The 2021 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season was the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and their 88th season overall. The Blue Bombers entered the season as the defending Grey Cup champions for the first time in 30 years, having ended the franchise's lengthy drought with last year's championship win in the 107th Grey Cup game. The Blue Bombers qualified for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season following a victory over the Edmonton Elks on October 16, 2021. The team won their first division title since 2011, and first west division title since 1972, after they defeated the BC Lions on October 23, 2021.
The Blue Bombers won the 12th Grey Cup championship in franchise history following their 33–25 overtime victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 108th Grey Cup game.
This was the seventh season under head coach Mike O'Shea and the seventh full season under general manager Kyle Walters.
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 Blue Bombers selected fourth in the odd-numbered rounds and sixth in the even-numbered rounds.
Round Pick Player Position University/Club Team Nationality 1 4 Les Maruo LB Texas, San Antonio Japan 2 15 Tomoya Machino OL Fujitsu Frontiers Japan 3 22 Ayo Oyelola LB Nottingham Great Britain 4 33 Arryn Siposs P Auburn Australia
CFL national draft The 2021 CFL draft took place on May 4, 2021. The Blue Bombers had six selections in the six-round snake draft and had the third pick in odd rounds and the seventh pick in even rounds.
Round Pick Player Position University team Hometown 1 3 Liam Dobson OL Maine Ottawa, ON 2 16 Redha Kramdi DB Montreal Montreal, QC 3 21 Patrice Rene DB North Carolina Ottawa, ON 4 34 Robbie Lowes LB Regina Regina, SK 5 39 Kyle Borsa RB Regina Regina, SK 6 48 Shae Weekes DB Manitoba St. Adolphe, MB
Preseason Due to the shortening of the season, the CFL confirmed that pre-season games would not be played in 2021.
Planned schedule
Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent TV Venue A Bye B 1 Fri, May 28 7:30 p.m. CDT vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders IG Field C 2 Fri, June 4 8:00 p.m. CDT at Saskatchewan Roughriders Mosaic Stadium
Regular season
Standings
Schedule The Blue Bombers initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 10 and ending on October 30. 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 Blue Bombers began their 14-game season that same day.
Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary Score Record 1 1 Thu, Aug 5 7:30 p.m. CDT Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 19–6 1–0 TSN/ESPN2 IG Field 29,376 Recap 2 2 Fri, Aug 13 7:30 p.m. CDT Toronto Argonauts W 20–7 2–0 TSN/RDS IG Field 22,143 Recap 3 3 Sat, Aug 21 3:00 p.m. CDT @ Toronto Argonauts L 23–30 2–1 TSN/ESPN2 BMO Field 9,866 Recap 4 4 Sun, Aug 29 6:00 p.m. CDT Calgary Stampeders W 18–16 3–1 TSN/RDS/ESPN2 IG Field 22,806 Recap 5 5 Sun, Sept 5 5:00 p.m. CDT @ Saskatchewan Roughriders W 23–8 4–1 TSN/ESPNews Mosaic Stadium 32,975 Recap 6 6 Sat, Sept 11 3:00 p.m. CDT Saskatchewan Roughriders W 33–9 5–1 TSN IG Field 33,234 Recap 7 7 Sat, Sept 18 8:45 p.m. CDT @ Edmonton Elks W 37–22 6–1 TSN Commonwealth Stadium 23,310 Recap 8 Bye 9 8 Fri, Oct 1 9:00 p.m. CDT @ BC Lions W 30–9 7–1 TSN/ESPNews BC Place 12,500 Recap 10 9 Fri, Oct 8 7:30 p.m. CDT Edmonton Elks W 30–3 8–1 TSN/RDS2 IG Field 27,388 Recap 11 10 Fri, Oct 15 8:00 p.m. CDT @ Edmonton Elks W 23–16 9–1 TSN Commonwealth Stadium 24,276 Recap 12 11 Sat, Oct 23 6:00 p.m. CDT BC Lions W 45–0 10–1 TSN IG Field 23,750 Recap 13 Bye 14 12 Sat, Nov 6 6:00 p.m. CDT Montreal Alouettes W 31–21 11–1 TSN/RDS IG Field 22,933 Recap 15 13 Sat, Nov 13 12:00 p.m. CST @ Montreal Alouettes L 14–28 11–2 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 12,605 Recap 16 14 Sat, Nov 20 6:00 p.m. CST @ Calgary Stampeders L 12–13 11–3 TSN McMahon Stadium 19,103 Recap
Post-season
Schedule Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary Score Record West Semi-FinalBye West Final Sun, Dec 5 3:00 p.m. CST Saskatchewan Roughriders W 21–17 1–0 TSN/RDS/ESPN2 IG Field 31,160 Recap Sun, Dec 12 5:00 p.m. CST Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 33–25 2–0 TSN/RDS/ESPN2 Tim Hortons Field 26,324 Recap
Roster 2021 Winnipeg Blue Bombers final roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Receivers
Offensive linemen T C G G/T T C G/T
Defensive linemen DE DE DE DE DT DT DT DT Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams LS K P/K
Practice Roster WR QB T RB DB LB G LB SB K SB LB DB SB Injured List LB LB K DB DB DB DB T DT
Suspended list RB DB G/C DT DT WR DB WR LB RB Italics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player
Coaching staff Winnipeg Blue Bombers staff Front office Owner – None Chairperson of the board of governors – Dayna Spiring President/CEO – Wade Miller General manager of football operations – Kyle Walters Assistant General Manager / Director of U.S. Scouting – Danny McManus Assistant general manager / director of player personnel – Ted Goveia Director of football operations – Matt Gulakow
Equipment staff Head equipment manager – Brad Fotty Assistant equipment manager – Kevin Todd Head coaches Head coach – Mike O'Shea
Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks – Buck Pierce Receivers – Kevin Bourgoin Running backs – Pete Costanza Offensive line – Marty Costello
Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Richie Hall Defensive line – Darrell Patterson Defensive backs – Jordan Younger Pass game analyst and linebackers – James Stanley
Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Paul Boudreau, Jr.
Video coaches Video coordinator – Colin Thurston Video assistant – Shannon Myran
→ Coaching staff
References