The Argos announced they had made three new signings to their roster on January 4th, 2023. The defending CFL Grey Cup champions added three American defensive backs in J.T. Hassell, Chris Moore and Qwan’tez Stiggers.
While these signings don’t look like they would have a big impact to the naked eye, Toronto has built a reputation in recent years of making very successful under-the-radar acquisitions. Some other major contributors which they picked up through offseason free agency are Shawn Oakman, Jamal Peters, and Robert Priester.
DB J.T. Hassell
The 27-year old Hassell had a stint with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2022, playing 4 games after being signed by the club in September. With limited playing time Hassell was able to tally two special teams tackles.
Prior to his time in Winnipeg, Hassell was signed by the Cleveland Browns and played four games in the NFL. He had a total of seven tackles with the Browns before moving to the New England New England Patriots and then the New York Jets in 2020.
Hassell is a Florida native who started his college ball career at South Dakota State. Starting all 14 games at linebacker, he was able to record 41 tackles, one sack, and one interception in his freshman year. His sophomore season saw him transfer to Florida Tech, where he would go on to compile 203 tackles, 6.5 sacks, one interception and three forced fumbles over 23 games.
He was named conference Defensive Player of the Year and was a Division II All-American.
DB Chris Moore
Chris Moore most recently was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent out of Georgia State. The 24-year old 6’0, 210lb defensive back played a total of 22 games over two seasons at Georgia State University between 2020-2021. He was able to tally a total of 104 tackles, one sack, one interception and one forced fumble.
Before playing for GSU, Moore had three seasons at the University of Virginia, where he played 23 games for 97 tackles, and one interception for the Cavaliers.
DB Qwan’tez Stiggers
The young Stiggers, comes to the Argos at the age of 20, after playing in the Fan Control Football league. He was the youngest player in the league and starred as the league’s leader in interceptions last year, with 5. The 6’0, 197 lb Stiggers was also a finalist in the league for the defensive player of the year award.
It isn’t too long now until the Argos Grey Cup defending campaign begins. If you’re thinking of betting on the Argos be sure to read our picks for the best CFL betting sites in Ontario for a list of the top online sportsbooks in the region.
