# 2018 Toronto Argonauts season

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, the Argonauts were the first team eliminated from post-season contention. 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. Trestman was relieved of his duties the day following the Argonauts' 24–9 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks on November 2, following a 4–14 season with minimal success in Ricky Ray's absence. 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.

## Offseason
### CFL draft

The 2018 CFL Draft took place on May 3, 2018. 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. 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.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School | Hometown |
| 1 | 9 | Ryan Hunter | OL | Bowling Green | North Bay, ON |
| 2 | 18 | Nelkas Kwemo | LB | Queen's | Montreal, QC |
| 3 | 20 | Régis Cibasu | WR | Montreal | Montreal, QC |
| 4 | 35 | Simon Gingras-Gagnon | FB | Laval | Quebec City, QC |
| 5 | 43 | Sean Harrington | LB | Michigan State | Commerce Township, MI |
| 7 | 60 | Mathieu Loiselle | LB | Wagner | Quebec City, QC |
| 8 | 69 | Kain Anzovino | LS | Kent State | 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.
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| A | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| B | Fri, June 1 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 36–18 | 1–0 | TSN | Tim Hortons Field | NA | Recap |
| C | Thurs, June 7 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Ottawa Redblacks | L 17–32 | 1–1 | None | Alumni Stadium | 3,921 | Recap |
    # 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. 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. At the time of injury, commentators suggested that the team bench Ray in favor of their newly acquired backup quarterback, James Franklin.

### Standings

East Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
| Ottawa Redblacks | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 464 | 420 | 6–2 | W3 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 513 | 456 | 4–4 | L3 | Details |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 345 | 512 | 4–4 | W2 | Details |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 369 | 560 | 2–6 | L2 | Details |

### Schedule

| 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, June 15 | 9:00 p.m. EDT | @ Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 19–27 | 0–1 | TSN/RDS2/ESPN2 | Mosaic Stadium | 29,788 | Recap |
| 2 | 2 | Sat, June 23 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Calgary Stampeders | L 7–41 | 0–2 | TSN/RDS2 | BMO Field | 16,450 | Recap |
| 3 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 4 | 3 | Sat, July 7 | 5:30 p.m. EDT | Edmonton Eskimos | W 20–17 | 1–2 | TSN | BMO Field | 12,196 | Recap |
| 5 | 4 | Fri, July 13 | 9:00 p.m. EDT | @ Edmonton Eskimos | L 15–16 | 1–3 | TSN/ESPN2 | Commonwealth Stadium | 31,056 | Recap |
| 6 | 5 | Sat, July 21 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 20–38 | 1–4 | TSN | BMO Field | 10,844 | Recap |
| 7 | 6 | Fri, July 27 | 8:30 p.m. EDT | @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 14–40 | 1–5 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | Investors Group Field | 27,116 | Recap |
| 8 | 7 | Thurs, Aug 2 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Ottawa Redblacks | W 42–41 | 2–5 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | BMO Field | 11,857 | Recap |
| 9 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 10 | 8 | Sat, Aug 18 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | BC Lions | W 24–23 | 3–5 | TSN/RDS2 | BMO Field | 18,104 | Recap |
| 11 | 9 | Fri, Aug 24 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Montreal Alouettes | L 22–25 | 3–6 | TSN/RDS | Molson Stadium | 16,480 | Recap |
| 12 | 10 | Mon, Sept 3 | 6:30 p.m. EDT | @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 28–42 | 3–7 | TSN | Tim Hortons Field | 24,221 | Recap |
| 13 | 11 | Sat, Sept 8 | 1:00 p.m. EDT | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 25–36 | 3–8 | TSN | BMO Field | 15,702 | Recap |
| 14 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 15 | 12 | Sat, Sept 22 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 29–30 | 3–9 | TSN | BMO Field | 14,479 | Recap |
| 16 | 13 | Fri, Sept 28 | 9:00 p.m. EDT | @ Calgary Stampeders | L 16–38 | 3–10 | TSN/RDS2 | McMahon Stadium | 24,126 | Recap |
| 17 | 14 | Sat, Oct 6 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | @ BC Lions | L 23–26 | 3–11 | TSN | BC Place | 18,535 | Recap |
| 18 | 15 | Fri, Oct 12 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 20–34 | 3–12 | TSN | BMO Field | 14,184 | Recap |
| 19 | 16 | Sat, Oct 20 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Montreal Alouettes | W 26–22 | 4–12 | TSN/RDS | BMO Field | 14,080 | Recap |
| 20 | 17 | Sun, Oct 28 | 1:00 p.m. EDT | @ Montreal Alouettes | L 10–40 | 4–13 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | Molson Stadium | 17,583 | Recap |
| 21 | 18 | Fri, Nov 2 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Ottawa Redblacks | L 9–24 | 4–14 | TSN/RDS | TD Place Stadium | 22,185 | Recap |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.
    # Games played with white uniforms.