# 2011 Edmonton Eskimos season

The 2011 Edmonton Eskimos season was the 54th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 63rd overall. The Eskimos improved upon their 7–11 record from 2010, after winning their eighth game on October 10, 2011, while also securing a berth in the playoffs in that same game. The Eskimos finished in second place in the West Division with an 11–7 record and hosted a playoff game for the first time since 2004, ending the CFL's longest active drought. The Eskimos defeated their Alberta rivals, the Calgary Stampeders, 33–19 in the West Semi-Final, but lost to the BC Lions 40–23 in the West Final.

## Offseason
### CFL draft

The 2011 CFL Draft took place on Sunday, May 8, 2011. The Eskimos had four selections in the draft, with the first coming in the second spot overall. Edmonton was then able to select the number one ranked player in offensive linemen Scott Mitchell. After a trade with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Eskimos acquired the fifth overall pick and selected Nathan Coehoorn, who was described as the most "pro-ready" receiver available in the draft. Edmonton also selected Ted Laurent in the 2011 supplemental draft, and must forfeit a second-round 2012 draft pick.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 2 | Scott Mitchell | OL | Rice |
| 1 | 5 | Nathan Coehoorn | WR | Calgary |
| 2 | 14 | Hugo Lopez | DB | Toronto |
| 6 | 46 | Youssy Pierre | WR | Montréal |

### Notable transactions

| Date | Type | Incoming | Outgoing | Team |
| March 15, 2011 | Trade | Delroy Clarke (DB) | 4th round pick in 2012 CFL Draft – Quincy Hurst (WR) | Toronto Argonauts |
| March 17, 2011 | Trade | Taylor Inglis (LS) | *5th round pick in 2011 CFL Draft – Carl Volny (RB) 6th round pick in 2011 CFL Draft – Liam Mahoney (WR) | Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
| March 18, 2011 | Trade | LaDarius Key (DB) | Tristan Jackson (KR/DB) | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
| March 21, 2011 | Trade | Dalin Tollestrup (DB) **2nd round pick in 2011 CFL Draft – Maurice Forbes (DT) | Justin Medlock (K) Carlos Thomas (DB) ***3rd round pick in 2011 CFL Draft – Djems Kouame (WR) 5th round pick in 2011 CFL Draft – Patrick Jean-Mary (LB) | Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
| May 6, 2011 | Trade | Lavar Glover (DB) | Future considerations | Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
| May 8, 2011 | Trade | Zipp Duncan (OL) 1st round pick in 2011 CFL Draft – Nathan Coehoorn (WR) | 2nd round pick in 2011 CFL Draft – Moe Petrus (OL) 2nd round pick in 2011 CFL Draft – Maurice Forbes (DT) | Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
| May 8, 2011 | Trade | 2nd round pick in 2011 CFL Draft – Hugo Lopez (DB) | Brian Bulcke (DL) | Calgary Stampeders |
| May 8, 2011 | Trade | 6th round pick in 2011 CFL Draft – Youssy Pierre (WR) | Graeme Bell (FB) | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
| June 15, 2011 | Trade | Stefan Rodgers (OL) | Future considerations | Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
| June 18, 2011 | Trade | Junius Coston (OL) 6th round pick in 2013 CFL Draft - Elie Ngoyi (DE) | 6th round pick in 2013 CFL Draft - Shane Bergman (OL) | Calgary Stampeders |
| June 19, 2011 | Trade | Jerome Messam (RB) | 3rd round pick in 2013 CFL Draft - Boseko Lokombo (LB) | BC Lions |
| August 23, 2011 | Trade | Dylan Steenbergen (OL) Future considerations | 6th round pick in 2012 CFL Draft – Ryan White (OL) 6th round pick in 2013 CFL Draft - Simon Legare (OL) | Montreal Alouettes |
| October 12, 2011 | Trade | Hugh Charles (RB) | 5th round pick in 2014 CFL Draft - Matt Webster (DB) | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
*Later traded back to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers **Later traded back to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats ***Later traded to the Toronto Argonauts

## Preseason

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | OT | Attendance | Record |
| A | Fri, June 17 | Edmonton Eskimos | 22–23 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | | 29,130 | 0–1 |
| B | Fri, June 24 | Calgary Stampeders | 37–22 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 32,796 | 0–2 |

