2020 Toronto Argonauts season

2020 Toronto Argonauts season
General manager	Michael Clemons
Head coach	Ryan Dinwiddie
Home field	BMO Field
Results
Record	N/A
Division place	N/A, East
Playoff finish	Season cancelled
←  2019 Argonauts seasons 2021  →

The 2020 Toronto Argonauts season was scheduled to be the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 148th year of existence. This would have been the first full season with Michael Clemons as general manager following his appointment mid-way through the 2019 season. ^[1] This would have also been the first season for head coach Ryan Dinwiddie. ^[2]

Training camps, pre-season games, and regular season games were initially postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto. The CFL announced on April 7, 2020, that the start of the 2020 season would not occur before July 2020. ^[3] On May 20, 2020, it was announced that the league would likely not begin regular season play prior to September 2020. ^[4] On August 17, 2020, however, the season was officially cancelled due to COVID-19. ^[5]

Offseason

Personnel changes

Following the end of a disappointing season for first-year head coach, Corey Chamblin, new general manager, Michael Clemons, stated that Chamblin's position would undergo a thorough review. ^[6] Over a month later, on December 12, 2019, it was announced that Chamblin would be relieved of his coaching duties and Ryan Dinwiddie would be named the team's new head coach, the 45th in team history. ^[2]

CFL National Draft

The 2020 CFL National Draft took place on April 30, 2020. ^[7] The Argonauts held the second selection in each round of the draft by virtue of finishing second to last in the 2019 league standings, less any traded picks. ^[8] They obtained another first-round pick and gained a third-round pick after trading Zach Collaros and a fifth-round pick to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. ^[9] To acquire Collaros, the Argonauts traded their fourth-round pick to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. ^[10] The team swapped a third-round pick for a fifth-round pick with the Montreal Alouettes that saw the club acquire Ryan Bomben. ^[11] The Argonauts traded a seventh-round pick and Martese Jackson to Edmonton in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2019 CFL Draft. ^{[12] [8]} The team also traded an eighth-round selection to Montreal in exchange for Boseko Lokombo. ^[13]

The team also gained a territorial selection for the second consecutive year after finishing in the bottom two of the previous year's standings. ^{[8] [14]}

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School	Hometown
1	2	Dejon Brissett	WR	Virginia	Mississauga, ON
1	9	Theren Churchill	OL	Regina	Stettler, AB
2	11	Jack Cassar	LB	Carleton	Mississauga, ON
3	20T	Samuel Acheampong	DL	Wilfrid Laurier	Brampton, ON
3	28	Dylan Giffen	OL	Western	Strathroy, ON
5	42	Dion Pellerin	RB	Waterloo	Abbotsford, BC
6	48	Samuel Baker	WR	Saskatchewan	Esterhazy, SK

CFL Global Draft

The 2020 CFL Global Draft was scheduled to take place on April 16, 2020. ^[15] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this draft and its accompanying combine were postponed to occur just before the start of training camp, which was ultimately cancelled. ^{[3] [16]} The Argonauts were scheduled to select second in each round with the number of rounds never announced. ^[15]

Planned schedule

Preseason

For the third consecutive season, the Argonauts were scheduled to play their home pre-season game at a U Sports football stadium. ^[17]

Week	Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	TV	Venue
A	Bye
B	1	Thu, May 28	11:00 a.m. EDT	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	NA	Varsity Stadium
C	2	Sat, June 6	1:00 p.m. EDT	at Montreal Alouettes	NA	Molson Stadium

^{[17] [18]}

Regular season

The Argonauts were scheduled to be the home team for a neutral site game for the Week 7 match-up with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. ^[17] The league had been contemplating returning to Moncton, having been there in the previous season, but it was officially announced on January 23, 2020, that a Touchdown Atlantic game would be played in Halifax at Huskies Stadium. ^{[19] [20]} However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced on May 20, 2020, that the game was cancelled. ^[4]

Week	Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	TV	Venue
1	1	Fri, June 12	7:00 p.m. EDT	at Ottawa Redblacks	TSN	TD Place Stadium
2	2	Sat, June 20	7:00 p.m. EDT	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	TSN	BMO Field
3	Bye
4	3	Sat, July 4	7:00 p.m. EDT	vs. Calgary Stampeders	TSN	BMO Field
5	4	Sat, July 11	7:00 p.m. EDT	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	TSN	Mosaic Stadium
6	5	Fri, July 17	9:30 p.m. EDT	at Edmonton Football Team	TSN	Commonwealth Stadium
7	6	Sat, July 25	4:00 p.m. EDT	vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders	TSN	Huskies Stadium
8	7	Fri, July 31	7:00 p.m. EDT	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	TSN	BMO Field
9	8	Sat, August 8	7:00 p.m. EDT	at Calgary Stampeders	TSN	McMahon Stadium
10	Bye
11	9	Sat, August 22	4:00 p.m. EDT	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	TSN	BMO Field
12	10	Fri, August 28	7:00 p.m. EDT	vs. Montreal Alouettes	TSN/RDS	BMO Field
13	11	Mon, Sept 7	1:00 p.m. EDT	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	TSN	Tim Hortons Field
14	12	Sat, Sept 12	10:00 p.m. EDT	at BC Lions	TSN	BC Place
15	13	Sat, Sept 19	4:00 p.m. EDT	vs. Ottawa Redblacks	TSN	BMO Field
16	14	Sat, Sept 26	7:00 p.m. EDT	at Ottawa Redblacks	TSN	TD Place Stadium
17	15	Fri, Oct 2	7:00 p.m. EDT	vs. BC Lions	TSN	BMO Field
18	16	Mon, Oct 12	1:00 p.m. EDT	at Montreal Alouettes	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium
19	17	Sat, Oct 17	7:00 p.m. EDT	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	TSN	IG Field
20	Bye
21	18	Sat, Oct 31	1:00 p.m. EDT	vs. Edmonton Football Team	TSN	BMO Field

