# 2021 Toronto Argonauts season

The 2021 Toronto Argonauts season was the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 148th year of existence. The Argonauts improved on their 4–14 record from their previous season in 2019 with a win in week 10 against the Ottawa Redblacks on October 6, 2021. The team qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2017, on October 30, 2021, with a win over the BC Lions. The Argonauts then clinched first place in the East Division after defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on November 12, 2021. However, the Argonauts lost to the same Tiger-Cats in the East Final after holding a 12–0 halftime lead, but were unable to score a touchdown and lost 27–19.
This was the first full season with Michael Clemons as general manager following his appointment mid-way through the 2019 season. This was also the first season for head coach Ryan Dinwiddie.
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 Argonauts selected third in the odd-numbered rounds and seventh in the even-numbered rounds. The team exchanged their third-round pick for a fourth-round pick as part of a three-player trade with the Calgary Stampeders.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | University/Club Team | Nationality |
| 1 | 3 | Tigie Sankoh | DB | London Warriors | Great Britain |
| 2 | 16 | Toshiki Sato | K | IBM Big Blue | Japan |
| 4 | 30 | Max Duffy | P | Kentucky | Australia |
| 4 | 34 | Sammis Reyes | REC | Tulane | Chile |

### CFL National Draft

The 2021 CFL Draft took place on May 4, 2021. The Argonauts had seven selections in the six-round snake draft and had the seventh pick in odd rounds and the third pick in even rounds. The team acquired an additional fourth-round selection after trading Shawn Lemon to the BC Lions in exchange for Davon Coleman. The Argonauts also swapped their fifth-round pick for the Stampeders' sixth round-pick in a three-player trade and they exchanged sixth-round picks with the Blue Bombers in the trade for Cody Speller.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | University Team | Hometown |
| 1 | 7 | Peter Nicastro | OL | Calgary | Calgary, AB |
| 2 | 12 | Sage Doxtater | OL | New Mexico State | Welland, ON |
| 3 | 25 | Luiji Vilain | DL | Michigan | Ottawa, ON |
| 4 | 30 | Tommy Nield | WR | McMaster | Guelph, ON |
| 4 | 33 | Trevor Hoyte | LB | Carleton | Gatineau, QC |
| 6 | 47 | Joshua Hagerty | DB | Saskatchewan | Regina, SK |
| 6 | 52 | Benjamin St-Juste | DB | Minnesota | Montreal, QC |

## Preseason

Pre-season games were not played due to the shortening of the season.

### Planned schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | TV | Venue |
| A | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| B | 1 | Thu, May 27 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | NA | BMO Field |
| C | 2 | Thu, June 3 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | NA | Tim Hortons Field |

## 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 Argonauts initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 19 and ending on October 30. The team was scheduled to be the home team for a neutral site game at an unannounced location on July 10 for a match-up with the Calgary Stampeders. 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 Argonauts began their 14-game season on August 7, 2021.
On August 22, 2021, it was announced that the Edmonton Elks had several players test positive for COVID-19, so the August 26, 2021 game was postponed with the rescheduled date to be declared once the Elks pass health and safety protocols. The CFL announced on September 2, 2021, that the game was rescheduled for Tuesday, November 16, 2021, where the Argonauts originally had a bye week.
| 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 | 7:00 p.m. EDT | @ Calgary Stampeders | W 23–20 | 1–0 | TSN | McMahon Stadium | 23,921 | Recap |
| 2 | 2 | Fri, Aug 13 | 8:30 p.m. EDT | @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 7–20 | 1–1 | TSN/RDS | IG Field | 22,143 | Recap |
| 3 | 3 | Sat, Aug 21 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 30–23 | 2–1 | TSN/ESPN2 | BMO Field | 9,866 | Recap |
| 4 | Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) | Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) | Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) | Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) | Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) | Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) | Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) | Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) | Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) | Bye (originally scheduled for Thurs, Aug 26, vs. Edmonton Elks; rescheduled to week 16) |
| 5 | 4 | Mon, Sept 6 | 1:00 p.m. EDT | @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 19–32 | 2–2 | TSN/RDS2 | Tim Hortons Field | 15,000 | Recap |
| 6 | 5 | Fri, Sept 10 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 17–16 | 3–2 | TSN/RDS2 | BMO Field | 9,702 | Recap |
| 7 | 6 | Fri, Sept 17 | 9:45 p.m. EDT | @ Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 16–30 | 3–3 | TSN | Mosaic Stadium | 25,883 | Recap |
| 8 | 7 | Fri, Sept 24 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Montreal Alouettes | W 30–27 | 4–3 | TSN/RDS | BMO Field | 7,758 | Recap |
| 9 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 10 | 8 | Wed, Oct 6 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | Ottawa Redblacks | W 35–16 | 5–3 | TSN/RDS2 | BMO Field | 6,788 | Recap |
| 10 | 9 | Mon, Oct 11 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 24–23 | 6–3 | TSN | Tim Hortons Field | 21,378 | Recap |
| 11 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 12 | 10 | Fri, Oct 22 | 7:30 p.m. EDT | @ Montreal Alouettes | L 16–37 | 6–4 | TSN/RDS | Molson Stadium | 12,142 | Recap |
| 13 | 11 | Sat, Oct 30 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | BC Lions | W 31–29 (OT) | 7–4 | TSN | BMO Field | 9,011 | Recap |
| 14 | 12 | Sat, Nov 6 | 4:00 p.m. EDT | @ Ottawa Redblacks | W 23–20 | 8–4 | TSN/RDS2 | TD Place Stadium | 18,644 | Recap |
| 15 | 13 | Fri, Nov 12 | 7:30 p.m. EST | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 31–12 | 9–4 | TSN/ESPNews | BMO Field | 10,851 | Recap |
| 16 | 14 | Tues, Nov 16 † | 7:30 p.m. EST | Edmonton Elks | L 7–13 | 9–5 | TSN | BMO Field | 6,247 | Recap |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.
    # Games played with white uniforms.
    † Game rescheduled from August 26 due to an outbreak of COVID-19 among Edmonton players.

## 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 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| East Final | Sun, Dec 5 | 12:30 p.m. EST | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 19–27 | 0–1 | TSN/RDS/ESPNews | BMO Field | 21,492 | Recap |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.