# 1996 Edmonton Eskimos season

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 | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| B | June 14 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 18–23 | 0–1 | | 25,632 |
| B | June 21 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 31–34 | 0–2 | | 34,091 |

## 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 | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | June 27 | at BC Lions | W 28–14 | 1–0 | | 29,435 |
| 2 | July 5 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | W 16–13 | 2–0 | | 26,211 |
| 3 | July 10 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 24–27 | 2–1 | | 21,014 |
| 4 | July 17 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 16–27 | 2–2 | | 28,751 |
| 5 | July 25 | at Ottawa Rough Riders | W 34–18 | 3–2 | | 13,323 |
| 6 | Aug 3 | vs. Ottawa Rough Riders | W 20–2 | 4–2 | | 25,773 |
| 7 | Aug 8 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 21–24 | 4–3 | | 20,030 |
| 8 | Aug 17 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 25–8 | 5–3 | | 36,011 |
| 9 | Aug 23 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 35–8 | 6–3 | | 27,202 |
| 10 | Sept 2 | at Calgary Stampeders | L 14–35 | 6–4 | | 35,314 |
| 11 | Sept 6 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | W 20–19 | 7–4 | | 40,727* |
| 12 | Sept 15 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 14–20 | 7–5 | | 17,301 |
| 13 | Sept 20 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 41–12 | 8–5 | | 28,744 |
| 14 | Sept 29 | vs. BC Lions | W 32–12 | 9–5 | | 28,784 |
| 15 | Oct 4 | at Montreal Alouettes | L 18–32 | 9–6 | | 17,886 |
| 16 | Oct 12 | at BC Lions | W 34–31 | 10–6 | | 18,031 |
| 17 | Oct 20 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | L 17–24 | 10–7 | | 27,567 |
| 18 | Oct 27 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | W 41–32 | 11–7 | | 27,332 |
| 19 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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 |
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