This won't mean much to most of us, but European Rugby start Louis Rees-Zammit visited the Jets over the weekend. I figure that all of our UK posters will know who he is. From The Jets Way:
I remember the Jets tried to convert a rugby player to tight end a number of years ago and it didn't work out.
Yes, a number of teams have tried to incorporate rugby or soccer or players from overseas. The NFL is making a renewed push however, and they're adding another player to the PS this year so teams can have a player from overseas. Here's what a poster on another site said regarding this:
Your going to see a number of Irish kickers and punters enter the nfl in the next few years. Green Bays punter is an Irish lad but there were a few guys who all have gaelic football backgrounds who killed it at pro days last week. They have been running a kicking and punting programme here for a couple of years now and it's a natural progression for young gaelic footballers who would have a lot of length in their kicks anyway
Ben Graham. Edit: Already said. Yeah, there was another Aussie. I'll remember who at 3:00 in the morning.
He’s very fast. Other than that I was never overly impressed with him, but then I only saw him play for Wales a few times. In the UK there is a tendency for people to think, ‘oh, the NFL will love a guy as quick as him’, because not many people realise the calibre of athlete in the NFL. If I had to put money down I would bet on him doing nothing in the NFL but who knows.
You may be thinking of Valentine Holmes who's back in the NRL now. He played in a few pre-season games as a RB/returner.
He is a good rugby union player. This is fortuitous, as he will be back doing it within 18 months. I think the reality is that it is difficult for Europeans to make a major impact in the NFL. As a minimum it would need a Div1 college placement to play football in order to build the experience, knowledge and mechanics (technique) needed. Those placements are not given away. The player pathway is something of a boot camp for those with the level of athletic ability, to pick up those skills. It is not enough and will not make up for those lost years of college football and competition. In my 40 years of watching football only three European players have made it to the Hall of Fame. Two of those were kickers and I'd not heard of the other one. He's a good athlete and I'm sure he is a fine, upstanding individual. I wish him well, but let's face it, the odds are stacked against even landing on a 53-man squad, let alone staying on it.
6ft 3 and 194 lbs, I don't know if he will be able to take the hits as a wide receiver. As a winger in Rugby Union his speed would often get him away from defenders but in the NFL defenders will hit him hard as soon as he gets the ball. I also agree with what others have said that his lack of college football experience and technique will hold him back. He will make someone's practice squad for a while as these international "Gateway players" don't count as a players on a teams practice squad, so in effect it gives a team an additional player.
I figured that even if he signs with the Jets, he'll probably never develop or play, but wanted to see what you posters in the UK who have seen him play rugby think about him. I appreciate all of your responses.
I agree with your assessment of his chances of developing and contributing. He could put on more weight, but that could affect his speed. Also, I thought that DeVonta Smith would get broken in half in the NFL as skinny as he is, but AFAIK he hasn't. I just looked him up. He's 6' and 170 lbs. He has only missed one game in his NFL career, and that was last season. If he can play and not get frequently/seriously injured, then it's possible that Rees-Zammit could, but the difference-maker is as you said, the lack of technique and experience. I've said for years that the NFL needs a minor league farm system other than college. NFL Europe functioned as that beautifully for several years, but sadly it went the way of the Dodo bird. That's how Brandon Moore developed into an All-Pro level of OG after having been a DL his whole life.
LOL Hopefully, following the draft, that won't be something they could laugh at, but rather understand.
How many of the Player Pathway guys are actually on active NFL rosters when the season starts? It started in 2017 and I can't think of any and can't find any online but somebody had to have stuck.
Eagles T Jordan Mailata is one, a few others have stuck around, but I think he's had the most success
