The sign of a good team is being able to have others step up when the stars are having off games.
When the Toronto Argonauts opened their season in Montreal, Damonte Coxie and Makai Polk were expected to lead the receiving corps. But the two stars had off nights, combining for 6 catches on 19 targets for 101 yards.
That didn’t cripple the passing game, as Chad Kelly was able to throw for 445 yards, more than any QB did in 2025. It was the three receivers that lined up on the field side that picked up the slack, each of whom caught a touchdown pass.
Dave Ungerer III caught 5 passes for 65 yards, Kevin Mital added 109 yards on 7 catches, while Tyler Kahmann’s CFL debut was a memorable one, catching 6 passes for 106 yards.
For those who didn’t see the team’s training camp, Kahmann’s performance was a surprise. A member of the Argos practice roster since joining the team last September after being released by the Indianapolis Colts, the 25-year-old continued to produce like he did throughout camp.
Kahmann was ridiculously good while playing college ball, smashing virtually every Emporia State record. In his last two years he recorded 1,000-yard seasons, with 20 touchdown catches in each season. Throughout training camp he was less sizzle and more steak, providing a consistent, reliable target for the quarterbacks.
He did the same thing in his pro debut.
“It felt good,” Kahmann told Argonauts.ca. “Not playing for a year and a half you forget the feeling of a real game. I had a lot of help, we’ve got a great, veteran receivers room and having 12 (Kelly) back there makes things way easier.”
The Haysville, Kansas native had a productive outing, catching six of the seven passes thrown his way, including a spectacular, leaping first CFL catch where he high pointed a Kelly pass in traffic 43-yards downfield. It converted a second-and-10 and led to Ungerer’s touchdown.
He’d catch a touchdown pass on the Argos final offensive play, capping a night that added to his rapidly increasing knowledge of a relatively new game to him.
“The CFL game is so different, I’m learning the defences and how they’re reacting. Montreal does a lot of different things when it comes to blitzes, so you’ve got to be on your Ps and Qs when it comes to when you’re hot or who you’re blocking. The speed of the game is obviously faster in a game than in practice, so there’s a lot of things to learn.”
He did, however, make one glaring mistake in the game, he forgot to keep the football he caught for his first CFL touchdown.
Scoring a touchdown in his first game is something Kevin Mital can’t relate to. He didn’t catch one in his rookie season until it was needed the most, in the Grey Cup win over Winnipeg in 2024.
He caught a league co-leading 102 passes last season, so his team leading seven catches last week should come as no surprise, but his touchdown catch may have caught some off guard. The 63-yard reception was the longest of his career by 22 yards, harkening back to his university days, when he won the Hec Crighton Award as the country’s top player.
He was also targeted deep on an attempted flea flicker, one that didn’t connect. Mital is thrilled that opposed to being used primarily on short, or checkdown routes, he was utilized downfield.
“That feels good,” he said, breaking into a huge smile. “It felt like back in the days at Laval. I can be a deep threat, just like I can be in the backfield, or a tailback, or run any route if they need me to. The way Mike Miller is using me right now, I like it.”
That versatility was on display last week when on the play prior to his 63 yarder he lined up in the backfield and ran up the middle for six yards.
He mentioned, as did Kahmann, how good the team was at evenly distributing the ball. All five receivers were targeted at least seven times, with both running backs also catching the ball.
The Montreal native sees good things ahead.
“It felt good,” he told Argonauts.ca. “As a new team with a lot of new faces in the locker room, new coaches, new front office, it was game one and we could have won. We’ve just got to reload and be ready for this week.”
The Argos are in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon to play the Redblacks.