The Edmonton Elks season was the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and their 72nd overall. This was the first season that the team competed under a new name, as the "Eskimos" moniker was retired in 2020, and the new name "Elks" was announced on June 1, 2021.

The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2018 following a week 14 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on November 5, 2021. The team also finished the season without a home win for the first time in the team's 72–year history following that same home loss to the Roughriders.

This was the fourth season under general manager Brock Sunderland. This would have been the first season under head coach Scott Milanovich, but he resigned from his position on January 25, 2021. Instead, Jaime Elizondo was named as the 23rd head coach in the team's history on February 1, 2021.

An 18-game season schedule was originally released on November 20, 2020, but it was announced on April 21, 2021 that the start of the season would likely be delayed until August and feature a 14-game schedule. On June 15, 2021, the league released the revised 14-game schedule with regular season play beginning on August 5, 2021.

Offseason CFL global draft The 2021 CFL global draft took place on April 15, 2021. With the format being a snake draft, Edmonton selected second in the odd-numbered rounds and eighth in the even-numbered rounds.

Round Pick Player Position University/Club Team Nationality 1 2 Steven Nielsen OL Eastern Michigan Denmark 2 17 Misiona Aiolupotea-Pei DL Washington State New Zealand 3 20 Tibo Debaillie DL Towson Belgium 4 35 Matt Leo DE Iowa State Australia

CFL national draft The 2021 CFL draft took place on May 4, 2021. The team had six selections in the six-round snake draft and had the fifth pick in each of the rounds.

Round Pick Player Position University Team Hometown 1 5 Cole Nelson DL Alberta Edmonton, AB 2 14 Grant McDonald LB Calgary Tsawwassen, BC 3 23 Deonte Glover RB Shepherd Inwood, WV 4 32 Dominic Johnson WR Buffalo Windsor, ON 5 41 Peter Kourtis OL Saint Mary's Toronto, ON 6 50 Kenan Clarke DB Cornell Pickering, ON

Preseason Due to the shortening of the season, the CFL confirmed that pre-season games would not be played in 2021.

Planned schedule Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent TV Venue A Bye B 1 Sat, May 29 2:00 p.m. MDT vs. Calgary Stampeders Commonwealth Stadium C 2 Fri, Jun 4 8:00 p.m. MDT at BC Lions BC Place

Regular season Season standings

Season schedule The Elks initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 12 and ending on October 30. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the Canadian Football League delayed the start of the regular season to August 5, 2021 and the Elks began their 14-game season on August 7, 2021.

On August 22, 2021, it was announced that the Elks had several players test positive for COVID-19, so the August 26, 2021 game was postponed with the rescheduled date to be declared once the Elks pass health and safety protocols. The CFL announced on September 2, 2021 that the game was rescheduled for Tuesday, November 16, 2021, meaning that the Elks will play three games in just a seven-day span.

Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary Score Record 1 1 Sat, Aug 7 8:00 p.m. MDT Ottawa Redblacks L 12–16 0–1 TSN/RDS2/ESPN2 Commonwealth Stadium 30,302 Recap 2 2 Sat, Aug 14 5:00 p.m. MDT Montreal Alouettes L 13–30 0–2 TSN/RDS Commonwealth Stadium 25,116 Recap 3 3 Thurs, Aug 19 8:00 p.m. MDT @ BC Lions W 21–16 1–2 TSN/ESPN2 BC Place 12,500 Recap 4 Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, at Toronto Argonauts; rescheduled to week 16) 5 4 Mon, Sept 6 2:30 p.m. MDT @ Calgary Stampeders W 32–20 2–2 TSN/ESPNews McMahon Stadium 31,039 Recap 6 5 Sat, Sept 11 5:00 p.m. MDT Calgary Stampeders L 16–32 2–3 TSN/RDS Commonwealth Stadium 33,493* Recap 7 6 Sat, Sept 18 7:45 p.m. MDT Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 22–37 2–4 TSN Commonwealth Stadium 23,310 Recap 8 Bye 9 7 Tues, Sept 28 5:30 p.m. MDT @ Ottawa Redblacks L 24–34 2–5 TSN/RDS2 TD Place Stadium 12,108 Recap 10 8 Fri, Oct 8 6:30 p.m. MDT @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 3–30 2–6 TSN/RDS2 IG Field 27,388 Recap 11 9 Fri, Oct 15 7:00 p.m. MDT Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 16–26 2–7 TSN Commonwealth Stadium 24,276 Recap 12 Bye 13 10 Fri, Oct 29 7:45 p.m. MDT Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 23–39 2–8 TSN Commonwealth Stadium 22,857 Recap 14 11 Fri, Nov 5 7:45 p.m. MDT Saskatchewan Roughriders L 17–19 2–9 TSN Commonwealth Stadium 24,115 Recap 15 12 Sat, Nov 13 2:00 p.m. MST @ Saskatchewan Roughriders L 24–29 2–10 TSN/RDS Mosaic Stadium 26,056 Recap 16 13 Tues, Nov 16 5:30 p.m. MST @ Toronto Argonauts W 13–7 3–10 TSN BMO Field 6,247 Recap 16 14 Fri, Nov 19 8:30 p.m. MST @ BC Lions L 10–43 3–11 TSN BC Place 12,500 Recap

*Top attendance in CFL

Roster Edmonton Elks roster Quarterbacks

Running backs

Fullbacks

Receivers

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

DE

Linebackers

Defensive backs

S

Special teams LS K LS K 1-Game Injured List DL LB DL

6-Game Injured List DB DL LB OL WR DB OL OL Practice roster RB DB LB K DL QB DL WR OL DB DB OL DL WR DL WR DB OL

Suspended LB OL RB WR OL DL DB DB Italics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player • 45 Active, 9 Injured, 17 Practice, 8 SuspendedRoster updated 2021-10-18 • Depth chart • Transactions

Coaching staff

References

External links