{"id":610303,"date":"2026-04-17T13:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T13:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/610303\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T13:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T13:46:10","slug":"once-touted-recruit-jonathan-denis-ready-for-cfl-draft-after-two-acl-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/610303\/","title":{"rendered":"Once-touted recruit Jonathan Denis ready for CFL draft after two ACL tears"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto courtesy: Josh McDaniel\/Louisiana Tech Athletics<\/p>\n

There was a time when Jonathan Denis was one of the most sought-after offensive line recruits in the United States.<\/p>\n

The product of South Dade High School in Homestead, Fla. was a four-star recruit, receiving his first NCAA Division I scholarship offer at age 15. ESPN ranked him the No. 1 high school guard in Florida, while Rivals rated him the No. 6 guard in the country.<\/p>\n

Offers poured in from top programs like Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Miami, and North Carolina. The future couldn\u2019t have looked much brighter.<\/p>\n

Denis ended up committing to Oregon, though things quickly took a turn for the worse. After not seeing the field during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee before the 2021 season began, ruling him out for the year.<\/p>\n

He transferred to Miami in 2022 and made two starts in five games, then tore the ACL in his left knee. Denis remained with the Hurricanes in 2023 but dressed for only one game as he continued his recovery.<\/p>\n

Four years. Six games. Two ACL tears.<\/p>\n

Ugh.<\/p>\n

Clearly, this wasn\u2019t the path Denis envisioned for himself coming out of high school, though he never lost faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, I never go through it again but (the two ACL tears) built character, built who I am today,\u201d Denis told 3DownNation at the CFL Combine in Edmonton. \u201cI\u2019m thankful that I\u2019m still here playing this game and have a chance to chase my dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

The six-foot-two, 313-pound blocker transferred to Central Missouri in 2024, a Division II program located in Warrensburg, Mo. He made nine starts for the Mules, then transferred back up to the Division I level in 2025 at Louisiana Tech, where he made 10 starts at right guard.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t the glamorous collegiate experience he may have once anticipated but Denis doesn\u2019t appear bitter about the setbacks, laughing and smiling when discussing his career to date.<\/p>\n

\u201c(My knees are) better than they were before (the ACL tears),\u201d said Denis. \u201cIt feels like I got two brand new knees, to be honest with you. They feel great, they feel real good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old didn\u2019t participate in testing or on-field drills in Edmonton, as he\u2019s a projected first-round pick<\/a>. He interviewed with all nine teams, however, many of whom seem impressed by his film. In a league always hungry for offensive linemen, players as polished as Denis are highly sought-after.<\/p>\n

When asked about what he considers his greatest strength and weakness, Denis answered without hesitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely strong in the run game. I feel like I\u2019m very aggressive and violent off the ball,\u201d he said. \u201cMy weakness? I would say my hands in pass block. I\u2019m usually stronger than most opponents I go against, and I try to kind of hook everything. Sometimes it gets me in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Montreal, Denis moved to Miami at age six to live with his mom and stepdad. He still makes annual visits back to Montreal to visit his father, older sister, and extended family.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for players at the CFL Combine to have known their fellow prospects from community ball, high school, college, or provincial competition. Given his unique background, Denis wasn\u2019t familiar with almost any of the players in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to hear everybody speak French for the first time in a few years,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cIt\u2019s been good getting to know everybody, and meeting teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denis had never previously been to Edmonton and said he was surprised to see snow falling in March. Despite his southern upbringing, he enjoys wintry weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the cold,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a fun fact about me: I love the cold and I\u2019ve always wanted to play in a snow game.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he ends up playing a decade in the CFL, Denis will almost certainly get a chance to live out that dream.<\/p>\n

The 2026 CFL Draft is scheduled for Tuesday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m. EDT.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

John Hodge is a longtime Canadian football reporter, insider, and podcaster for 3DownNation. Based in Winnipeg, Hodge is also a freelance television and radio broadcaster and curling reporter for Rock Channel.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Josh McDaniel\/Louisiana Tech Athletics There was a time when Jonathan Denis was one of the most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,49,48,7028,521,522,229929,520,168653,18137,55604,1625,6388,527,180056,179779,6390,2338,28543,13591,1283,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-610303","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-3down","9":"tag-3downnation","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-canadian","13":"tag-canadian-football-league","14":"tag-canadianfootballleague","15":"tag-central-missouri","16":"tag-cfl","17":"tag-cfl-draft","18":"tag-cold","19":"tag-combine","20":"tag-draft","21":"tag-florida","22":"tag-football","23":"tag-jonathan-denis","24":"tag-louisiana-tech","25":"tag-miami","26":"tag-montreal","27":"tag-offensive-line","28":"tag-offensive-lineman","29":"tag-oregon","30":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}