1996 Edmonton Eskimos season explained

The 1996 Edmonton Eskimos were coached by Ron Lancaster and finished in second place in the West Division with an 11–7 record. They upset the Calgary Stampeders in the West Final, but lost the Grey Cup to the Toronto Argonauts.

Offseason

CFL Draft

Rd	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	1	Donnavan Blair	SB	Calgary
1	8	Duane Arrindell	OL	Northern Illinois
2	16	Jayson Hamilton	RB	Alberta
3	25	Sheldon Napastuk	DT	Iowa State
4	34	Murray Cunningham	DL	Alberta
5	43	John Saul	DE	Saskatchewan
6	51	Darcy Park	FB	Alberta
7	60	Troy Shwetz	DB	Jamestown College

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
B	June 14	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	23-18	L	25632	0–1
B	June 21	vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers	34-31	L	34091	0–2

Regular season

Season standings

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Calgary Stampeders	18	13	5	0	608	375	26
Edmonton Eskimos	18	11	7	0	459	354	22
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	18	9	9	0	421	495	18
Saskatchewan Roughriders	18	5	13	0	360	498	10
BC Lions	18	5	13	0	410	483	10

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record	Stk
1	June 27	at British Columbia Lions	28–14	W	29435	1–0	W1
2	July 5	vs Montreal Alouettes	16–13	W	26211	2–0	W2
3	July 10	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	27–24	L	21014	2–1	L1
4	July 17	vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers	27-16	L	28751	2–2	L2
5	July 25	at Ottawa Rough Riders	34–18	W	13323	3–2	W1
6	August 3	vs Ottawa Rough Riders	20–2	W	25773	4–2	W2
7	August 8	at Toronto Argonauts	24–21	L	20030	4–3	L1
8	August 17	vs Saskatchewan Roughriders	25–8	W	36011	5–3	W1
9	August 23	vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats	35–8	W	27202	6–3	W2
10	September 2	at Calgary Stampeders	35–14	L	35314	6–4	L1
11	September 6	vs Calgary Stampeders	20–19	W	40727*	7–4	W1
12	September 15	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	20–14	L	17301	7–5	L1
13	September 20	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	41–12	W	28744	8–5	W1
14	September 29	vs British Columbia Lions	32–12	W	28784	9–5	W2
15	October 4	at Montreal Alouettes	32–18	L	17886	9–6	L1
16	October 12	at British Columbia Lions	34–31	W	18031	10–6	W1
17	October 20	vs Toronto Argonauts	24–17	L	27567	10–7	L1
18	October 27	vs Calgary Stampeders	41–32	W	27332	11–7	W1
19	Bye

*Top attendance in CFL

Awards and records

• CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Leroy Blugh (DE)
• CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Willie Pless (LB)
• CFL's Coach of the Year – Ron Lancaster

Offence

• SB – Darren Flutie
• WR – Eddie Brown
• OG – Leo Groenewegen

Defence

• DT – Bennie Goods
• DE – Malvin Hunter
• LB – Willie Pless
• DB – Glenn Rogers Jr.
• DS – Trent Brown

1996 Western All-Stars

Offence

• SB – Darren Flutie
• WR – Eddie Brown
• C – Rod Connop
• OG – Leo Groenewegen

Defence

• DT – Bennie Goods
• DE – Malvin Hunter
• DE – Leroy Blugh
• LB – Willie Pless
• DB – Glenn Rogers Jr.
• DS – Trent Brown

Playoffs

West Semi-Final

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	1	0	0	6	7
Edmonton Eskimos	10	21	15	22	68

West Final

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Edmonton Eskimos	6	6	0	3	15
Calgary Stampeders	3	3	3	3	12

Grey Cup

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Toronto Argonauts	0	27	3	13	43
Edmonton Eskimos	9	14	0	14	37