REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced on Monday that they have signed American running back Ryquell Armstead and American linebacker Braxton Hill.
Armstead (five-foot-11, 220 pounds) joins the Green and White after starting the season with the Ottawa REDBLACKS. While in Ottawa he rushed for 623 yards and three touchdowns and made 35 receptions for 284 yards over 11 games.
The New Jersey native was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round, 140th overall, of the 2019 NFL Draft. He played in 18 games for the Jaguars, contributing 348 total yards and two touchdowns. He also spent time on the practice rosters of the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers.
Collegiately, Armstead played four seasons at Temple University (2015-2018), where he recorded 3,025 total yards and 34 touchdowns over 47 games. He left Temple ranked third in program history for career rushing touchdowns (34) and fourth in career rushing yards (2,812). Armstead was named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List twice (2017, 2018) and the Phil Steele ACC All-American Athletic Conference Third Team in 2016.
Notably, in his senior season in 2018, Armstead had a career-high game against the University of Houston, where he recorded an impressive 210 yards and six touchdowns. For his outstanding performance, Armstead was named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, Maxwell Player of the Week, ACC Offensive Player of the Week, CFPA National Performer of the Week and Pro Football Focus National Team of the Week.
Hill (six-foot-two, 225 pounds) spent four collegiate seasons at the University of Montana (2019-2023), joining the team as a walk-on and going on to become team captain. He played in 51 games as a Grizzly and registered 231 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss, nine sacks, eight pass deflections, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions, including one he returned 34 yards for a touchdown.
In his senior season, Hill led the Big Sky and was fifth in the FCS in total tackles (128). He helped lead a defence that allowed just 108.5 yards rushing per game, the lowest in the Big Sky Conference and the third lowest in the FCS. Montana also had the FCS’s third-best third-down defence in 2023, allowing teams to convert only 29 per cent of the time.
For his efforts, Hill was named an All-American and a Buck Buchanan Award Finalist that season as well earning an All-Big-Sky Conference selection. He also received several team accolades including the defensive MVP and the Tony Barbour Award, which is given to the player that best exemplifies outstanding practice habits and makes an unselfish contribution to the betterment of the football team.
