# 2017 Ottawa Redblacks season

The 2017 Ottawa Redblacks season was the fourth season for the team in the Canadian Football League. The Redblacks finished in second place in the East Division with an 8–9–1 record and hosted a playoff game for the third consecutive year. The team lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the East Semi-Final in a season where Ottawa hosted the 105th Grey Cup championship at TD Place Stadium. This was the fourth season with Marcel Desjardins as general manager and Rick Campbell as head coach.

## Off-season
### Open Tryout Sessions

On January 15, 2017, the Redblacks announced they would be holding open tryouts across North America during the spring. The dates and locations are listed in the table below:
| Location | Venue | Date |
| Indianapolis, Indiana | Decatur Central High School | April 1 |
| Durham, North Carolina | North Carolina Central University | April 2 |
| Houston, Texas | Houston Baptist University - Husky Stadium | April 8 |
| San Jose, California | San Jose City College Stadium | April 9 |
| Atlanta, Georgia | Georgia State University | May 20 |
| Las Vegas, Nevada | Bill "Wildcat" Morris Rebel Park | May 21 |

### Coaching Staff

On December 23, 2016 the Redblacks announced they would be bringing back their entire coaching staff from the previous season.

### Retirements

On January 24, 2017 starting quarterback Henry Burris officially announced his retirement. Burris joined the Redblacks prior to their inaugural season, and was the team's starting quarterback for the franchise's first two seasons, and then again for portions of the 2016 season, eventually leading the team to victory in the 104th Grey Cup game. The retirement pushes Trevor Harris into the starting quarterback role, having acquired him prior to the 2016 season for the purpose of being Burris' successor.

### Free-Agency

The 2017 CFL free agency period officially opened at 12:00pm EST on February 14, 2017. Key transactions are listed below:

#### Retained

| Date | Position | Player Name |
| December 14, 2016 | LB | Antoine Pruneau |
| January 10, 2017 | LB | Taylor Reed |
| February 10, 2017 | WR | Greg Ellingson |
| February 13, 2017 | DB | Jerrell Gavins |
| February 14, 2017 | OL | Nolan MacMillan |
| March 9, 2017 | DL | Moton Hopkins |

#### Incoming

| Date | Position | Player Name | Former Team |
| February 14, 2017 | LB | Khalil Bass | Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
| February 14, 2017 | WR | Kenny Shaw | Toronto Argonauts |
| February 15, 2017 | DB | A.J. Jefferson | Toronto Argonauts |
| February 15, 2017 | WR | Diontae Spencer | Toronto Argonauts |
| May 4, 2017 | WR | Tori Gurley | Toronto Argonauts |

#### Departing

| Date | Position | Player Name | Destination |
| January 4, 2017 | DB | Forrest Hightower | New Orleans Saints (NFL) |
| January 4, 2017 | DB | Mitchell White | Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) |
| January 4, 2017 | DB | Jeff Richards | Carolina Panthers (NFL) |
| February 14, 2017 | DB | Abdul Kanneh | Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
| February 14, 2017 | RB | Kienan Lafrance | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
| February 16, 2017 | WR | Ernest Jackson | Montreal Alouettes |
| February 17, 2017 | WR | Chris Williams | BC Lions |

### CFL draft

The 2017 CFL Draft took place on May 7, 2017. The Redblacks made no trades in the draft and selected last in each of the eight rounds by virtue of winning the Grey Cup.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School | Hometown |
| 1 | 9 | Evan Johnson | OL | Saskatchewan | Regina, SK |
| 2 | 18 | Anthony Gosselin | FB | Sherbrooke | Otterburn Park, QC |
| 3 | 26 | Eli Ankou | DL | California, Los Angeles | Ottawa, ON |
| 4 | 35 | Louis-Philippe Bourassa | RB | Montreal | Trois-Rivières, QC |
| 5 | 44 | Mathieu Dupuis | DL | Montreal | Laval, QC |
| 6 | 53 | Austen Hartley | WR | Calgary | Calgary, AB |
| 7 | 62 | Ed Ilnicki | RB | Alberta | Spruce Grove, AB |
| 8 | 71 | Jordan Filippelli | OL | Calgary | Sherwood Park, AB |

### Training camp

Non-mandatory spring mini-camp was held on April 27–29 at TD Place stadium. Mini-camp focused on quarterbacks, rookies and new signings. Mandatory training camp began on May 28 and will continue through June 14. Training camp consists of 12 practices, 2 walkthroughs and 1 mock game on June 3. Like in previous seasons the sessions of both the mini-camp and training camp were open for the public to view.

