The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have signed offensive lineman Andrew Pickett. Pickett is a 26-year-old, 6’3″, a 323-pound offensive lineman from Kitchener, Ontario. Pickett comes to the Tiger-Cats after being released by the Redblacks after Week 1 of the pre-season this year. He was originally drafted in the CFL draft in 2018 after playing collegiately at the University of Guelph. At Guelph, Pickett was an OUA all-star 3 times, and in 2017 he was named a 2017 USPORTS All-Canadian. Pickett’s career in the CFL has been defined by injuries and the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020. Pickett was able to play 13 games of the 2021 season for the Redblacks. In college and with the Redblacks, Pickett played primarily centre and guard.

This signing indicates that the Tiger-Cats are looking for solutions on their offensive line. After losing several linemen from the 2021 season, the Tiger-Cats find themselves in need of completely rebuilding their offensive line. Last week the Tiger-Cats signed American offensive tackle Aron Johnson to the practice squad. So it appears the Tiger-Cats are attempting to find lineman to restructure their offensive line. The offensive line tends to be a difficult unit to rebuild due to the chemistry that must exist between linemen and their understanding of the offensive scheme. Last Saturday, vs. the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the lack of chemistry on the offensive line was evident. The Tiger-Cats quarterbacks were sacked 8 times and pressured many more times while rushing for 26 yards on 11 rushing attempts. We will see over the next few weeks if signings like Johnson and Pickett will become useful to stabilize the offensive line unit for 2022.

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