# 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. 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. This was the second season under head coach Craig Dickenson and general manager Jeremy O'Day.
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. The Roughriders selected fifth in each round of the snake draft.
| 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

The 2021 CFL Draft took place on May 4, 2021. 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.
| 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

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

### Planned schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | TV | Venue |
| A | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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 |

## Regular season
### Standings

West Divisionviewtalkedit :
| 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

The Roughriders initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 12 and ending on October 23. 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.
| Week | Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Week | Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| 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 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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 Stadium | 24,115 | Recap |
| 15 | 13 | Sat, Nov 13 | 3:00 p.m. CST | Edmonton Elks | W 29–24 | 9–4 | TSN/RDS | Mosaic Stadium | 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

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

## Post-season
### Schedule

| Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| 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 |
    # Games played with primary home uniforms.
    # Games played with white uniforms.