The 2018 Toronto Argonauts season was the 61st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 146th season overall. The Argonauts failed to improve upon their 9–9 record from 2017, losing their tenth game of the season to the Calgary Stampeders on September 28. Following their week 17 loss to the BC Lions on October 6, the Argonauts were the first team eliminated from post-season contention.[1] They became the first team since the 2006 Edmonton Eskimos to fail to qualify for the playoffs in the year after winning the Grey Cup.
| 2018 Toronto Argonauts season | |
|---|---|
| General manager | Jim Popp |
| Head coach | Marc Trestman |
| Home field | BMO Field |
| Results | |
| Record | 4–14 |
| Division place | 4th, East |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
| Team MOP | S. J. Green |
| Team MOC | Sean McEwen |
| Team MOR | Trumaine Washington |
| Uniform | |
 | |
This was the second season with Jim Popp as general manager and Marc Trestman as head coach.[2] Trestman was relieved of his duties the day following the Argonauts' 24–9 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks on November 2, following a 4–14 season with minimal success in Ricky Ray's absence.[3] Ray was also indecisive about retirement at the end of the 2018 CFL regular season after sustaining a season-ending injury in the Argonauts' 41–7 loss to the Calgary Stampeders on June 23 though he ultimately retired prior to the start of the 2019 Toronto Argonauts season. [4]
Offseason
editCFL draft
editThe 2018 CFL Draft took place on May 3, 2018.[5] The Argonauts had the last selection in each round of the draft by virtue of winning the 105th Grey Cup, less any traded picks. The Argos traded their third-round pick to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a trade for Drew Willy, but got Edmonton's when the Argos traded Mason Woods for James Franklin.[6][7] The Argonauts also made two conditional trades, one of which was fulfilled; they lost their sixth-round selection to Montreal after acquiring S. J. Green and he had a successful season.[8]
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Ryan Hunter | OL | Bowling Green | North Bay, ON |
| 2 | 18 | Nelkas Kwemo | LB | Queen's | Montreal, QC |
| 3 | 20 | Régis Cibasu | WR | Montreal | Montreal, QC |
| 4 | 35 | Simon Gingras-Gagnon | FB | Laval | Quebec City, QC |
| 5 | 43 | Sean Harrington | LB | Michigan State | Commerce Township, MI |
| 7 | 60 | Mathieu Loiselle | LB | Wagner | Quebec City, QC |
| 8 | 69 | Kain Anzovino | LS | Kent State | Fort Erie, ON |
Preseason
editThe Argonauts played their home pre-season game in Guelph due to field maintenance for the grass at their usual home stadium, BMO Field.[9]
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Record | ||||||||
| A | Bye | ||||||||
| B | Fri, June 1 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 36–18 | 1–0 | TSN | Tim Hortons Field | NA | Recap |
| C | Thurs, June 7 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Ottawa Redblacks | L 17–32 | 1–1 | None | Alumni Stadium | 3,921 | Recap |
- # Games played with white uniforms.
Regular season
editThe Toronto Argonauts lost their starting quarterback, Ricky Ray, due to a serious neck injury in the team's 41–7 loss to the Calgary Stampeders in the second week of the season.[12] He was subsequently discharged from a Toronto hospital several days later. At the time of discharge, it was announced that Ray would miss a significant, but undisclosed, amount of time from on-field responsibilities.[13] At the time of injury, commentators suggested that the team bench Ray in favor of their newly acquired backup quarterback, James Franklin.
