1996 Edmonton Eskimos season

The 1996 Edmonton Eskimos were coached by Ron Lancaster and finished in 2nd place in the West Division with a 11–7 record. They upset the Calgary Stampeders in the West Final, but lost the Grey Cup to the Toronto Argonauts.

Offseason

CFL Draft

Rd	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	1	Donnavan Blair	SB	Calgary
1	8	Duane Arrindell	OL	Northern Illinois
2	16	Jayson Hamilton	RB	Alberta
3	25	Sheldon Napastuk	DT	Iowa State
4	34	Murray Cunningham	DL	Alberta
5	43	John Saul	DE	Saskatchewan
6	51	Darcy Park	FB	Alberta
7	60	Troy Shwetz	DB	Jamestown College

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
B	June 14	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	23-18	L	25632	0–1
B	June 21	vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers	34-31	L	34091	0–2

Regular season

Season standings

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Calgary Stampeders	18	13	5	0	608	375	26
Edmonton Eskimos	18	11	7	0	459	354	22
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	18	9	9	0	421	495	18
Saskatchewan Roughriders	18	5	13	0	360	498	10
BC Lions	18	5	12	0	410	483	10

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record	Stk
1	June 27	at British Columbia Lions	28–14	W	29435	1–0	W1
2	July 5	vs Montreal Alouettes	16–13	W	26211	2–0	W2
3	July 10	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	27–24	L	21014	2–1	L1
4	July 17	vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers	27-16	L	28751	2–2	L2
5	July 25	at Ottawa Rough Riders	34–18	W	13323	3–2	W1
6	August 3	vs Ottawa Rough Riders	20–2	W	25773	4–2	W2
7	August 8	at Toronto Argonauts	24–21	L	20030	4–3	L1
8	August 17	vs Saskatchewan Roughriders	25–8	W	36011	5–3	W1
9	August 23	vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats	35–8	W	27202	6–3	W2
10	September 2	at Calgary Stampeders	35–14	L	35314	6–4	L1
11	September 6	vs Calgary Stampeders	20–19	W	40727	7–4	W1
12	September 15	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	20–14	L	17301	7–5	L1
13	September 20	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	41–12	W	28744	8–5	W1
14	September 29	vs British Columbia Lions	32–12	W	28784	9–5	W2
15	October 4	at Montreal Alouettes	32–18	L	17886	9–6	L1
16	October 12	at British Columbia Lions	34–31	W	18031	10–6	W1
17	October 20	vs Toronto Argonauts	24–17	L	27567	10–7	L1
18	October 27	vs Calgary Stampeders	41–32	W	27332	11–7	W1
19	Bye

Awards and records

• CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Leroy Blugh (DE)
• CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Willie Pless (LB)
• CFL's Coach of the Year – Ron Lancaster

Offence

• SB – Darren Flutie
• WR – Eddie Brown
• OG – Leo Groenewegen

Defence

• DT – Bennie Goods
• DE – Malvin Hunter
• LB – Willie Pless
• DB – Glenn Rogers Jr.
• DS – Trent Brown

1996 Western All-Stars

Offence

• SB – Darren Flutie
• WR – Eddie Brown
• C – Rod Connop
• OG – Leo Groenewegen

Defence

• DT – Bennie Goods
• DE – Malvin Hunter
• DE – Leroy Blugh
• LB – Willie Pless
• DB – Glenn Rogers Jr.
• DS – Trent Brown

Playoffs

West Semi-Final

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	1	0	0	6	7
Edmonton Eskimos	10	21	15	22	68

West Final

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Edmonton Eskimos	6	6	0	3	15
Calgary Stampeders	3	3	3	3	12

Grey Cup

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Toronto Argonauts	0	27	3	13	43
Edmonton Eskimos	9	14	0	14	37