2008 Toronto Argonauts season

Last updated
2008 Toronto Argonauts season
General manager Adam Rita
Head coach Rich Stubler (to Sept. 9)
Don Matthews (Sept. 9 to Oct. 31)
Home stadium Rogers Centre
Results
Record4–14
Division place3rd, East
Playoffsdid not qualify
Uniform
CFL TOR Jersey 2008.png

The 2008 Toronto Argonauts season was the 51st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and 136th season overall. The Argonauts attempted to win their 16th Grey Cup, but they failed to make the playoffs ending the season on a nine-game losing streak.

Contents

Offseason

CFL draft

In the 2008 CFL Draft, 48 players were chosen from among 752 eligible players [1] from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The first two rounds were broadcast on TSN.ca with host Rod Black.

RoundPickPlayerPositionSchool/Club Team
213 Mike Bradwell WR McMaster
321 Jean-Nicolas Carriere LB McGill
429 Delroy Clarke DB Ottawa
537 Richard Zulys OL Western Ontario
642 (via Edmonton) Mark Dewit OL Calgary
644 (via Montreal) Tyler Scott RECWestern Ontario
645 Matt Black DB Saginaw Valley

Notable transactions

Quarterback Kerry Joseph jogs offs the Rogers Centre field Kerry Joseph 4.jpg
Quarterback Kerry Joseph jogs offs the Rogers Centre field
DateTypeIncomingOutgoingTeam
March 5, 2008Trade
  • Kerry Joseph, Quarterback Flag of the United States.svg
  • Riders third round pick in the 2010 CFL Draft
  • Glenn January, Offensive Tackle Flag of the United States.svg
  • Ronald Flemons, Defensive Lineman Flag of the United States.svg
  • Argonauts first round selection in the 2008 CFL Draft
  • Argonauts second round selection in the 2010 CFL Draft
Saskatchewan Roughriders

[2]

Allen retires as pro football's career passing leader with 72,381 yards. He played on four Grey Cup-winning teams and in 2005, he captured the league's outstanding player award. [4]

Rosters

Preseason roster

As of June 10, 2008

2008 Toronto Argonauts preseason roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Receivers

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Injured Reserve Injuryicon.jpg

Suspended list

Practice Roster


Italics indicates Import player
Roster updated 2008-06-10
Depth Chart Transactions
69 Active, 3 Inactive

End of season roster

2008 Toronto Argonauts final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Receivers

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Practice Roster

Italics indicates Import player
Roster updated 2008-10-31
Depth Chart Transactions
55 Active, 4 PR

Schedule

Preseason

WeekDateOpponentLocationFinal scoreAttendanceRecord
AJune 12@ Alouettes Molson Stadium T 34 – 3420,2020–0–1
BJune 19 Tiger-Cats Rogers Centre L 28 – 2121,4220–1–1

[5]

Regular season

WeekDateOpponentLocationFinal scoreAttendanceRecord
1June 27@ Blue Bombers Canad Inns Stadium W 23 – 1626,1551–0
2July 3 Tiger-Cats Rogers Centre L 32 – 1330,8221–1
3July 10@ Eskimos Commonwealth Stadium L 47 – 2831,7071–2
4July 20 Eskimos Rogers Centre W 35 – 3128,5222–2
5July 27@ Roughriders Mosaic Stadium L 28 – 2228,8002–3
6August 1 Blue Bombers Rogers Centre W 19 – 1128,5233–3
7August 7@ Tiger-Cats Ivor Wynne Stadium L 45 – 2119,4233–4
8August 15 Alouettes Rogers Centre L 32 – 1430,5213–5
9Bye
10September 1@ Tiger-Cats Ivor Wynne Stadium W 34 – 3125,9114–5
11September 7@ Alouettes Molson Stadium L 45 – 1920,2024–6
12September 12 Blue Bombers Rogers Centre L 39 – 928,4534–7
13September 20@ Stampeders McMahon Stadium L 34 – 433,1354–8
14September 27 Stampeders Rogers Centre L 44 – 1628,6724–9
15October 3 Lions Rogers Centre L 24 – 2028,2734–10
16October 10@ Blue Bombers Canad Inns Stadium L 25 – 1627,2684–11
17October 18 Alouettes Rogers Centre L 43 – 3430,2624–12
18October 25@ Lions BC Place Stadium L 55 – 3235,9944–13
19October 30 Roughriders Rogers Centre L 45 – 3828,6544–14

[5]

Regular season

Toronto started the season off well, winning against the Blue Bombers 23–16, but after that they compiled a 2–5 record the next 7 games. After the Bye week, everything went downhill, they won only one game and lost 9 start to finish the season 4–14 and missed the playoffs.

