The 1996 Edmonton Eskimos were coached by Ron Lancaster and finished in second place in the West Division with an 11–7 record. They upset the Calgary Stampeders in the West Final, but lost the Grey Cup to the Toronto Argonauts.
Offseason
CFL draft RdPickPlayerPositionSchool11Donnavan BlairSBCalgary18Duane ArrindellOLNorthern Illinois216Jayson HamiltonRBAlberta325Sheldon NapastukDTIowa State434Murray CunninghamDLAlberta543John SaulDESaskatchewan651Darcy ParkFBAlberta760Troy ShwetzDBJamestown College
Preseason WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance B June 14 at Saskatchewan Roughriders L 18–23 0–1 25,632 B June 21 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 31–34 0–2 34,091
Regular season
Season standings
Season schedule WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance 1 June 27 at BC Lions W 28–14 1–0 29,435 2 July 5 vs. Montreal Alouettes W 16–13 2–0 26,211 3 July 10 at Saskatchewan Roughriders L 24–27 2–1 21,014 4 July 17 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 16–27 2–2 28,751 5 July 25 at Ottawa Rough Riders W 34–18 3–2 13,323 6 Aug 3 vs. Ottawa Rough Riders W 20–2 4–2 25,773 7 Aug 8 at Toronto Argonauts L 21–24 4–3 20,030 8 Aug 17 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders W 25–8 5–3 36,011 9 Aug 23 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 35–8 6–3 27,202 10 Sept 2 at Calgary Stampeders L 14–35 6–4 35,314 11 Sept 6 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 20–19 7–4 40,727* 12 Sept 15 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 14–20 7–5 17,301 13 Sept 20 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 41–12 8–5 28,744 14 Sept 29 vs. BC Lions W 32–12 9–5 28,784 15 Oct 4 at Montreal Alouettes L 18–32 9–6 17,886 16 Oct 12 at BC Lions W 34–31 10–6 18,031 17 Oct 20 vs. Toronto Argonauts L 17–24 10–7 27,567 18 Oct 27 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 41–32 11–7 27,332 19Bye *
Top attendance in CFL
Awards and records CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Leroy Blugh (DE) CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Willie Pless (LB) CFL's Coach of the Year – Ron Lancaster
1996 CFL All-Stars
Offence SB – Darren Flutie WR – Eddie Brown OG – Leo Groenewegen
Defence DT – Bennie Goods DE – Malvin Hunter LB – Willie Pless DB – Glenn Rogers Jr. DS – Trent Brown
1996 Western All-Stars
Offence SB – Darren Flutie WR – Eddie Brown C – Rod Connop OG – Leo Groenewegen
Defence DT – Bennie Goods DE – Malvin Hunter DE – Leroy Blugh LB – Willie Pless DB – Glenn Rogers Jr. DS – Trent Brown
Playoffs
West Semi-Final TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4TotalWinnipeg Blue Bombers10067Edmonton Eskimos1021152268
West Final TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4TotalEdmonton Eskimos660315Calgary Stampeders333312
Grey Cup TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4TotalToronto Argonauts02731343Edmonton Eskimos91401437 Roster 1996 Edmonton Eskimos final roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Receivers
Offensive linemen C G/T G G T T
Defensive linemen DE DT DE DT DE/DT Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams K P
Injured list WR DB QB T DT G DE LB
Italics indicate International player References