Give James Tuck a job and he’s going to do it. And then he’ll do the next one…and the one after that.
Which is why perceptive Ticats’ observers are noticing how important he has become to the team in his first season in black and gold.
As Scott Milanovich continues his commitment to offensive packages involving tight ends—in various forms and combinations—Tuck can line up as a blocking end, occasionally as a split end, as a running back curling short pass patterns out of the backfield, and at his primary position of fullback, where he blocks massive lineman and can also take a handoff.
And he is a critical component on every special team, roles which he not only accepts but embraces and studies them.
“Special teams is the ultimate team game but it’s also the ultimate one-on-one battle,” says Tuck, the 34-year-old native of Aurora, Ontario. “Every guy on the field has their matchup and the more matchups we win on that specific play the better chance we have of a big play or success.
“It’s one of those things where you’re playing for yourself, you’re playing for your team, you’re playing for the guy next to you. If everyone does their job, good things can happen.”
The Ticats signed Tuck almost immediately when free agency opened in February as they remodelled their team, looking for more toughness and versatility. He’d just won a Grey Cup in Montreal and Milanovich was speculating that Als’ head coach Jason Maas wouldn’t have wanted to lose a player like that. But Hamilton is closer to where Tuck grew up and he’s always admired the skill and ferocity of the Ticat teams he’d played against as a member of the Als (twice), Elks, Bombers, Roughriders and Argos.
“Blue collar, loves the game, loves the mental game, tough, doesn’t ever make the same mistake twice,” Milanovich said today, ticking off Tuck’s assets. “Helps coaches sleep at night.”
The Ticats’ special teams are loaded with a number of players new to each other, so they—like many units in the CFL—are a work in progress. In Sunday’s home opener, they did an acceptable job of containing Saskatchewan Riders’ veteran returner Mario Alford, the 2022 CFL Special Teams Player of the Year, who’s had seven return touchdowns over the past two seasons. They’ll have to limit him again in the Riders’ home opener Sunday night and Milanovich has praised Tuck and Ante Litre for how they call the plays on the coverage team.
“We’re a young group but we have a lot of key veterans in certain spots that are helping bring the level of play up,” Tuck says. “We’re coming along nicely We have a lot of good returners in this league, so our antenna is always up and we have to bring our A game in Saskatchewan.”
Tuck never played high school football because his school did not field a team. He played some Ontario Varsity League, and at York University as a linebacker and on the defensive line and the Alouettes drafted him in 2014 to play on that side of the ball. After his first season, they also added fullback to his portfolio while he still worked at defensive end and linebacker.
But now he prefers offence: “Coming through my time on the defensive side of the ball, and going against what I used to do. I love the physicality of it, I love blocking D-linemen and I love running routes.”
The Ticats haven’t broken a return yet, although Lawrence Woods III had 178 yards in combined kickoff and punt returns last Sunday and feels he’s close to taking one to the house. He’ll need more consistent paths opened by the layers of blockers in front of him, though.
For more on Tuck, and on the Ticats’ special teams, catch Ticats Today on the Ticats Audio Network
