The 2021 Toronto Argonauts season was the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and their 148th year of existence. The Argonauts improved on their 4–14 record from their previous season in 2019 with a win in week 10 against the Ottawa Redblacks on October 6, 2021. The team qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2017, on October 30, 2021, with a win over the BC Lions. The Argonauts then clinched first place in the East Division after defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on November 12, 2021. However, the Argonauts lost to the same Tiger-Cats in the East Final after holding a 12–0 halftime lead, but were unable to score a touchdown and lost 27–19.

This was the first full season with Michael Clemons as general manager following his appointment mid-way through the 2019 season. This was also the first season for head coach Ryan Dinwiddie.

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, the Argonauts selected third in the odd-numbered rounds and seventh in the even-numbered rounds. The team exchanged their third-round pick for a fourth-round pick as part of a three-player trade with the Calgary Stampeders.

Round Pick Player Position University/Club Team Nationality 1 3 Tigie Sankoh DB London Warriors Great Britain 2 16 Toshiki Sato K IBM Big Blue Japan 4 30 Max Duffy P Kentucky Australia 4 34 Sammis Reyes REC Tulane Chile

CFL national draft The 2021 CFL draft took place on May 4, 2021. The Argonauts had seven selections in the six-round snake draft and had the seventh pick in odd rounds and the third pick in even rounds. The team acquired an additional fourth-round selection after trading Shawn Lemon to the BC Lions in exchange for Davon Coleman. The Argonauts also swapped their fifth-round pick for the Stampeders' sixth round-pick in a three-player trade and they exchanged sixth-round picks with the Blue Bombers in the trade for Cody Speller.

Round Pick Player Position University team Hometown 1 7 Peter Nicastro OL Calgary Calgary, AB 2 12 Sage Doxtater OL New Mexico State Welland, ON 3 25 Luiji Vilain DL Michigan Ottawa, ON 4 30 Tommy Nield WR McMaster Guelph, ON 4 33 Trevor Hoyte LB Carleton Gatineau, QC 6 47 Joshua Hagerty DB Saskatchewan Regina, SK 6 52 Benjamin St-Juste DB Minnesota Montreal, QC

Preseason Pre-season games were not played due to the shortening of the season.

Planned schedule Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent TV Venue A Bye B 1 Thu, May 27 7:30 p.m. EDT vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats BMO Field C 2 Thu, June 3 7:30 p.m. EDT at Hamilton Tiger-Cats Tim Hortons Field

Regular season

Standings

Schedule The Argonauts initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 19 and ending on October 30. The team was scheduled to be the home team for a neutral site game at an unannounced location on July 10 for a match-up with the Calgary Stampeders. 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 Argonauts began their 14-game season on August 7, 2021.

On August 22, 2021, it was announced that the Edmonton 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, where the Argonauts originally had a bye week.

Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary Score Record 11 Sat, Aug 7 7:00 p.m. EDT @ Calgary Stampeders W 23–20 1–0 TSN McMahon Stadium 23,921 Recap 22 Fri, Aug 13 8:30 p.m. EDT @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 7–20 1–1 TSN/RDS IG Field 22,143 Recap 33 Sat, Aug 21 4:00 p.m. EDT Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 30–23 2–1 TSN/ESPN2 BMO Field 9,866 Recap 4 Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) 54 Mon, Sept 6 1:00 p.m. EDT @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 19–32 2–2 TSN/RDS2 Tim Hortons Field 15,000 Recap 65 Fri, Sept 10 7:30 p.m. EDT Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 17–16 3–2 TSN/RDS2 BMO Field 9,702 Recap 76 Fri, Sept 17 9:45 p.m. EDT @ Saskatchewan Roughriders L 16–30 3–3 TSN Mosaic Stadium 25,883 Recap 87 Fri, Sept 24 7:30 p.m. EDT Montreal Alouettes W 30–27 4–3 TSN/RDS BMO Field 7,758 Recap 9 Bye 108 Wed, Oct 6 7:30 p.m. EDT Ottawa Redblacks W 35–16 5–3 TSN/RDS2 BMO Field 6,788 Recap 109 Mon, Oct 11 4:00 p.m. EDT @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 24–23 6–3 TSN Tim Hortons Field 21,378 Recap 11 Bye 1210 Fri, Oct 22 7:30 p.m. EDT @ Montreal Alouettes L 16–37 6–4 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 12,142 Recap 1311 Sat, Oct 30 4:00 p.m. EDT BC Lions W 31–29 7–4 TSN BMO Field 9,011 Recap 1412 Sat, Nov 6 4:00 p.m. EDT @ Ottawa Redblacks W 23–20 8–4 TSN/RDS2 TD Place Stadium 18,644 Recap 1513 Fri, Nov 12 7:30 p.m. EST Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 31–12 9–4 TSN/ESPNews BMO Field 10,851 Recap 1614 Tues, Nov 16 † 7:30 p.m. EST Edmonton Elks L 7–13 9–5 TSN BMO Field 6,247 Recap

Games played with colour uniforms. Games played with white uniforms. † Game rescheduled from August 26 due to an outbreak of COVID-19 among Edmonton players.

Post-season

Schedule Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary Score Record East Semi-FinalByeEast Final Sun, Dec 5 12:30 p.m. EST Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 19–27 0–1 TSN/RDS/ESPNews BMO Field 21,492 Recap

Games played with colour uniforms.

Team

Roster Toronto Argonauts roster Quarterbacks

Receivers

Running backs

Fullbacks

Offensive linemen LT RG C

RT LG Defensive linemen DT

DE

DT DE

Linebackers

Defensive backs S CB

CB HB HB

Special teams K LS 1-Game Injured list DB LB DL OL DB DE WR QB DL SB LS FB OL LB DL

6-Game Injured list SB/KR OL OL DB DL WR LB OL RBPractice roster WR OL DB DE DL WR WR DB LB WR K RB LB

Suspended list FB WR WR DB LB DB WR LB OL DL DB Italics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player • 45 Active, 24 Injured, 13 Practice, 12 Suspended Roster updated 2021-12-05 • Depth chart • Transactions (argonauts.ca) • Transactions (cfl.ca)

Coaching staff Toronto Argonauts staff Front office and support staff Owner – Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment President – Bill Manning General manager – Michael Clemons Director of player personnel – John Murphy Director of Canadian scouting – Vince Magri Player relations advisor and football ops assistant – Matt Black Head coaches Head coach – Ryan Dinwiddie

Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks – Jarious Jackson Pass game coordinator and receivers – Markus Howell Running backs – Fred Reid Offensive line – Stephen McAdoo

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Vacant Defensive backs – Vacant Linebackers – Kevin Eiben Defensive line – Mike Davis Defensive assistant – Rich Stubler Defensive consultant – Chris Jones

Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Mark Nelson Assistant special teams – Kevin Eiben

→ Coaching staff

References

External links