Ex-CIS, ex-NFL, current CJFL WR Rashaun Simonise shows CFL eligibility issues

The CFL released the latest edition of its annual September prospect rankings Thursday, and there are plenty of interesting names near the top, including top-ranked Mississippi State offensive lineman Justin Senior and second-ranked Laurier defensive lineman Kwaku Boateng. However, the most notable inclusion of all may be the guy who's seventh on that list, Rashaun Simonise. His case raises questions about the entire CFL draft system, and suggests that it may need some changes.

Simonise, who's currently playing for the Okanagan Sun of the Canadian Junior Football League, comes in with a highly unusual story, He found CIS success with the University of Calgary last year, then was declared academically ineligible this summer. He then successfully applied for the NFL's supplemental draft and held a pro day in front of NFL scouts from five teams. No team took him in that draft, but the Cincinnati Bengals signed him afterwards, and he impressed for them during the preseason. However, they cut him in September, and he wasn't yet draft-year eligible for the CFL, leading him to go play amateur football in the CJFL with the Sun.

On the one hand, this is a great illustration of the value of the CJFL. CIS and NCAA football can be excellent pathways to prepare players for professional careers in the CFL or the NFL, but they're of necessity somewhat tied to academics, which have no impact on someone's ability as a professional football player. Junior football can be an excellent alternative where the focus is solely on football, and the CJFL has produced plenty of impressive CFL players, including Andrew Harris, Marco Iannuzzi, Rob Cote, Paul McCallum, Stu Foord and more. It's still going to be challenging for Simonise to quickly adjust to a new team, new teammates and a new playbook in the middle of the year, and the Sun only have three games left before the playoffs, but this is an excellent chance for him to keep playing football, keep building his strength and post some stats and tape ahead of next year's CFL draft, where he may well be a first-round pick (if the NFL hasn't snapped him up again by that point).

On the other hand, it's thoroughly silly that a top Canadian player is allowed to play professionally in the U.S. but not in Canada. Simonise's credentials at this point (time on an NFL roster, appearances and catches in NFL preseason games) are more substantial than some import players and more impressive than many Canadian players in the league, and given his age (21), size (6'5'', 200 pounds) and speed (he's been clocked at 4.48 seconds for the 40-yard dash), every CFL team would probably be interested in him at this point. But they're not allowed to sign him and pay him thanks to draft regulations, so he has to go play football for free in the junior ranks. (This is similar to Shaq Johnson, who played junior after quitting school before impressing at this year's CFL combine and getting drafted by the B.C. Lions; he's currently on their practice squad.)

It's not the first time that a player's been eligible for the NFL draft before the CFL draft. Another great case in point is Vaughn Martin, who was chosen by the San Diego Chargers in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL draft, but was then a top prospect for the 2011 CFL draft despite already being in the NFL. It worked out better for Martin, though, as he was still being paid to play (he had a seven-year NFL career before eventually coming to the CFL with Montreal this offseason; he was cut last month). With Simonise, the CFL's draft eligibilty rules are preventing him from making a living playing football, while the NFL's aren't.

Oddly enough, before the 2013 changes (ahead of the 2014 draft) to the CFL's draft rules, the eligibilty issue frequently cut the other way. The CFL used to draft players after four years of post-secondary education, which meant that NCAA redshirt freshmen (who spent a season practicing, but not playing, and thus didn't use a year of eligibility) were being drafted after their junior year, staying in school for another year and then being drafted by the NFL, producing cases like Danny Watkins where CFL teams were taking players a year early and weren't able to accurately gage the NFL interest in him. Those changes mean NCAA players are now selected after their senior year of eligiblity, at the same time as the NFL, which makes the process a lot smoother there. However, cases like Simonise's illustrate that there are still cases where the CFL and NFL draft eligibilty rules don't overlap, and those create problems.

