2016 CFL season one of bitter disappointment for Toronto Argonauts

TORONTO — The 2016 CFL season was one of lost opportunities for Ricky Foley and the Toronto Argonauts.

Foley and his teammates cleaned out their lockers Sunday following a disappointing 41-17 road loss to the Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday night. Toronto (5-13) finished tied with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the league’s worst record and missed the CFL playoffs in a year when Ottawa (8-9-1) captured top spot in the East Division.

And with the Grey Cup game being held Nov. 27 at BMO Field, Toronto lost out on a chance to play for a championship on home soil. That’s something the franchise did successfully in 2012, beating Calgary in the 100th Grey Cup game at Rogers Centre.

It’s a feeling Foley knows well, earning home Grey Cup wins in 2012 and the next year with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“We just completely blew it on that opportunity,” Foley said. “I think everybody’s disappointed, especially a lot of the older guys who know.

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“We have a lot of young guys here, they’re thinking about next year and contracts and stuff like that. Some of us older guys . . . it was (an) opportunity at a home Grey Cup. It’s just disappointing.”

Much was expected of the Argos this year with the franchise under new ownership — Bell and Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment chairman Larry Tanenbaum — and relocating to a refurbished BMO Field. The healthy return of quarterback Ricky Ray and signing of defensive co-ordinator Rich Stubler was supposed to stabilize both units.

And Toronto showed definite promise early, winning four of its first six games before dropping 11 of its next 12 games, including its final seven. Ray was sidelined by three separate injuries, the Argos allowed a CFL-high 586 points and were a dismal 2-7 at BMO Field.

“I’ve been part of two (home Grey Cup wins) and it’s hard, there’s a lot of pressure on the organizational people to get to the Cup,” Foley said. “There was a lot of pressure this year with BMO, the new owners.

“Maybe (at 4-2) if we would’ve had a bit more patience with the guys we had at the start of the year maybe things would’ve been different. I don’t know, hindsight is 20/20.”

Toronto released linebacker Keon Raymond, who signed as a free agent after playing for Stubler in Calgary, in August before landing quarterback Drew Willy the following month from Winnipeg. The deal also included Toronto’s 2017 first-round pick so the Blue Bombers now have the first selection in next year’s draft.

The acquisition of Willy did nothing to reverse Toronto’s fortunes. In four starts Willy completed 77-of-113 passes (68.1 per cent) for 681 yards with three TDs and one interception as Ray started the final two regular-season contests.

“It was a tough year, probably the toughest of my career,” Willy said. “But this isn’t really the excuse business, it’s a production business so I definitely have to be more productive.

“With a full off-season learning the scheme I think it will definitely help me to go out there and be successful. Obviously we want to do everything we can to bring a championship here. It can change that quickly in this league.”

Scott Milanovich, completing his fifth season as Toronto’s head coach, shouldered the blame for the club’s woes.

“I’m responsible for the product that’s on the field,” he said. “I was not able to get us to play consistently enough to overcome the issues we did have, that’s the bottom line.

“It’s been disappointing especially since it was a year we hoped would be so important, a kind of a new beginning for our organization, for this brand. To fail the way we did is difficult to take.”

Milanovich also blamed himself for Willy’s struggles. 

“I think I did him a disservice by playing him too soon in our system hoping he’d be ready and it wasn’t fair,” Milanovich said. “He needs an off-season, he needs a training camp, he needs to get the reps.

“Some of the time I felt he was out there thinking his way through a play and you can’t play quarterback that way.”

That certainly creates questions regarding Ray’s future with the Argos. Milanovich said Ray still figures in his plans but it will be up to the 37-year-old Californian to decide if he can accept it.

And Ray, who has battled injuries throughout his five-year tenure in Toronto, will take his time deciding what he’ll do next. Ray has one more year remaining on his CFL contract.

“I still have the drive and want to play,” Ray said. “It’s just physically it’s been tough on me my time here in Toronto, things really have been difficult.

“I’m open to all sorts of different scenarios but at this point I need some time to think about it and see what those scenarios could be and see if any of them are a good fit for me.”

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press