Good afternoon, @djohnston2 ...
Your question seems like you'd like to see some enhancements to the current SpeedGrader in Canvas. I would recommend that you submit these as Feature Ideas here in the Community so that others can evaluate them and add their support if they feel that things like emjois would be beneficial in SpeedGrader. If you click on the PRODUCT menu from the top of any screen here in the Community and then select IDEA CONVERSATIONS, you'll see a button to "Suggest an idea" where you can begin to search for existing ideas that may already have been submitted (so that you're not duplicating existing ideas).
One way to re-use/save comments in rubrics is to follow the instructions in this Guide: How do I use free-form comments instead of ratings... - Canvas Community. I'm not sure if this would help for your course and assignments, but I wanted to share the link with you just in case.
Let Community members know if you have any other questions about this...thanks! Take care...be well.