A raucous Labour Day crowd of 25,911 at Ivor Wynne Stadium witnessed a game that ended with a 34–31 Argo victory, the team's first win against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the season. Argo head coach Rich Stubler's job was rumoured to be on the line. [6] Argos receiver Arland Bruce III found time for a little theatrics, celebrating an 11-yard TD catch by donning a Spider-Man mask produced from his pants. [6] Several days later, the Canadian Football League fined the Argonauts receiver an undisclosed amount for his touchdown celebration. [7] Game officials had handed Bruce an objectionable conduct penalty after the incident. Bruce went on to have his best game of the season, catching 10 passes for a game-high 149 yards. [7]

On September 9, Stubler was released as head coach of the Argonauts after posting a 4–6 record. There was the belief he could not get along with those he worked with. [8] The Argos hired Don Matthews, the head coach with the most wins in CFL history and head coach during Toronto's back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 1996 and 1997, to return to the club as head coach for the third time in his coaching career. [9]

During the team's next game on September 12 at Rogers Centre, Winnipeg Blue Bombers slotback Milt Stegall became the most prolific receiver in the history of the CFL. [10] The slotback caught a 92-yard pass at 9:02 in the second quarter to raise his career total to 14,983, breaking the mark of 14,891 yards previously held by former Stampeders receiver Allen Pitts. [10] Stegall took a pass from Kevin Glenn and scored a touchdown, his second of the game. It put the Bombers ahead 28–3. [10]

On October 31, Matthews resigned from the Argonauts a day after the conclusion of the Argonauts 2008 regular season, which saw the Argos fail to win a game in the eight games under his leadership and finishing out of the playoffs for the first time since the 2001 CFL season. [11]

Season standings

TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Montreal Alouettes 18117061044322 Details
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18810043549016 Details
Toronto Argonauts 1841403976278 Details
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 1831504415936 Details

Statistics

Offence

Passing

PlayerAttComp %YardsTDINTRating
Kerry Joseph53630757.34174171482.0
Cody Pickett1046360.66101272.2
Reggie McNeal200.00002.1

[12]

Rushing

PlayerAttYardsAvg,TDFumbles
Jamal Robertson1176455.562
Kerry Joseph784936.347
Dominique Dorsey6441 06.422
Jeff Johnson8313.910

[12]

Receiving

[13]

PlayerReceptionsYardsTouchdowns
Arland Bruce 9212109
Andre Talbot 769154
Reggie McNeal 436062
P. K. Sam 364993
James Robinson 253811
Tyler Scott 193090
Dominique Dorsey 152860

Defence

Postseason

The Argos finished third in the East Division with a record of 4 wins and 14 losses. The Edmonton Eskimos, who finished fourth in the West, had a better record of 10 and 8, and under the cross-over rule eliminated Toronto from the playoffs and play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East semi-final.

Awards and records

Milestones

References

  1. "Draft List for Year 2008" (PDF). Canadian Football League. 2008-01-28. Retrieved 6 May 2008.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. McCormick, Murray (March 5, 2008). "Dealt to Argos". Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-12 via Canada.com.
  3. "Argonauts add former NFLer Bethel Johnson". CBC News. May 26, 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  4. "CFL legend calling it quits". Canoe. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "2008 Toronto Argonauts" . Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  6. 1 2 Zelkovich, Chris (September 2, 2008). "Argos hang on to beat Ticats". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Posted Sports". network.nationalpost.com.
  8. Simmons, Steve (2009-09-10). "Stubler just didn't fit". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  9. "Argos fire Stubler, bring back Matthews". CBC Sports. 2008-09-09. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  10. 1 2 3 "CFL on Yahoo Canada Sports – News, Scores, Standings, Rumours, Fantasy Games". Yahoo Sports.[ permanent dead link ]
  11. "Matthews quits as Argos coach". CBC Sports. 2008-10-31. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  12. 1 2 "CFL.ca". Archived from the original on 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
  13. "2008 Receiving Statistics". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on 2008-10-10. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  14. "CFL.ca - 2008 East & West Division All-Stars". Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2017-08-23.

Further reading

On training camp