2018 Ottawa Redblacks season

The 2018 Ottawa Redblacks season was the fifth season for the team in the Canadian Football League. The Redblacks improved upon their 8–9–1 record from 2017, winning their ninth game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in an October 19 game, and finished with an 11–7 record. The team clinched a playoff berth and home playoff game for the fourth season in a row following the Toronto Argonauts' week 17 loss on October 6, 2018.^[1] After defeating the Tiger-Cats in the East Final, the Redblacks played in their third Grey Cup championship in four years, but lost to the Calgary Stampeders in the 106th Grey Cup game. This was the fifth season with Marcel Desjardins as general manager and Rick Campbell as head coach.

2018 Ottawa Redblacks season
General manager	Marcel Desjardins
Head coach	Rick Campbell
Home stadium	TD Place Stadium
Results
Record	11–7
Division place	1st, East
Playoffs	Lost Grey Cup
Team MOP	Trevor Harris
Team MOC	Brad Sinopoli
Team MOR	Lewis Ward
Uniform
← 2017 Redblacks seasons 2019 →

Off-season

Open Tryout Sessions

On February 15, 2018, the Redblacks announced they would be holding open tryouts across North America during the spring.^[2] The dates and locations are listed in the table below:

Location	Venue	Date
Indianapolis, Indiana	Decatur Central High School	April 14
Durham, North Carolina	North Carolina Central University	April 15
Houston, Texas	Houston Baptist University - Husky Stadium	May 5
Seattle, Washington	Foster High School Football Stadium	May 6
Atlanta, Georgia	Georgia State University	May 12
Las Vegas, Nevada	Bill "Wildcat" Morris Rebel Park	May 13

Coaching Staff

On November 29, 2017 the Redblacks announced they would not bring back four of their assistant coaches (Travis Moore, Bryan Chiu, Derek Oswalt & Ike Charlton) from the previous season.^[3] On December 4, 2017 the Redblacks announced the hire of Noel Thorpe as defensive coordinator (Thorpe will double as the defensive backs coach as well). Mark Nelson, who had been the team's defensive coordinator for four seasons, will remain with the club as a linebackers coach.^[4] Thorpe had been the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach of the Montreal Alouettes for the previous five seasons.

Position	2017	2018
Head coach	Rick Campbell
Offensive Coordinator	Jaime Elizondo
Defensive Coordinator	Mark Nelson	Noel Thorpe
Special Teams Coordinator	Bob Dyce
Running Backs	Beau Walker
Receivers	Travis Moore	Winston October
Offensive Line	Bryan Chiu	John McDonell
Defensive Line	Leroy Blugh
Linebackers	Derek Oswalt	Mark Nelson
Defensive Backs	Ike Charlton	Noel Thorpe
Assistant coach	Moton Hopkins
Offensive Assistant	Patrick Bourgon

Free-Agency

The 2018 CFL free agency period officially opened at 12:00pm EST on February 13, 2018.^[5] Key transactions are listed below:

Retained

Date	Player Name	Position	Ref.
November 30, 2017	Brad Sinopoli	WR	[6]
December 13, 2017	Trevor Harris	QB	[7]
January 15, 2018	William Powell	RB	[8]
January 24, 2018	Alex Mateas	OL	[9]
February 7, 2018	Diontae Spencer	WR	[10]
	Nolan MacMillan	OL
February 12, 2018	Jonathan Rose	DB	[11]

Additions

Date	Player Name	Position	Previous Team	Ref.
February 13, 2018	A.C. Leonard	DL	Saskatchewan Roughriders	[12]
	Loucheiz Purifoy	DB	BC Lions	[13]
February 14, 2018	Rico Murray	DB/LB	Toronto Argonauts	[14]
February 16, 2018	Kyries Hebert	LB	Montreal Alouettes	[15]

Departed

Date	Player Name	Position	New Team	Ref.
February 13, 2018	Zack Evans	DL	Saskatchewan Roughriders	[16]
February 20, 2018	Taylor Reed	LB	Toronto Argonauts	[17]

