2008 Toronto Argonauts season

2008 Toronto Argonauts season
Head coach

Rich Stubler (to Sept. 9)

Don Matthews (Sept. 9 to Oct. 31)
General manager Adam Rita
Home field Rogers Centre
Results
Record 4–14–0
Division place 3rd, East
Playoff finish did not qualify
Uniform

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.

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.

Round Pick Player Position School/Club Team
2 13 Mike Bradwell WR McMaster
3 21 Jean-Nicolas Carriere LB McGill
4 29 Delroy Clarke DB Ottawa
5 37 Richard Zulys OL Western Ontario
6 42 (via Edmonton) Mark Dewit OL Calgary
6 44 (via Montreal) Tyler Scott REC Western Ontario
6 45 Matt Black DB Saginaw Valley

Notable transactions

Quarterback Kerry Joseph jogs offs the Rogers Centre field
Date Type Incoming Outgoing Team
March 5, 2008 Trade
  • Kerry Joseph, Quarterback
  • Riders third round pick in the 2010 CFL Draft
  • Glenn January, Offensive Tackle
  • Ronald Flemons, Defensive Lineman
  • 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

Pre-season roster

As of June 10, 2008

Toronto Argonauts roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Receivers

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special teams

Injured Reserve

Suspended list

Practice Roster


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

End of season roster

Toronto Argonauts 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 ChartTransactions
55 Active, 4 PR

Schedule

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Location Final Score Attendance Record
A June 12 @ Alouettes Molson Stadium T 34 – 34 20,202 0–0–1
B June 19 Tiger-Cats Rogers Centre L 28 – 21 21,422 0–1–1

[6]

Regular season

Week Date Opponent Location Final Score Attendance Record
1 June 27 @ Blue Bombers Canad Inns Stadium W 23 – 16 26,155 1–0
2 July 3 Tiger-Cats Rogers Centre L 32 – 13 30,822 1–1
3 July 10 @ Eskimos Commonwealth Stadium L 47 – 28 31,707 1–2
4 July 20 Eskimos Rogers Centre W 35 – 31 28,522 2–2
5 July 27 @ Roughriders Mosaic Stadium L 28 – 22 28,800 2–3
6 August 1 Blue Bombers Rogers Centre W 19 – 11 28,523 3–3
7 August 7 @ Tiger-Cats Ivor Wynne Stadium L 45 – 21 19,423 3–4
8 August 15 Alouettes Rogers Centre L 32 – 14 30,521 3–5
9 Bye
10 September 1 @ Tiger-Cats Ivor Wynne Stadium W 34 – 31 25,911 4–5
11 September 7 @ Alouettes Molson Stadium L 45 – 19 20,202 4–6
12 September 12 Blue Bombers Rogers Centre L 39 – 9 28,453 4–7
13 September 20 @ Stampeders McMahon Stadium L 34 – 4 33,135 4–8
14 September 27 Stampeders Rogers Centre L 44 – 16 28,672 4–9
15 October 3 Lions Rogers Centre L 24 – 20 28,273 4–10
16 October 10 @ Blue Bombers Canad Inns Stadium L 25 – 16 27,268 4–11
17 October 18 Alouettes Rogers Centre L 43 – 34 30,262 4–12
18 October 25 @ Lions BC Place Stadium L 55 – 32 35,994 4–13
19 October 30 Roughriders Rogers Centre L 45 – 38 28,654 4–14

[6]

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 Ti-cats of the season. Argo head coach Rich Stubler's job was rumoured to be on the line.[7] Argos receiver Arland Bruce III found time for a little theatrics, celebrating an 11-yard TD catch by donning a Spiderman mask produced from his pants.[7] Several days later, the Canadian Football League fined the Argonauts receiver an undisclosed amount for his touchdown celebration against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats by donning a Spider-Man mask.[8] 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.[8]

On September 9, Rich Stubler was released as head coach of the Argonauts after posting a 4–6 record. There was the belief he couldn't get along with those he worked with.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] 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.[11] Stegall took a pass from Kevin Glenn and scored a touchdown, his second of the game. It put the Bombers ahead 28–3.[11]

On October 31, Don 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.[12]

Season standings

East Division
Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Y-Montreal Alouettes 18 11 7 0 610 443 22 Details
X-Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18 8 10 0 435 490 16 Details
Toronto Argonauts 18 4 14 0 397 627 8 Details
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 18 3 15 0 441 593 6 Details

Statistics

Offence

Passing

Player Att Comp % Yards TD INT Rating
Kerry Joseph 536 307 57.3 4174 17 14 82.0
Cody Pickett 104 63 60.6 610 1 2 72.2
Reggie McNeal 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 2.1

[13]

Rushing

Player Att Yards Avg, TD Fumbles
Jamal Robertson 117 645 5.5 6 2
Kerry Joseph 78 493 6.3 4 7
Dominique Dorsey 6441 0 6.4 2 2
Jeff Johnson 8 31 3.9 1 0

[13]

Receiving

[14]

Player Receptions Yards Touchdowns
Arland Bruce 92 1210 9
Andre Talbot 76 915 4
Reggie McNeal 43 606 2
P. K. Sam 36 499 3
James Robinson 25 381 1
Tyler Scott 19 309 0
Dominique Dorsey 15 286 0

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

References

Further reading

On training camp

External links

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