# 2021 Ottawa Redblacks season

The 2021 Ottawa Redblacks season was the seventh season for the team in the Canadian Football League. The Redblacks were eliminated from postseason contention following their week 10 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on October 23, 2021. This was the second straight season that the Redblacks failed to qualify for the playoffs.
The 2021 season was the first season for Paul LaPolice as the team's head coach and the seventh season with Marcel Desjardins as general manager, until his dismissal on October 25, 2021.
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. With the format being a snake draft, the Redblacks selected last in the odd-numbered rounds and first in the even-numbered rounds.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | University/Club Team | Nationality |
| 1 | 9 | Anthony Mahoungou | REC | Purdue | France |
| 2 | 10 | Tyron Vrede | LB | North Dakota | Netherlands |
| 3 | 27 | Chris Ferguson | OL | Cincinnati | The Bahamas |
| 4 | 28 | Tony Anderson | DB | Grand View | France |

### CFL National Draft

The 2021 CFL Draft took place on May 4, 2021. The Redblacks had six selections in the six-round snake draft and had the sixth pick in odd rounds and the fourth pick in even rounds.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | University Team | Hometown |
| 1 | 6 | Deshawn Stevens | LB | Maine | Toronto, ON |
| 2 | 13 | Alonzo Addae | DB | West Virginia | Pickering, ON |
| 3 | 24 | Connor Berglof | OL | Saskatchewan | Saskatoon, SK |
| 4 | 31 | Jake Julien | K/P | Eastern Michigan | Barrie, ON |
| 5 | 42 | Keegan Markgraf | LS | Utah | Hamilton, ON |
| 6 | 49 | Matthew Derks | OL | Delaware State | Brantford, 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 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | at Montreal Alouettes | NA | Molson Stadium |
| C | 2 | Fri, June 4 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | vs. Montreal Alouettes | NA | TD Place Stadium |

## Regular season
### Standings

East Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
| Toronto Argonauts | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 309 | 318 | 6–2 | L1 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 312 | 244 | 4–4 | W1 | Details |
| Montreal Alouettes | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 356 | 295 | 5–3 | L1 | Details |
| Ottawa Redblacks | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 224 | 384 | 1–7 | W1 | Details |

### Schedule

The Redblacks initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 11 and ending on October 29. 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 Redblacks began their 14-game season on August 7, 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 | Sat, Aug 7 | 10:00 p.m. EDT | @ Edmonton Elks | W 16–12 | 1–0 | TSN/RDS2/ESPN2 | Commonwealth Stadium | 30,302 | Recap |
| 2 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 3 | 2 | Sat, Aug 21 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | @ Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 10–23 | 1–1 | TSN/RDS | Mosaic Stadium | 28,559 | Recap |
| 4 | 3 | Sat, Aug 28 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | BC Lions | L 12–24 | 1–2 | TSN/RDS | TD Place Stadium | 15,000 | Recap |
| 5 | 4 | Fri, Sept 3 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Montreal Alouettes | L 29–51 | 1–3 | TSN/RDS | TD Place Stadium | 15,000 | Recap |
| 6 | 5 | Sat, Sept 11 | 10:00 p.m. EDT | @ BC Lions | L 13–45 | 1–4 | TSN/RDS | BC Place | 12,552 | Recap |
| 7 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 8 | 6 | Wed, Sept 22 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 7–24 | 1–5 | TSN/RDS2 | TD Place Stadium | 12,041 | Recap |
| 9 | 7 | Tues, Sept 28 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Edmonton Elks | W 34–24 | 2–5 | TSN/RDS2 | TD Place Stadium | 12,108 | Recap |
| 10 | 8 | Wed, Oct 6 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Toronto Argonauts | L 16–35 | 2–6 | TSN/RDS2 | BMO Field | 6,788 | Recap |
| 10 | 9 | Mon, Oct 11 | 1:00 p.m. EDT | @ Montreal Alouettes | L 16–20 | 2–7 | TSN/RDS | Molson Stadium | 15,236 | Recap |
| 11 | 10 | Sat, Oct 16 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Montreal Alouettes | L 16–27 | 2–8 | TSN/RDS | TD Place Stadium | 16,139 | Recap |
| 12 | 11 | Sat, Oct 23 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 3–32 | 2–9 | TSN/RDS2 | Tim Hortons Field | 20,112 | Recap |
| 13 | 12 | Fri, Oct 29 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Calgary Stampeders | L 13–26 | 2–10 | TSN | TD Place Stadium | 15,280 | Recap |
| 14 | 13 | Sat, Nov 6 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Toronto Argonauts | L 20–23 | 2–11 | TSN/RDS2 | TD Place Stadium | 18,644 | Recap |
| 15 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 16 | 14 | Fri, Nov 19 | 7:30 p.m. EST | @ Montreal Alouettes | W 19–18 | 3–11 | TSN/RDS | Molson Stadium | 11,297 | Recap |
    # Games played with white uniforms.
    # Games played with colour uniforms.
    # Games played with alternate uniforms.