CFL draft

The 2018 CFL draft took place on May 3, 2018.^[18] The Redblacks held seven selections in the eight round draft after trading their fifth-round pick to Calgary for Drew Tate and forfeiting their sixth-round pick after selecting Austin Reuland in the 2017 Supplemental Draft.^[19][20] They then acquired another fourth-round pick after trading Jake Ceresna to Edmonton for Odell Willis and then trading Willis to the BC Lions for the draft pick.^[21]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School	Hometown
1	4	Mark Korte	OL	Alberta	Spruce Grove, AB
2	13	Marco Dubois	WR	Laval	Montreal, QC
3	22	Andrew Pickett	OL	Guelph	Kitchener, ON
4	29	Kene Onyeka	DL	Carleton	Brampton, ON
4	30	Mickael Cote	LB	Concordia	Beloeil, QC
7	55	Justin Howell	DB	Carleton	Bradford, ON
8	64	Jacob Czaja	OL	St. Francis Xavier	Sudbury, ON

Preseason

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
				Score	Record
A	Bye
B	Thu, May 31	7:30 p.m. EDT	vs. Montreal Alouettes	W 27–7	1–0	TSN/RDS	TD Place Stadium	20,539	Recap
C	Thu, Jun 7	7:30 p.m. EDT	at Toronto Argonauts	W 32–17	2–0	None	Alumni Stadium[22]	3,921	Recap

^[23]

 #  Games played with colour uniforms.

Regular season

Standings

East Division view talk edit
Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	PF	PA	Div	Stk
Ottawa Redblacks	18	11	7	0	22	464	420	6–2	W3	Details
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	18	8	10	0	16	513	456	4–4	L3	Details
Montreal Alouettes	18	5	13	0	10	345	512	4–4	W2	Details
Toronto Argonauts	18	4	14	0	8	369	560	2–6	L2	Details

Schedule

Week	Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
					Score	Record
1	Bye
2	1	Thu, June 21	7:30 p.m. EDT	Saskatchewan Roughriders	W 40–17	1–0	TSN/RDS	TD Place Stadium	24,224	Recap
3	2	Thu, June 28	9:00 p.m. EDT	@ Calgary Stampeders	L 14–24	1–1	TSN/RDS2	McMahon Stadium	23,454	Recap
4	3	Fri, July 6	7:30 p.m. EDT	@ Montreal Alouettes	W 28–18	2–1	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	16,718	Recap
5	4	Thu, July 12	7:30 p.m. EDT	Calgary Stampeders	L 3–27	2–2	TSN/RDS	TD Place Stadium	22,103	Recap
6	5	Fri, July 20	7:30 p.m. EDT	BC Lions	W 29–25	3–2	TSN/RDS	TD Place Stadium	21,319	Recap
7	6	Sat, July 28	4:00 p.m. EDT	@ Hamilton Tiger-Cats	W 21–15	4–2	TSN/ESPN2/RDS2	Tim Hortons Field	23,381	Recap
8	7	Thu, Aug 2	7:00 p.m. EDT	@ Toronto Argonauts	L 41–42	4–3	TSN/ESPN2/RDS	BMO Field	11,857	Recap
9	8	Sat, Aug 11	8:00 p.m. EDT	Montreal Alouettes	W 24–17	5–3	TSN/RDS	TD Place Stadium	25,161	Recap
10	9	Fri, Aug 17	8:30 p.m. EDT	@ Winnipeg Blue Bombers	W 44–21	6–3	TSN/RDS	Investors Group Field	27,602	Recap
11	Bye
12	10	Fri, Aug 31	7:30 p.m. EDT	Montreal Alouettes	L 11–21	6–4	TSN/RDS	TD Place Stadium	25,132	Recap
13	11	Fri, Sept 7	10:00 p.m. EDT	@ BC Lions	L 14–26	6–5	TSN	BC Place	17,529	Recap
14	12	Sat, Sept 15	9:30 p.m. EDT	@ Saskatchewan Roughriders	W 30–25	7–5	TSN/RDS	Mosaic Stadium	33,350	Recap
15	13	Sat, Sept 22	4:00 p.m. EDT	Edmonton Eskimos	W 28–15	8–5	TSN/RDS2	TD Place Stadium	24,800	Recap
16	Bye
17	14	Fri, Oct 5	7:30 p.m. EDT	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 32–40 (OT)	8–6	TSN	TD Place Stadium	21,027	Recap
18	15	Sat, Oct 13	5:00 p.m. EDT	@ Edmonton Eskimos	L 16–34	8–7	TSN/RDS2	Commonwealth Stadium	27,163	Recap
19	16	Fri, Oct 19	7:00 p.m. EDT	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	W 35–31	9–7	TSN/RDS2	TD Place Stadium	23,534	Recap
20	17	Sat, Oct 27	4:00 p.m. EDT	@ Hamilton Tiger-Cats	W 30–13	10–7	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	23,329	Recap
21	18	Fri, Nov 2	7:30 p.m. EDT	Toronto Argonauts	W 24–9	11–7	TSN/RDS	TD Place Stadium	22,185	Recap

