensive co-ordinator (2008-11), the Alouettes won Grey Cups (2009-10) with rugged Avon Cobourne and elusive Brandon Whitaker in the backfield. Then when Milanovich became the Toronto Argonauts head coach in 2012, he had Americans Cory Boyd — twice a 1,000-yard rusher — and Chad Kackert on the roster.

Toronto released Boyd during the ’12 season and installed Kackert as the starter. The Argos went on to win the Grey Cup with Kackert earning game MVP honours.

Boyd wasn’t let go because of production: He was leading the CFL in rushing with 447 yards at the time. But the club felt Boyd was unable to consistently protect veteran quarterback Ricky Ray.

Whitaker and Milanovich reunited in Toronto in 2015, spending two seasons together before Milanovich joined the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars’ coach staff after the ’16 campaign. Whitaker was part of the Argos ’17 championship squad but didn’t re-sign with the club and never played again.

However, with no incumbent running back in place, Milanovich said it might take until after Hamilton’s final pre-season game (May 29 versus Toronto in Guelph, Ont.) to determine who will be the starter. Trouble is, the Ticats will open the regular season less than a week later.

“A lot of the guys that we know are starters are probably not going to play in that game,” Milanovich said. “The guys that are battling for starting spots and battling to make the team, those guys are going to have to show up and then turn around and play Montreal six days later.

“That’s an unfortunate part of the schedule for us this year but everybody has to deal with it sometimes.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2026.