^{[17] [18]}

Team

Roster

Toronto Argonauts roster

Quarterbacks  4 McLeod Bethel-Thompson -- Matt Nichols 13 Michael O'Connor Receivers -- Natey Adjei -- Dres Anderson -- Joel Blumenthal QB/WR -- Juwan Brescacin -- DaVaris Daniels -- Jawill Davis -- Keyarris Garrett 80 Kurleigh Gittens, Jr. 83 Damion Jeanpiere -- Kyle Lewis -- Vince Mayle -- Nyquan Murray 84 Llevi Noel -- Kent Shelby -- Brandon Sheperd -- Kwadarrius Smith 00 Chandler Worthy -- Isaac Zico		Running backs -- Trayone Gray 34 AJ Ouellette 33 Bishop Sankey -- Marcus Thigpen -- Karlos Williams Fullbacks 25 Régis Cibasu 38 Declan Cross Offensive linemen -- Jatitus Allen -- Dariusz Bladek -- Dontavius Blair -- Philip Blake 66 Isiah Cage 67 Jamal Campbell 50 Roubbens Joseph -- Norman Price 59 Randy Richards 68 Shane Richards 62 Maurice Simba -- Eric Starczala		Defensive linemen -- Alex Bazzie -- Ryan Davis -- Fabion Foote -- Obinna Iheoma -- Julian McCleod -- Rickey Neal -- Drake Nevis -- Earl Okine -- Ronald Ollie -- Craig Roh -- Whitney Richardson 39 Robbie Smith 42 Jhaustin Thomas -- Prince Unaegbu Linebackers -- Chris Ackie -- Curtis Akins -- Jason Beck -- Travis Feeney 54 Kennan Gilchrist -- Jeff Knox Jr. -- Paul Kozachuk 12 Nelkas Kwemo -- Boseko Lokombo -- Jordan Moore -- Nick Shortill 48 Bear Woods		Defensive backs 28 Matthew Boateng 20 Jalin Burrell -- Crezdon Butler -- Tommie Campbell -- Arjen Colquhoun  3 Alden Darby 16 Cam Glenn -- Chris Humes -- Stanley Jean-Baptiste -- Ermon Lane -- Travis Lee -- Davontae Merriweather -- Jordan Powell -- Denzel Radford -- Malik Reaves -- Jeff Richards  1 Shaquille Richardson -- James Sample -- Kadeem Satchell  7 Robert Woodson -- Dondre Wright Special teams -- Boris Bede K 58 Jake Reinhart LS
Italics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player • 89 Roster Roster updated 2020-08-17 • Depth chart • Transactions (argonauts.ca) • Transactions (cfl.ca) • More CFL rosters

Coaching staff

Toronto Argonauts staff

	Front office and support staff Owner – Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment President – Bill Manning General manager – Michael Clemons Director of player personnel – John Murphy Director of Canadian scouting – Vince Magri Player relations advisor and football ops assistant – Matt Black Coordinator of logistics – Alex Russell Equipment manager – Danny Webb Assistant equipment manager – David Sillberg Head athletic therapist – Josh Shewell Assistant athletic therapist – Mark Belmore			Head coaches Head coach – Ryan Dinwiddie Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks – Jarious Jackson Receivers – Markus Howell Running backs – Fred Reid Offensive line – Stephen McAdoo Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Glen Young Defensive backs – Ike Charlton Linebackers – Kevin Eiben Defensive line – Mike Davis Defensive assistant – Merritt Bowden Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Mark Nelson Assistant special teams – Kevin Eiben Assistant special teams – Merritt Bowden → Coaching Staff Archived 2015-11-28 at the Wayback Machine → More CFL staffs

References

1. CFL.ca Staff (October 8, 2019). "Argos relieve GM Jim Popp of duties". CFL.ca. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
2. "Ryan Dinwiddie named 45th head coach in Argos history". Toronto Argonauts . December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
3. "Ambrosie issues statement on behalf of CFL". cfl.ca. April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
4. "CFL provides update regarding 2020". Canadian Football League. May 20, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
5. "CFL not to play shortened season in the fall". Canadian Football League. August 17, 2020.
6. "Corey Chamblin's position as Toronto Argonauts coach pending review". The Star. November 3, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
7. "CFL to hold global player combines in Europe, Mexico and, and Japan". press.cfl.ca. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
8. "2020 CFL Draft". CFL.ca. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
9. "Bombers acquire Zach Collaros from Argos". October 9, 2019.
10. "Zach's Back: Argos acquire Collaros from Riders". July 31, 2019.
11. "Als, Argos swap Heath for Bomben in trade". July 29, 2018.
12. "Esks acquire Martese Jackson from Argos". September 10, 2018.
13. "Argos acquire rights to LB Lokombo in trade with Als". cfl.ca. Canadian Football League. January 31, 2020.
14. "CFL Draft to feature territorial picks". CFL.ca. April 17, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
15. "Key dates to circle on your calendar in 2020". CFL.ca. January 27, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
16. "CFL Global Draft rescheduled as lead-in event prior to training camp". CFL.ca. March 24, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
17. "Argos 2020 schedule released". Toronto Argonauts. December 2019.
18. "2020 CFL Schedule". cfl.ca. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
19. "CFL commissioner envisions first international regular-season game in 2021". cbc.ca. January 7, 2020.
20. "The biggest CFL Touchdown Atlantic ever is coming to Halifax this summer". Canadian Football League. January 23, 2020.

External links

• Official website