Standings
edit| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa Redblacks | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 464 | 420 | 6–2 | W3 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 513 | 456 | 4–4 | L3 | Details |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 345 | 512 | 4–4 | W2 | Details |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 369 | 560 | 2–6 | L2 | Details |
Schedule
edit| Week | Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Record | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Fri, June 15 | 9:00 p.m. EDT | @ Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 19–27 | 0–1 | TSN/RDS2/ESPN2 | Mosaic Stadium | 29,788 | Recap |
| 2 | 2 | Sat, June 23 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Calgary Stampeders | L 7–41 | 0–2 | TSN/RDS2 | BMO Field | 16,450 | Recap |
| 3 | Bye | |||||||||
| 4 | 3 | Sat, July 7 | 5:30 p.m. EDT | Edmonton Eskimos | W 20–17 | 1–2 | TSN | BMO Field | 12,196 | Recap |
| 5 | 4 | Fri, July 13 | 9:00 p.m. EDT | @ Edmonton Eskimos | L 15–16 | 1–3 | TSN/ESPN2 | Commonwealth Stadium | 31,056 | Recap |
| 6 | 5 | Sat, July 21 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 20–38 | 1–4 | TSN | BMO Field | 10,844 | Recap |
| 7 | 6 | Fri, July 27 | 8:30 p.m. EDT | @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 14–40 | 1–5 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | Investors Group Field | 27,116 | Recap |
| 8 | 7 | Thurs, Aug 2 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Ottawa Redblacks | W 42–41 | 2–5 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | BMO Field | 11,857 | Recap |
| 9 | Bye | |||||||||
| 10 | 8 | Sat, Aug 18 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | BC Lions | W 24–23 | 3–5 | TSN/RDS2 | BMO Field | 18,104 | Recap |
| 11 | 9 | Fri, Aug 24 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Montreal Alouettes | L 22–25 | 3–6 | TSN/RDS | Molson Stadium | 16,480 | Recap |
| 12 | 10 | Mon, Sept 3 | 6:30 p.m. EDT | @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 28–42 | 3–7 | TSN | Tim Hortons Field | 24,221 | Recap |
| 13 | 11 | Sat, Sept 8 | 1:00 p.m. EDT | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 25–36 | 3–8 | TSN | BMO Field | 15,702 | Recap |
| 14 | Bye | |||||||||
| 15 | 12 | Sat, Sept 22 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 29–30 | 3–9 | TSN | BMO Field | 14,479 | Recap |
| 16 | 13 | Fri, Sept 28 | 9:00 p.m. EDT | @ Calgary Stampeders | L 16–38 | 3–10 | TSN/RDS2 | McMahon Stadium | 24,126 | Recap |
| 17 | 14 | Sat, Oct 6 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | @ BC Lions | L 23–26 | 3–11 | TSN | BC Place | 18,535 | Recap |
| 18 | 15 | Fri, Oct 12 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 20–34 | 3–12 | TSN | BMO Field | 14,184 | Recap |
| 19 | 16 | Sat, Oct 20 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Montreal Alouettes | W 26–22 | 4–12 | TSN/RDS | BMO Field | 14,080[14] | Recap |
| 20 | 17 | Sun, Oct 28 | 1:00 p.m. EDT | @ Montreal Alouettes | L 10–40 | 4–13 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | Molson Stadium | 17,583 | Recap |
| 21 | 18 | Fri, Nov 2 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Ottawa Redblacks | L 9–24 | 4–14 | TSN/RDS | TD Place Stadium | 22,185 | Recap |
- # Games played with colour uniforms.
- # Games played with white uniforms.
Team
editRoster
editCoaching staff
edit| Toronto Argonauts staff | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front office and support staff
|
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
| |||||
References
edit- ^ Updated Playoff Scenarios: Stamps look to secure home field, Als on the brink
- ^ Argos make Marc Trestman highest paid coach in the CFL
- ^ "Argos part ways with Head Coach Marc Trestman - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
- ^ "Argos' Ray carefully pondering football future - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
- ^ CFL draft date announced
- ^ Blue Bombers ship Willy to Argos; acquire Glenn in trade with Als
- ^ Argos acquire rights to QB James Franklin in trade with Eskimos
- ^ Double Blue acquire SB SJ Green in trade with Als
- ^ "2018 ARGOS SEASON TICKET HOLDERS". Toronto Argonauts. Archived from the original on 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
- ^ a b 2018 Schedule
- ^ 2018 PDF schedule
- ^ "Mitchell leads Stamps past Argos in Grey Cup rematch". CFL.ca. 2018-06-23. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
- ^ "Neck injury will keep Argos QB Ricky Ray out for 'significant time'". CBC. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
- ^ "The Toronto Argonauts' 2018 Season". The Canadian Football League Database. Retrieved 28 October 2018.