B.C. Lions’ receiver Keon Hatcher to make season debut, Dominique Rhymes returns vs. Argonauts

The B.C. Lions will be getting a boost to their receiving corps when they take on the Toronto Argonauts on Friday, as Keon Hatcher is scheduled to make his 2023 season debut.

The six-foot-one, 212-pound target had missed the first three games of the year with plantar fasciitis. He is coming off a break-out 2022 campaign in which he caught 70 passes for 1,043 yards and five touchdowns.

Also rejoining the Lions is fellow wide-out Dominique Rhymes, who sat out the team’s Week 3 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with a foot injury. Prior to the injury, the six-foot-four, 215-pounder was the Lions’ leading receiver through two games with 12 receptions for 172 yards and three touchdowns.

Rhymes was a CFL all-star for the first time in his career last season, collecting 85 receptions for 1,401 yards and 11 touchdowns.

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Despite the additions, B.C. will once again be without their full trio of thousand-yard receivers from a year ago, as Lucky Whitehead (hamstring) has been added to the one-game injured list. The 31-year-old missed the Lions’ Week 2 game with the same ailment but played in last week’s upset victory over Winnipeg, catching five passes for 72 yards.

In other roster news, rookie receiver Ayden Eberhardt has returned to the practice roster after filling in for the injured Rhymes, as has American linebacker Brooks Parker. Global linebacker Maxime Rouyer will draw into the lineup to play special teams.

Left tackle Jarell Broxton, who has yet to allow a sack through three starts, is listed as a game-time decision. If he is unable to go, Canadian backup David Knevel would likely take his place among the starters.

The Lions (3-0) will visit the Argos (2-0) on Monday, July 3 with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The winner will be the CFL’s last remaining undefeated team, with the Lions currently listed as [metabet_core_dynamic_odds market=”spread-away” query=”531019″ site_id=”3downnation”] point favourites.

Photo courtesy: B.C. Lions