2021 Saskatchewan Roughriders season

The 2021 Saskatchewan Roughriders season was the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League. It was the club's 112th year overall, and its 105th season of play. Although the club failed to record a second consecutive first place finish in the West Division, the Roughriders qualified for the post-season for the fourth consecutive season of play on October 30, 2021 following a win over the Montreal Alouettes.[1] After defeating the Calgary Stampeders in the West Semi-Final, the Roughriders then lost the West Final to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for the second consecutive season.[2] This was the second season under head coach Craig Dickenson and general manager Jeremy O'Day.

2021 Saskatchewan Roughriders season
General managerJeremy O'Day
Head coachCraig Dickenson
Home fieldMosaic Stadium
Results
Record9–5
Division place2nd, West
Playoff finishLost West Final
Team MOPCody Fajardo
Team MODPLoucheiz Purifoy
Team MOCMicah Teitz
Team MOOLDan Clark
Team MOSTBrett Lauther
Team MORKian Schaffer-Baker

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.[3][4] On June 15, 2021, the league released the revised 14-game schedule with regular season play beginning on August 5, 2021.[5]

Offseason

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CFL Global Draft

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The 2021 CFL Global Draft took place on April 15, 2021.[6][7] The Roughriders selected fifth in each round of the snake draft.[6]

Round Pick Player Position University/Club Team Nationality
1 5 Christopher Ezeala RB Ingolstadt Dukes   Germany
2 14 Kaare Vedvik P Marshall   Norway
3 23 Jon Henry Nell K N/A   South Africa
4 32 Sebastien Sagne REC Frankfurt Universe   Finland

CFL National Draft

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The 2021 CFL Draft took place on May 4, 2021.[8][9] The Roughriders had six selections in the six-round snake draft and had the second pick in odd rounds and the eighth pick in even rounds.[9][10]

Round Pick Player Position University Team Hometown
1 2 Nelson Lokombo DB Saskatchewan Abbotsford, BC
2 17 Terrell Jana WR Virginia Vancouver, BC
3 20 Bruno Labelle TE Cincinnati Montreal, QC
4 35 Alain Cimankinda DL Guelph Gatineau, QC
5 38 Logan Bandy OL Calgary Calgary, AB
6 53 Matt Watson DB Mount Allison Brampton, ON

Preseason

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Due to the shortening of the season, the CFL confirmed that pre-season games would not be played in 2021.[5]

Planned schedule

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Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent TV Venue
A Bye
B 1 Fri, May 28 6:30 p.m. CST at Winnipeg Blue Bombers NA IG Field
C 2 Fri, June 5 7:00 p.m. CST vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers NA Mosaic Stadium

[11]

Regular season

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Standings

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Team GP W L T Pts PF PA Div Stk
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 14 11 3 0 22 351 187 8–1 L2 Details
Saskatchewan Roughriders 14 9 5 0 18 290 285 5–4 L1 Details
Calgary Stampeders 14 8 6 0 16 315 263 6–4 W3 Details
BC Lions 14 5 9 0 10 313 351 2–7 W1 Details
Edmonton Elks 14 3 11 0 6 246 377 2–7 L1 Details

Schedule

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The Roughriders initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 12 and ending on October 23.[3] 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 Roughriders began their 14-game season on August 6, 2021.[5]

Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary
Score Record
1 1 Fri, Aug 6 7:30 p.m. CST BC Lions W 33–29 1–0 TSN Mosaic Stadium 32,975 Recap
2 2 Sat, Aug 14 8:00 p.m. CST Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 30–8 2–0 TSN/ESPNews Mosaic Stadium 27,076 Recap
3 3 Sat, Aug 21 5:00 p.m. CST Ottawa Redblacks W 23–10 3–0 TSN/RDS Mosaic Stadium 28,559 Recap
4 Bye
5 ǁ 4 ǁ Sun, Sep 5 4:00 p.m. CST Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 8–23 3–1 TSN/ESPNews Mosaic Stadium 32,975 Recap
6 5 Sat, Sept 11 2:00 p.m. CST @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 9–33 3–2 TSN IG Field 33,234 Recap
7 6 Fri, Sept 17 7:45 p.m. CST Toronto Argonauts W 30–16 4–2 TSN Mosaic Stadium 25,883 Recap
8 7 Fri, Sept 24 8:30 p.m. CST @ BC Lions W 31–24 5–2 TSN/ESPN2 BC Place 12,500 Recap
9 8 Sat, Oct 2 5:00 p.m. CST @ Calgary Stampeders L 17–23 5–3 TSN McMahon Stadium 25,516 Recap
10 9 Sat, Oct 9 5:00 p.m. CST Calgary Stampeders L 19–22 5–4 TSN Mosaic Stadium 27,964 Recap
11 Bye
12 10 Sat, Oct 23 7:45 p.m. CST @ Calgary Stampeders W 20–17 6–4 TSN McMahon Stadium 21,672 Recap
13 11 Sat, Oct 30 5:00 p.m. CST @ Montreal Alouettes W 19–14 7–4 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 11,817 Recap
14 12 Fri, Nov 5 7:45 p.m. CST @ Edmonton Elks W 19–17 8–4 TSN Commonwealth Stadium1 24,115 Recap
15 13 Sat, Nov 13 3:00 p.m. CST Edmonton Elks W 29–24 9–4 TSN/RDS Mosaic Stadium1 26,056 Recap
16 14 Sat, Nov 20 3:00 p.m. CST @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 3–24 9–5 TSN/RDS Tim Hortons Field 22,344 Recap
Notes
  1. ^ Saskatchewan was originally scheduled to host the first of their two games against Edmonton, but a COVID-19 outbreak affecting the Elks resulted in the League rescheduling a game originally scheduled for August 26 between Edmonton and Toronto. To help accommodate this change, the venues for the Roughriders' home-and-home series against the Elks have been reversed.

[12][13][14]

 #  Games played with primary home uniforms.
 #  Games played with white uniforms.
 ǁ # ǁ  Games played with retro alternate uniforms.

Post-season

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Schedule

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Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary
Score Record
West Semi-Final Sun, Nov 28 3:30  p.m. CST Calgary Stampeders W 33–30 (OT) 1–0 TSN/RDS/ESPNews Mosaic Stadium 24,001 Recap
West Final Sun, Dec 5 3:00  pm CST @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 17–21 1–1 TSN/RDS/ESPN2 IG Field 31,160 Recap

[11]

 #  Games played with primary home uniforms.
 #  Games played with white uniforms.

Team

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Roster

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Saskatchewan Roughriders roster
Quarterbacks

Receivers

Running backs

Fullbacks

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

1-game Injured list

6-game Injured list

Practice roster

Suspended

Italics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player • 45 Active, 29 Injured, 10 Practice, 10 Suspended
Roster updated 2021-12-05 • Depth chartTransactions Archived 2014-12-05 at the Wayback MachineMore CFL rosters

Coaching staff

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Saskatchewan Roughriders staff
Front office
  • President and ceo – Craig Reynolds
  • General manager and vice president of football operations – Jeremy O'Day
  • Assistant general manager – Paul Jones
  • Director of player personnel – Kyle Carson
  • Director of football operations – Ryan Pollock
  • Football operations coordinator – Jordan Greenly
  • U.S. Scout – Ron Selesky
  • Director of athletic therapy – Ivan Gutfriend
  • Manager of equipment – Gordon Gilroy

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 

Defensive coaches

  • Defensive coordinator – Jason Shivers
  • Defensive line – Ben Olson
  • Linebackers – Deion Melvin
  • Defensive backs – Richard Kent

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

Coaching Staff Archived 2011-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
More CFL staffs

References

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  1. ^ "Riders top Alouettes in defensive showdown". Canadian Football League. October 30, 2021.
  2. ^ "Bombers book trip to the Grey Cup with win over Riders". Canadian Football League. December 5, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Divisional games take centre stage in unique 2021 schedule". Canadian Football League. November 20, 2020.
  4. ^ "CFL Announces Plans To Return-to-play For 2021 Season". Canadian Football League. April 21, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Circle your calendars: CFL releases 2021 schedule". Canadian Football League. June 15, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "CFL calendar busy with free agency, virtual combines, drafts". Canadian Football League. February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  7. ^ "2021 Global Draft tracker". Canadian Football League. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  8. ^ "CFL announces date for 2021 CFL National Draft". cfl.ca. Canadian Football League. March 30, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "2021 CFL Draft to feature some significant changes". CFL.ca. November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "Ti-Cats snag first selection as CFL reveals 2021 order". CFL.ca. November 21, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "2021 CFL Schedule". cfl.ca. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  12. ^ "2021 Schedule". Canadian Football League. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  13. ^ "Nos émissions" (in French). Réseau des sports. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  14. ^ "ESPN, Upcoming". ESPN. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
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