Johnny Manziel’s new teammates whose names you may remember

Johnny Manziel is back on the football field with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL. Here are some of his new teammates whose names you may remember…

Former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft Johnny Manziel is now practicing with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL.

It was probably not Plan A on Manziel’s agenda, but after his performance in the Spring League, he was at least good enough to get a call from the most prominent professional football league outside of the NFL.

It’s fantastic for football fans that Manziel didn’t big-time the CFL, not that he was in a position to do so anyway.

Manziel needed to get some on-field reps against high-level competition, and his participation in the Spring League and now the CFL is going to go a long way towards impressing NFL scouts.

While watching this video of Manziel practicing with the Tiger-Cats — looking fresh as ever — I couldn’t help but notice some familiar names on the back of jerseys. That piqued my curiosity, so I looked up the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ roster and had a great time perusing through some names we’ve evaluated for the NFL Draft on this website, and other players who have played in the NFL before.

I’m sure this would be a fun exercise to do for all the CFL teams, but I thought I would list some notable new teammates of Manziel’s in Canada that might take you on a trip down memory lane…

Vernon Adams Jr., Quarterback

Once the beloved son of #DraftTwitter…

…Vernon Adams is now fighting for a starting/backup position with the Tiger-Cats along with Manziel. I have had my share of takes on the quarterback position that deserves scrutiny as well.

Remember Tim Tebow? He was my guy.

Adams played much of his college career at Eastern Washington before transferring to Oregon as a senior, where he played quite well. He completed almost 65 percent of his passes with 26 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

Jeremiah Masoli, Quarterback

Masoli is another blast from the past, the incumbent starting quarterback of the Tiger-Cats and another former Oregon Ducks quarterback.

Masoli once led the Ducks to the Rose Bowl against Ohio State.

The dual-threat quarterback transferred for his final season of college ball to play at Ole Miss and has put up shockingly similar numbers in the CFL as he did in college. He’s been with the Tiger-Cats for five seasons already.

Terrence Toliver, Wide Receiver

Toliver was a high-upside wide receiver out of LSU who signed initially with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent.

He bounced around the NFL with a couple of stints in Chicago, but couldn’t stay healthy enough to stay on their roster.

He signed with the Tiger-Cats in 2015 and was instantly very productive. He caught 48 passes for 676 yards and six touchdowns in his rookie season in the CFL and followed that up with 65 catches for 1,036 yards and nine touchdowns in 2016.

He tore his ACL and MCL in the first game of the 2017 season, so he’s on the comeback trail.

Jalen Saunders, Wide Receiver

The former Fresno State transfer came to play at Oklahoma and was productive enough to get picked in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

The New York Jets didn’t stick with him long at all, releasing him three games into his rookie season.

Five other NFL teams tried to give Saunders a shot — including the New England Patriots — before he ultimately signed with the Tiger-Cats in 2017 after participating in the 2017 Spring League.

Saunders was stellar in his rookie season with the Tiger-Cats, ranking fifth in the league with 1,170 yards receiving.

Storm Johnson, Running Back

Johnson was a seventh round draft pick in 2014 of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and prior to coming to Canada, had bounced all around the state of Florida.

He played collegiately at Miami before transferring to UCF, and then was drafted by the Jaguars. After being released by Jacksonville, he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his most recent NFL team was the Miami Dolphins.

He signed with Hamilton in 2017.

Alex Green, Running Back

Green was a third-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers, where he played for two seasons. After getting let go by the Packers, Green played a season for the New York Jets.

In tandem with C.J. Gable, Green rushed for 447 yards and five touchdowns last season, averaging close to six yards per carry.

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Bobby Richardson, Defensive Line

Richardson was a very good player for the Indiana Hoosiers in college, but because of a lack of size for his position, he went undrafted.

He actually ended up making the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent and making an impact.

He flamed out after that one season and had stints with the Redskins, Chiefs, Broncos, and Giants. He signed with the Tiger-Cats in 2018.

Randall Evans, Defensive Back

Randall Evans was a sixth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2015 NFL Draft.

He didn’t make it through two seasons with the Eagles before he was picked up by the Chargers and signed to their practice squad for a year. He competed with the Chargers in 2017 before ultimately being let go.

He signed with the Tiger-Cats in 2018.

June Jones, Head Coach

June Jones is a former player (collegiately at Oregon and Hawaii, professionally with the Falcons and Lions) and prominent head coach, specifically at the collegiate level.

Jones coached at Hawaii from 1999-2007 and then at SMU from 2008-2014.

The Tiger-Cats are his first major coaching gig since his time at Southern Methodist.