2018 Toronto Argonauts season explained

Team:Toronto Argonauts
Year:2018
Record:4–14
Division Place:4th, East
Coach:Marc Trestman
General Manager:Jim Popp
Stadium:BMO Field
Playoffs:did not qualify
Mop:S. J. Green
Moc:Sean McEwen
Mor:Trumaine Washington
Shortnavlink:Argonauts seasons
Uniform:File:CFL TOR Jersey 2018.png

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, 2018, 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.

This was the second season with Jim Popp as general manager and Marc Trestman as head coach.[2] It was announced the day following the Argonauts 24–9 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks on November 2 that Trestman would be relieved of his coaching duties for the Toronto Argonauts football team, following a 4–14 season with minimal success in Ricky Ray's absence. [3] Ricky 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

CFL draft

The 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]

RoundPickPlayerPositionSchoolHometown
1 9 North Bay, ON
2 18 Montreal, QC
3 20 Montreal, QC
4 35 Quebec City, QC
5 43 Commerce Township, MI
7 60 Quebec City, QC
8 69 Fort Erie, ON

Preseason

The Argonauts played their home pre-season game in Guelph due to field maintenance for the grass at their usual home stadium, BMO Field.[9]

WeekDateKickoffOpponentResultsTVVenueAttendanceSummary
ScoreRecord
ABye
BFri, June 17:30 p.m. EDT@ Hamilton Tiger-CatsW 36–181–0TSNTim Hortons FieldNARecap
CThurs, June 77:30 p.m. EDTOttawa RedblacksL 17–321–1NoneAlumni Stadium3,921Recap
[10] [11]

Games played with white uniforms.

Regular season

The 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.

Schedule

WeekGameDateKickoffOpponentResultsTVVenueAttendanceSummary
ScoreRecord
11Fri, June 159:00 p.m. EDT@ Saskatchewan RoughridersL 19–270–1TSN/RDS2/ESPN2Mosaic Stadium29,788Recap
22Sat, June 237:00 p.m. EDTL 7–410–2TSN/RDS2BMO Field16,450Recap
3Bye
43Sat, July 75:30 p.m. EDTEdmonton EskimosW 20–171–2TSNBMO Field12,196Recap
54Fri, July 139:00 p.m. EDT@ Edmonton EskimosL 15–161–3TSN/ESPN2Commonwealth Stadium31,056Recap
65Sat, July 214:00 p.m. EDTWinnipeg Blue BombersL 20–381–4TSNBMO Field10,844Recap
76Fri, July 278:30 p.m. EDT@ Winnipeg Blue BombersL 14–401–5TSN/RDS/ESPN2Investors Group Field27,116Recap
87Thurs, Aug 27:00 p.m. EDTOttawa RedblacksW 42–412–5TSN/RDS/ESPN2BMO Field11,857Recap
9Bye
108Sat, Aug 184:00 p.m. EDTBC LionsW 24–233–5TSN/RDS2BMO Field18,104Recap
119Fri, Aug 247:30 p.m. EDT@ Montreal AlouettesL 22–253–6TSN/RDSMolson Stadium16,480Recap
1210Mon, Sept 36:30 p.m. EDT@ Hamilton Tiger-CatsL 28–423–7TSNTim Hortons Field24,221Recap
1311Sat, Sept 81:00 p.m. EDTHamilton Tiger-CatsL 25–363–8TSNBMO Field15,702Recap
14Bye
1512Sat, Sept 227:00 p.m. EDTSaskatchewan RoughridersL 29–303–9TSNBMO Field14,479Recap
1613Fri, Sept 289:00 p.m. EDT@ Calgary StampedersL 16–383–10TSN/RDS2McMahon Stadium24,126Recap
1714Sat, Oct 67:00 p.m. EDT@ BC LionsL 23–263–11TSNBC Place18,535Recap
1815Fri, Oct 127:30 p.m. EDTHamilton Tiger-CatsL 20–343–12TSNBMO Field14,184Recap
1916Sat, Oct 204:00 p.m. EDTMontreal AlouettesW 26–224–12TSN/RDSBMO Field14,080[14] Recap
2017Sun, Oct 281:00 p.m. EDT@ Montreal AlouettesL 10–404–13TSN/RDS/ESPN2Molson Stadium17,583Recap
2118Fri, Nov 27:30 p.m. EDT@ Ottawa RedblacksL 9–244–14TSN/RDSTD Place Stadium22,185Recap
[10]

Games played with colour uniforms.

Games played with white uniforms.

Team

Coaching staff

Notes and References

  1. https://www.cfl.ca/2018/10/02/playoff-scenarios-plenty-line-week-17/ Updated Playoff Scenarios: Stamps look to secure home field, Als on the brink
  2. http://www.3downnation.com/2017/03/13/argos-make-marc-trestman-highest-paid-coach-in-the-cfl/ Argos make Marc Trestman highest paid coach in the CFL
  3. News: Argos part ways with Head Coach Marc Trestman - CFL.ca. 2018-11-03. CFL.ca. 2018-11-03. en-US.
  4. News: Argos' Ray carefully pondering football future - CFL.ca. 2018-11-03. CFL.ca. 2018-11-03. en-US.
  5. https://press.cfl.ca/cfl-draft-date-announced CFL draft date announced
  6. https://www.cfl.ca/2016/09/11/bombers-trade-willy-to-toronto-acquire-glenn/ Blue Bombers ship Willy to Argos; acquire Glenn in trade with Als
  7. https://www.cfl.ca/2017/12/11/argos-acquire-rights-qb-james-franklin-trade-eskimos/ Argos acquire rights to QB James Franklin in trade with Eskimos
  8. https://www.cfl.ca/2017/04/20/double-blue-acquire-sb-sj-green-trade-als/ Double Blue acquire SB SJ Green in trade with Als
  9. Web site: 2018 ARGOS SEASON TICKET HOLDERS. 2018-04-10. Toronto Argonauts. https://web.archive.org/web/20180411174542/https://www.argonauts.ca/season-tickets-holders/. 2018-04-11. dead.
  10. http://www.argonauts.ca/schedule/?season=2018 2018 Schedule
  11. https://d3ham790trbkqy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2018-cfl-schedule-eastern.pdf 2018 PDF schedule
  12. Web site: Mitchell leads Stamps past Argos in Grey Cup rematch . CFL.ca . 2018-06-23 . 2018-07-07.
  13. News: Neck injury will keep Argos QB Ricky Ray out for 'significant time'. CBC. 2018-06-27.
  14. Web site: The Toronto Argonauts' 2018 Season . The Canadian Football League Database . 28 October 2018.