In an ideal world for Simonise, he'd be able to sign with any team he wants without draft restrictions. However, the CFL draft exists for a reason (to make sure that all teams have at least a chance of getting some of the Canadian talent they need), and it makes sense to have players like Simonise go through that process in one way or another. The eligibility restrictions are a little silly, though, especially from a first-principles standpoint. There's no particular need for a player to have been out of high school for four years before being able to play professional football. In many cases, that restriction works out fine; teams are usually more interested in players who have developed from four years of university football than they would be in players who are fresh out of high school.

In cases of players like Simonise who have already clearly demonstrated professional-level talent, though, it means they're forced to play for free in the hopes of being able to play for pay later. This has come up in the NCAA numerous times, especially with players like former South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore who showed off NFL promise long before his draft date, but had to stay in the college ranks, suffered injuries, and hurt his draft status as a result. Another recent case is star LSU RB Leonard Fournette, who could have been a high pick in last year's NFL draft if not for eligibility restrictions, leading to some arguing that he should have sat out this season rather than risk injury. And that's with the NFL, which allows players to enter its draft after three years away from high school rather than four. A Canadian player like Fournette would have to wait yet another season before entering the draft.

It's particularly interesting that the CFL's willing to accept younger players, but only if they're American. A case in point is former CFL receiver Terence Jeffers-Harris, who signed with Winnipeg in 2010 and played for them that year, but wasn't eligible for the NFL draft until 2011. Jeffers-Harris was only 21 when he signed with the Blue Bombers, the same age Simonise is now. Yet, the CFL was fine with having him play, because he wasn't Canadian and didn't have to go through the draft process. There doesn't appear to be any particular restriction on what Americans CFL teams can sign, so the league's teams could even offer contracts to NCAA-aged players tired of playing for free or facing academic issues. Although the top NFL prospects likely wouldn't jump at that for fear of hurting their NFL stock, some lower-tier prospects might. It seems odd that Americans can play in the CFL at a younger age than Canadians can.

How could the CFL solve this? Well, one possible but radical solution would be to allow all players to declare for the draft whenever they want post-high school. That would be beneficial for players, but it could create some problems by undermining the draft; as declaring doesn't remove CIS eligibilty (and even many drafted players have returned to the university ranks), players would be incentivized to declare straight out of high school, and then if they pass through the draft, they could sign a free-agent contract with a team of their choice (and probably at a better rate thanks to the open market) after they prove themselves in the CIS ranks. A less-radical step could be letting players declare for the draft early after two or three years of university (after three is what the NCAA does) rather than after four, but that does still carry the risk of undermining the draft; given the lack of consequences for declaring early, just about everyone might, and passed-over players would then be able to use free agency to cash in after proving themselves.

The CFL could also work in conjunction with CIS to adopt the NCAA approach of allowing prospects to declare early, but not return to university competition after they declared. However, while that would prevent everyone declaring early, it might have other negative consquences. There are plenty of cases where it makes sense for even drafted players to return to the CIS ranks, and this would prohibit that.

The easiest approach might be a unique one tailored to exceptional circumstances. The NFL Supplemental Draft tries to do that, letting teams consider players whose eligibility changed after the regular draft (as Simonise's did). The CFL has its own annual supplemental draft, but it's usually held in May shortly after the regular draft, and it's only for players who weren't able to prove their Canadian status in time for the regular draft, so Simonise wouldn't have been eligible for it. What if the CFL were to hold special supplemental drafts when a Canadian player who's clearly ready for professional football (a NFL contract is a good sign of this, as with Simonise and Martin, but the criteria could perhaps be expanded beyond that) suddenly becomes available?

The CFL could follow the same procedure as the regular supplemental draft, with teams bidding picks in next year's draft to take a supplemental selection like Simonise. There could be issues here too, of course, especially with determining what exceptional circumstances require this. Still, it would seem like a low-impact way to solve the problem of Canadian players who are talented enough for the NFL, but told they can't play in the CFL yet.  That's a problem, and one the league should address, in one way or another.