He is a blue chipper that comes, albeit, with a bit of a red flag.
All that said, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers absolutely love the ceiling of receiver Rashaun Simonise and the dynamic threat he could morph into as a pass catcher in their offence.
The Bombers made Simonise their first pick, 12th overall, in Thursday night’s Canadian Football League Draft and it’s a choice that will undoubtedly be under the microscope in the short term.
No one questions Simonise’s skillset – he’s 6-4, 202 pounds and was a First-Team All-Canadian at the University of Calgary and flashed enough game to be invited to training camp with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2016.
But the questions come from what happened in 2015-16, first being ruled academically ineligible to return to the Dinos and then, during his time with the Bengals, testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug – a weight gainer – that led to a four-game suspesnion by the National Football League.
That also led to the CFL ruling that Simonise’s draft year would be deferred to 2018 from 2017. He spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons with the Okanagan Sun of the Canadian Junior Football League, playing in seven total games and finishing with 23 receptions for 392 yards and three touchdowns.
Simonise looked rusty during the National Combine in Winnipeg this spring, but the Bombers believe with a fresh start – and the influence of veteran receivers like Weston Dressler, Darvin Adams and Adarius Bowman – he can return to being a blue-chip prospect.
They also did considerable intel on Simonise, including having head coach Mike O’Shea speak with his coach at Okanagan Sun.
“He was adamant that Rashaun Simonise is a good kid, he just needed some maturity,” said Bombers GM Kyle Walters in his media address on Friday. “But he worked hard a practice, showed up, was a good teammate and he would welcome him back on the team. He was very honest with Mike in saying he just needed a strong group around him that he could learn from. That’s what we have here in Darvin Adams, Adarius (Bowman) and Weston Dressler, Matt Nichols and Andrew Harris… we’ve got a group on offence in that locker room that, for a young man that needs some mentoring and some maturing, we’ll be able to provide that for him.”
“We believe he’s the most-talented player, and when they show that cut-up (highlight) of him catching a slant pass with the Bengals running by the Baltimore Ravens I said, ‘You don’t see that too often on a Canadian draft pick’s cut-up.’ He’s just so, so talented and if we can get him back to that level, get him back committed to football, get him in this building training, looking after his body and committing to football full time… I think there’s a very high ceiling for him.”
Simonise will join a Bombers receiving corps that is suddenly flush with Canadians. The club already plans to start two Canucks at receiver, including free agent addition Nic Demski, and were informed this week that Matt Coates recently broke his foot in training and will not be available for camp. But the Canadian pass-catching contingent now also includes Drew Wolitarsky and 2017 draft picks Tylor Henry and Brendon Thera-Plamondon along with Brett Blaszko.
On top of that, the club used two other picks Thursday night – their third and fifth-round selections – to select receivers, grabbing McMaster’s Daniel Petermann 26th overall and Tyrone Pierre of Laval at the 41st spot.
Petermann was one of the stars of the camp in Winnipeg, posting the fastest 40 time (4.57 seconds), tying for the highest vertical (39 inches) and the second-best time in the 3-cone drill (7.03 seconds). He led the Marauders in receiving last year with 36 catches for 517 yards and two TDs.
“He’s an athletic, very productive college player,” said Walters. “Hard-working kid who did very well for himself at the combine with his testing numbers. He catches the ball well, he’s a good solid prospect.”
Pierre, meanwhile caught 13 passes for 122 yards for the Rouge et Or last season and played in the 2017 U Sports East-West Bowl.
“It came down to at that point in the draft he was the highest-rated player on our board,” Walters explained. “Now, we rated the receivers a little bit higher because of our need, but he’s a little bit similar to the Rashaun Simonise projection… he’s very, very talented, very physically gifted. He had some productivity at Laval early in his career and then tailed off later in his career. But a 6-2, 200-pound receiver that runs a high 4.5, 35-inch vertical… he’s got all the measurables and he plays special teams. He brings a physicality, which you don’t see out of a receiver very often. There’s a physical component and toughness to his game.”
The Bombers used three picks to select offensive linemen, beginning with Montreal Carabins Arnaud Gendron-Dumouchel, a 6-9, 310 pounder with their fourth-round pick (33rd overall).
“You watch his film and he was a little slow-footed out at tackle,” said Walters. “He had some trouble with the speed rushers and some of the faster defensive ends were going around him and he looked a little bit slow of foot on film. He showed up at that Eastern Regional (Combine) and physically, for a 6-9 man to look thick and strong and have 17-18 reps on the bench… he showed a physicality. He made a very good impression and got invited to the National Combine and held his own with that middle of the pack group. He’s going to go back to Montreal for his last year because he wants to finish his degree. It’s more like a futures pick. We’ll see him at training camp but he’s very, very intriguing just based on his size.”
Winnipeg selected Bishop’s Matthew Ouellet De Carlo, a 6-4, 318-pound guard in the sixth round (49th overall) and with their final selection, 67th overall, the club chose Ben Koczwara of Waterloo, a 6-3, 291-pound guard.
“We’re always looking for developmental O-linemen. You never know… Matthew Ouellette De Carlo and Ben Koczwara… solid U Sports football players. Bring ‘em in, get a camp and you never know. It’s like Cody Speller last year… he came in and made a very good impression. The top guys are the top guys, but the difference between a mid-round draft pick and a late-round draft pick at the O-line position is who’s got the toughness and who can pick up the game and develops over the year. There’s a chance those guys could all be back at school and growing and developing.”
The Bombers used their seventh-round pick to draft a player in the mould of current starting safety Taylor Loffler, Queen’s safety Jacob Firlotte, who was also a member of the Golden Gaels track team.
“When you evaluate the DBs at the U Sports level – he plays field halfback at Queen’s – you could go two or three games where there’s not much to see, especially in the Ontario conference where there’s a lot of running the ball,” Walters explained. “But when he did have an opportunity to make plays he flashed on the film that he could defend the pass. You see him in person at the Ontario Regional and he’s 6-2 – 6-3, 215 pounds. He ran a low 4.6, he’s long and athletic and competed. There’s something very intriguing about him. He’s probably a WIL linebacker, probably not a free safety, but we’ll see.”
WALTERS AND THE TRADE
The Bombers GM also spent some time Friday outlining why the club opted to move out of the first round with Wednesday’s deal with the B.C. Lions that saw them give up their first rounder (7th overall) this year to move up from the 16th to 12th spot this year and get the Lions first-round pick in 2019.
“We were planning the first couple of picks and if things went the way we thought we were going to, go after a couple of receivers. We believed we could trade down and still get a receiver we liked… we didn’t know which one, but we were quite confident we could get a receiver in the second round and not have to spend a first-round pick. So, when the trade with B.C. came through we thought it was the right thing to do… a No. 1 pick next year and, it was a bit of a gamble, but we thought we’d be able to get one of the receivers we liked in the second round. They were all sitting on the board and we were able to pick Rashaun, who we had the highest rated.
“It had less to do with specifically planning for 2019 than 2018 and saying, ‘I’m not prepared to draft one of those players at seven when I think we can get him at 12.’ What’s the maximum return by dropping down and rather than some later round picks in this year’s draft, when the opportunity was there to take a one (first-rounder) next year, it was just the best deal on table in my opinion. Two first-round picks is always a good thing.”