^[23]

 #  Games played with colour uniforms.

 #  Games played with white uniforms.

Post-season

Schedule

With their victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Ottawa Redblacks clinched their third Grey Cup birth in four years having won the 2016 Championship Game in Toronto. Trevor Harris threw a playoff record six touchdown passes in the game, surpassing a record Anthony Calvillo set in the 2009 East Final against the BC Lions.^[24] With the victory, the Redblacks qualified to play the Calgary Stampeders in the 106th Grey Cup, a re-match of the game from two years prior. The Redblacks lost 27-16 in a game that they never had the lead against the heavily favoured Stampeders.

Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
				Score	Record
East Semi-Final	Bye
East Final	Sun, Nov 18	1:00 p.m. EST	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	W 46–27	1–0	TSN/RDS/ESPNews	TD Place Stadium	24,108	Recap
106th Grey Cup	Sun, Nov 27	6:00 p.m. EST	vs. Calgary Stampeders	L 16–27	1–1	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	Commonwealth Stadium	55,819	Recap

^[23]

 #  Games played with colour uniforms.

 #  Games played with white uniforms.

Team

Roster

Ottawa Redblacks roster
Quarterbacks 17 Danny Collins  4 Dominique Davis  7 Trevor Harris Running backs 46 Jean-Christophe Beaulieu FB 25 Brendan Gillanders 23 Mossis Madu 29 William Powell Receivers 89 Marco Dubois 82 Greg Ellingson 83 Julian Feoli-Gudino 84 R.J. Harris 81 Jacob Scarfone 88 Brad Sinopoli 85 Diontae Spencer		Offensive linemen 64 Evan Johnson 65 Mark Korte 58 Jason Lauzon-Séguin 66 Nolan MacMillan 56 Alex Mateas 67 Josue Matías 55 SirVincent Rogers Defensive linemen 98 Avery Ellis 94 Michael Klassen 49 Ettore Lattanzio 90 Andrew Marshall 95 Danny Mason 47 Nigel Romick 44 J. R. Tavai 96 Michael Wakefield		Linebackers  5 Chris Ackie 31 Kevin Brown 34 Kyries Hebert 33 Dan West 42 Avery Williams Defensive backs 27 Sherrod Baltimore 20 Jean-Philippe Bolduc 24 Anthony Cioffi SLB  2 Randall Evans 21 Justin Howell  3 Rico Murray  6 Antoine Pruneau S  9 Jonathan Rose 28 Corey Tindal Special teams 50 Louis-Philippe Bourassa LS 13 Richie Leone P 10 Lewis Ward K		Injured list  8 William Arndt QB 45 Anthony Gosselin FB 63 Jon Gott OL 99 A.C. Leonard DL 19 Andrew Lue LB 43 Jonathan Newsome DL 91 Don Oramasionwu DL 15 Dominique Rhymes WR 92 George Uko DL 6-Game injured list 57 Andrew Pickett OL 93 Daryl Waud DL Practice squad 41 Dakota Brush FB 14 Devin Butler DB 37 Mikaël Charland DB 87 Seth Coate WR 30 Tafon Mainsah DB 32 Greg Morris RB 18 Noel Thomas WR 16 Kyle White DB Disabled 39 Mickael Côté LB Italics indicate International player Roster updated 2018-11-25 Depth Chart • Transactions 46 roster, 9 one-game injured, 2 six-game injured, 8 practice 1 disabled → More rosters

Coaching staff

Ottawa Redblacks staff
	Front office Owner – Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) President – Jeff Hunt Chief executive officer – Bernie Ashe General manager – Marcel Desjardins Assistant general manager – Jeremy Snyder Director of player personnel – Jean-Marc Edmé Coordinator of football operations – Joey Swarbrick Video coordinator – Colin Farquharson Head coaches Head coach – Rick Campbell Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Jaime Elizondo Offensive line – John McDonell Receivers – Winston October Running backs – Beau Walker			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Noel Thorpe Defensive line – Leroy Blugh Linebackers – Mark Nelson Defensive assistant – Patrick Bourgon Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Bob Dyce Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning coordinator – Nick Mercuri → Coaching Staff → More CFL staffs