## Regular season
### Season standings

West Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts | |
| BC Lions | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 511 | 385 | 22 | Details |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 427 | 401 | 22 | Details |
| Calgary Stampeders | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 511 | 476 | 22 | Details |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 346 | 482 | 10 | Details |

### Season schedule

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | OT | Attendance | Record | Pts |
| 1 | Sun, July 3 | Edmonton Eskimos | 42–28 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | | 30,048 | 1–0 | 2 |
| 2 | Sat, July 9 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 10–28 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 26,059 | 2–0 | 4 |
| 3 | Sat, July 16 | BC Lions | 17–33 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 32,297 | 3–0 | 6 |
| 4 | Sat, July 23 | Edmonton Eskimos | 24–19 | Calgary Stampeders | | 29,910 | 4–0 | 8 |
| 5 | Fri, July 29 | Toronto Argonauts | 25–26 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 32,478 | 5–0 | 10 |
| 6 | Fri, Aug 5 | Edmonton Eskimos | 16–28 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | | 29,533 | 5–1 | 10 |
| 7 | Thurs, Aug 11 | Edmonton Eskimos | 4–27 | Montreal Alouettes | | 24,448 | 5–2 | 10 |
| 8 | Fri, Aug 19 | BC Lions | 36–1 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 35,216 | 5–3 | 10 |
| 9 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 5–3 | 10 |
| 10 | Mon, Sept 5 | Edmonton Eskimos | 35–7 | Calgary Stampeders | | 35,650 | 6–3 | 12 |
| 11 | Fri, Sept 9 | Calgary Stampeders | 30–20 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 45,672 | 6–4 | 12 |
| 12 | Fri, Sept 16 | Edmonton Eskimos | 38–23 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | | 22,654 | 7–4 | 14 |
| 13 | Fri, Sept 23 | Montreal Alouettes | 34–21 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 40,274 | 7–5 | 14 |
| 14 | Fri, Sept 30 | Edmonton Eskimos | 24–33 | BC Lions | | 50,213 | 7–6 | 14 |
| 15 | Mon, Oct 10 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 1–17 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 38,054 | 8–6 | 16 |
| 16 | Sat, Oct 15 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 10–24 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 30,734 | 9–6 | 18 |
| 17 | Fri, Oct 21 | Edmonton Eskimos | 31–24 | Toronto Argonauts | | 19,176 | 10–6 | 20 |
| 18 | Sat, Oct 29 | Edmonton Eskimos | 20–29 | BC Lions | | 29,749 | 10–7 | 20 |
| 19 | Fri, Nov 4 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 20–23 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 30,845 | 11–7 | 22 |
Total attendance: 311,629
Average attendance: 34,625 (58.2%)

### Coaching staff
## Playoffs
### Schedule

| Game | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | OT | Attendance | Result |
| West Semi-Final | Sun, Nov 13 | Calgary Stampeders | 19–33 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 30,183 | Win |
| West Final | Sun, Nov 20 | Edmonton Eskimos | 23–40 | BC Lions | | 41,313 | Loss |

### Bracket

| November 13: Division Semi-Finals | November 13: Division Semi-Finals | November 13: Division Semi-Finals | November 20: Division Finals | November 20: Division Finals | November 20: Division Finals | November 27: 99th Grey Cup BC Place Stadium – Vancouver | November 27: 99th Grey Cup BC Place Stadium – Vancouver | November 27: 99th Grey Cup BC Place Stadium – Vancouver |
| | | | E3 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 3 | | | |
| East | East | East | E3 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 3 | | | |
| East | East | East | E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 19 | | | |
| E3 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 52* | E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 19 | | | |
| E2 | Montreal Alouettes | 44 | | | | | | |
| E2 | Montreal Alouettes | 44 | | | | E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 23 |
| | | | | | | W1 | BC Lions | 34 |
| | | | W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 23 | | | |
| West | West | West | W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 23 | | | |
| West | West | West | W1 | BC Lions | 40 | | | |
| W3 | Calgary Stampeders | 19 | W1 | BC Lions | 40 | | | |
| W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 33 | | | | | | |
*-Team won in Overtime.

### West Semi-Final

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Stampeders | 8 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 19 |
| • Eskimos | 3 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 33 |

### West Final

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eskimos | 0 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 23 |
| • Lions | 6 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 40 |