The Ottawa Redblacks have signed Global defensive lineman Yoann Miangué for the 2026 season.
The six-foot-five, 310-pound defensive tackle was an RSEQ all-star and a first-team U Sports All-Canadian in 2025 at Université Laval, registering 12.5 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks. In 22 games over three seasons with the Rouge et Or, he amassed 26.5 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and 7.5 quarterback sacks.
The native of Toulouse competed for the French national taekwondo team growing up, winning a Junior Olympic gold medal in 2014 and a French national title in 2017. He began playing football in 2019 with the La Courneuve Flash in Paris and caught the attention of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, which invited him into their training cohort in 2020.
Miangué was not offered an NFL practice roster spot at the end of the program and went unselected in the subsequent CFL Global Draft. The 27-year-old would play one season with the Dresden Monarchs of the German Football League, before committing to Laval.
Additionally, the Redblacks have brought back two Canadian players who finished the 2025 season on the practice roster, defensive back King Ambers and defensive lineman Deionte Knight. They also confirmed the signing of the 2025 Hec Crighton Trophy winner, Ethan Jordan, which was first reported by 3DownNation on Monday.
Ambers was selected with the 68th overall pick in the eighth round of the 2025 CFL Draft and suited up in nine games for Ottawa, registering nine defensive tackles and one interception. The native of Pickering, Ont., played 37 games over his four seasons at East Texas A&M, previously known as Texas A&M-Commerce, and amassed 59 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, seven passes defensed, one forced fumble and three interceptions.
Knight played in three games for the Redblacks last season, registering one defensive tackle. The Ajax, Ont., native won the J.P. Metras Trophy in 2021 as a member of the Western Mustangs and was originally selected by the Toronto Argonauts with the 10th overall pick in the 2022 CFL Draft. He has since appeared in 36 games over four CFL seasons with the Redblacks, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Argos, registering 24 defensive tackles, two quarterback sacks and one forced fumble.
The Ottawa Redblacks finished fourth in the East Division standings in 2025 with a 4-14 record, missing the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Dru Brown went 2-7 over nine starts at quarterback, throwing for 2,389 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. Dustin Crum went 2-4 over six starts, throwing for 1,771 yards, six touchdowns, and two interceptions.
The Redblacks ranked sixth in net offence, fifth in net defence, and ninth with a turnover differential of minus-16. The club’s leading rusher was William Stanback with 698 yards, the leading receiver was Justin Hardy with 1,019 yards, and the leading tackler was Adarius Pickett with 84 tackles. Ottawa finished eighth in attendance with average crowds of 18,136, which was a 4.2 percent decrease from the previous year.
