It's pretty clear — and it's been transparent since mini-camp and before — that the Hamilton Tiger-Cats really would like to start two Canadian receivers as often as they can. Or at least need to.

Seventh CFL-year Shamawd Chambers, who arrived in town via a September 2017 trade with the Eskimos, will be one.

And there's probably enough depth in camp, even minus holdout No 1 draft choice Mark Chapman, to give head coach and offensive co-ordinator June Jones the leverage to start a second "national" without too much of a talent drop-off.

Many times, the Ticats will want to go with a fourth international receiver (read: the still injury-recovering Terrence Toliver or one of the fleet newcomers). But a brace of Canucks who can run and catch would impact the roster ratio possibilities in a big way — allowing the Ticats to use an extra American on defence, in the backfield (Hello, Nikita Whitlock), or even on the offensive line.

Hamilton's CFL draft (three receivers) indicated the breadth of that aspiration, and even without Chapman there are six Canadians working out at receiver with a seventh (draft choice Marcus Davis), here but not suited up because of a knee injury that will send him back to UBC for the season.

You'd think at least four will make the team.

"I think we have some very good Canadian receivers," Jones said Wednesday.

"We've got a bunch of variables on the ratio: we can do a bunch of things.

"So I've got to get all those guys ready and make sure we get a good look at all of them. We've got one more (Chapman) who may be added to that group, too. Hopefully he'll be in camp, and won't get really far behind."

Besides Chambers, third-year-Ticat Mike Jones, who's started before and had 28 receptions last year, sophomore Sean Thomas Erlington — the running back/slotback who's played exclusively at receiver this week — and Laval grad Felix Faubert-Lussier are the returnees, while the rookies are Justin Buren (Simon Fraser), Jacob Scarfone (Guelph) and Davis.

But it's Faubert-Lussier, used sparingly on offence as rookie last year, who seems to have the leg-up on the second Canadian starter job, should the Ticats go that way.

He had a good mini-camp, which raised his stock, as did Scarfone, who was in the second starter's role Sunday (Faubert-Lussier wasn't practising on Day 1) whenever the Cats used two Canadian receivers.

"It is a great opportunity for me," Faubert-Lussier said Wednesday.

"I'm going one day at a time, just trying to be the best I can be, trying to earn the trust of my quarterback, of the coaches, of my other teammates.

"It's just a constant work in progress. If they give me the opportunity to be a starter, that's my goal but I have a lot of things to do before that officially happens."

No matter how much they concentrate on the tree that is their own day-to-day performance, players are never blind to the forest.

Every Canadian receiver here knows the Ticats are trying to expand their ratio options and that if the homebrews show well enough, there might be more two-national-receiver sets than you might expect from a team that last year had three 1000-yard receivers for the first time ever: All of them back in uniform, and all of them Americans.

"It's good to have this many Canadian receivers here," Faubert-Lussier says. "The competition brings out the best in us."

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Notes: The CFL board of governors approved a slew of rule changes proposed in March by its rules committee, most notably that illegal contact on a receiver can no longer be challenged by coaches for video review; that "potential touchdowns" ruled short of the goal line but appearing to have crossed it, will be automatically reviewed and that "blindsiding" and low blocks outside the tackle box are illegal.

smilton@thespec.com

905-526-3268 | @miltonatthespec