The 2020 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season was scheduled to be the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and their 88th season overall. The Blue Bombers would have entered the season as the defending Grey Cup champions for the first time in 29 years, having ended the franchise's lengthy drought with the previous year's championship win in the 107th Grey Cup game. This would have been the seventh season under head coach Mike O'Shea and the seventh full season under general manager Kyle Walters.
Training camps, pre-season games, and regular season games were initially postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Manitoba. The CFL announced on April 7, 2020 that the start of the 2020 season would not occur before July 2020. On May 20, 2020, it was announced that the league would likely not begin regular season play prior to September 2020. On August 17, 2020, however, the season was officially cancelled due to COVID-19.
Offseason
CFL national draft The 2020 CFL National Draft took place on April 30, 2020. By virtue of finishing as Grey Cup champions in the previous season, the Blue Bombers selected last in each round of the eight-round draft, not including any traded picks. The team made one trade, acquiring Grey Cup starting quarterback, Zach Collaros, and a fifth-round pick from the Toronto Argonauts for the Blue Bombers' third-round pick and a conditional pick. The condition of that trade was whether Collaros re-signed with Winnipeg, which he did, meaning that the Blue Bombers sent their first-round selection to the Argonauts. On August 17 however, the season was officially cancelled due to COVID-19.
Round Pick Player Position University team Hometown 2 18 Noah Hallett DB McMaster London, ON 4 37 Brendan O′Leary-Orange WR Nevada Toronto, ON 5 39 Marc Liegghio K Western Woodbridge, ON 5 46 Nicholas Dheilly DL Saskatchewan Regina, SK 6 55 Kyle Rodger LB Ottawa Repentigny, QC 7 64 Tanner Cadwallader LB Wilfrid Laurier Georgetown, ON 8 73 Bleska Kambamba DB Western London, ON
CFL global draft The 2020 CFL global draft was scheduled to take place on April 16, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this draft and its accompanying combine were postponed to occur just before the start of training camp, which was ultimately cancelled. The Blue Bombers were scheduled to select ninth in each round with the number of rounds never announced.
Planned schedule
Preseason Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent TV Venue A 1 Sun, May 24 3:00 p.m. CDT vs. Edmonton Football Team IG Field B Bye C 2 Fri, June 5 8:30 p.m. CDT at Saskatchewan Roughriders Mosaic Stadium
Regular season
Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent TV Venue 1 1 Sat, June 13 6:00 p.m. CDT at Hamilton Tiger-Cats TSN Tim Hortons Field 2 Bye 3 2 Fri, June 26 7:30 p.m. CDT vs. Calgary Stampeders TSN IG Field 4 3 Fri, July 3 8:00 p.m. CDT at Edmonton Football Team TSN Commonwealth Stadium 5 4 Thu, July 9 7:30 p.m. CDT vs. Montreal Alouettes TSN/RDS IG Field 6 5 Thu, July 16 7:30 p.m. CDT vs. BC Lions TSN IG Field 7 Bye 8 6 Fri, July 31 6:00 p.m. CDT at Toronto Argonauts TSN BMO Field 9 7 Thu, Aug 6 6:30 p.m. CDT at Ottawa Redblacks TSN TD Place Stadium 10 8 Fri, Aug 14 7:30 p.m. CDT vs. Edmonton Football Team TSN IG Field 11 9 Thu, Aug 20 8:00 p.m. CDT at Calgary Stampeders TSN McMahon Stadium 12 10 Thu, July 27 7:30 p.m. CDT vs. Ottawa Redblacks TSN IG Field 13 11 Sun, Sept 6 6:00 p.m. CDT at Saskatchewan Roughriders TSN Mosaic Stadium 14 12 Sat, Sept 12 3:00 p.m. CDT vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders TSN IG Field 15 13 Sat, Sept 19 6:00 p.m. CDT vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats TSN IG Field 16 14 Fri, Sept 25 8:30 p.m. CDT at Calgary Stampeders TSN McMahon Stadium 17 Bye 18 15 Fri, Oct 9 7:00 p.m. CDT vs. Edmonton Football Team TSN IG Field 19 16 Sat, Oct 17 6:00 p.m. CDT vs. Toronto Argonauts TSN IG Field 20 17 Fri, Oct 23 9:00 p.m. CDT at BC Lions TSN BC Place 21 18 Sat, Oct 31 3:00 p.m. CDT at Montreal Alouettes TSN/RDS Molson Stadium
Team
Roster Winnipeg Blue Bombers roster Quarterbacks
Receivers
Running backs
Fullbacks
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
Linebackers
LB/LS
Defensive backs
Special teams KR/WR LS P/K LS KItalics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player • 92 RosterRoster updated 2020-08-17 • Depth chart • Transactions
Coaching staff Winnipeg Blue Bombers staff Front office Owner – None Chairperson of the board of governors – Dayna Spiring President/CEO – Wade Miller General manager of football operations – Kyle Walters Assistant General Manager / Director of U.S. Scouting – Danny McManus Assistant general manager / director of player personnel – Ted Goveia Director of football operations – Matt Gulakow
Equipment staff Head equipment manager – Brad Fotty Assistant equipment manager – Kevin Todd Assistant equipment manager – Jared Cronk Head coaches Head coach – Mike O'Shea
Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks – Buck Pierce Receivers – Kevin Bourgoin Running backs – Pete Costanza Offensive line – Marty Costello
Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Richie Hall Defensive line and linebackers – Glen Young Defensive backs – Jordan Younger Pass game analyst – James Stanley
Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Paul Boudreau, Jr.
→ Coaching staff
References