## Preseason
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| A | Thu, June 8 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 30–29 | 1–0 | TSN | TD Place Stadium | 23,252 | Recap |
| B | Thu, June 15 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | at Montreal Alouettes | L 5–38 | 1–1 | TSN2/RDS | Molson Stadium | 12,533 | Recap |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.

## Regular season
### Standings

East Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 482 | 456 | 6–2 | W2 | Details |
| Ottawa Redblacks | 18 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 17 | 495 | 452 | 5–3 | W3 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 443 | 545 | 4–4 | W1 | Details |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 314 | 580 | 1–7 | L11 | Details |

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| 1 | Fri, June 23 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | vs. Calgary Stampeders | T 31–31 (2OT) | 0–0–1 | TSN/RDS/ESPNews | TD Place Stadium | 24,565 | Recap |
| 2 | Thu, June 29 | 9:00 p.m. EDT | at Calgary Stampeders | L 39–43 | 0–1–1 | TSN/RDS | McMahon Stadium | 24,613 | Recap |
| 3 | Sat, July 8 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | vs. Toronto Argonauts | L 25–26 | 0–2–1 | TSN/RDS | TD Place Stadium | 24,347 | Recap |
| 4 | Fri, July 14 | 10:00 p.m. EDT | at Edmonton Eskimos | L 21–23 | 0–3–1 | TSN | Commonwealth Stadium | 36,260 | Recap |
| 5 | Wed, July 19 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | vs. Montreal Alouettes | W 24–19 | 1–3–1 | TSN/RDS | TD Place Stadium | 24,756 | Recap |
| 5 | Mon, July 24 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | at Toronto Argonauts | L 24–27 | 1–4–1 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | BMO Field | 15,801 | Recap |
| 6 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 7 | Fri, Aug 4 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 30–33 | 1–5–1 | TSN/RDS | TD Place Stadium | 23,725 | Recap |
| 8 | Thu, Aug 10 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | L 20–27 | 1–6–1 | TSN/RDS | TD Place Stadium | 23,851 | Recap |
| 9 | Fri, Aug 18 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 37–18 | 2–6–1 | TSN/RDS | Tim Hortons Field | 23,524 | Recap |
| 10 | Sat, Aug 26 | 3:30 p.m. EDT | vs. BC Lions | W 31–24 | 3–6–1 | TSN/RDS2 | TD Place Stadium | 24,887 | Recap |
| 11 | Thu, Aug 31 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | at Montreal Alouettes | W 32–4 | 4–6–1 | TSN/RDS | Molson Stadium | 18,325 | Recap |
| 12 | Sat, Sept 9 | 6:00 p.m. EDT | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 22–26 | 4–7–1 | TSN/RDS2 | TD Place Stadium | 24,901 | Recap |
| 13 | Sun, Sept 17 | 1:00 p.m. EDT | at Montreal Alouettes | W 29–11 | 5–7–1 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | Molson Stadium | 22,596 | Recap |
| 14 | Fri, Sept 22 | 8:00 p.m. EDT | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 9–29 | 5–8–1 | TSN/RDS | Investor's Group Field | 26,588 | Recap |
| 15 | Fri, Sept 29 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 17–18 | 5–9–1 | TSN | TD Place Stadium | 24,893 | Recap |
| 16 | Sat, Oct 7 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | at BC Lions | W 30–25 | 6–9–1 | TSN | BC Place | 19,324 | Recap |
| 17 | Fri, Oct 13 | 10:00 p.m. EDT | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 33–32 | 7–9–1 | TSN | Mosaic Stadium | 33,350 | Recap |
| 18 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 19 | Fri, Oct 27 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 41–36 | 8–9–1 | TSN | TD Place Stadium | 24,781 | Recap |
| 20 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.
    # Games played with white uniforms.

## Post-season
### Schedule

| Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Score | Record | TV | Venue | Attendance | Summary |
| East Semi-Final | Sun, Nov 12 | 1:00 p.m. EST | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 20–31 | 0–1 | TSN/RDS/ESPN2 | TD Place Stadium | 24,107 | Recap |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.