Rugby star Rees-Zammit to leave Rugby for NFL

[ChazStandard]

17 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said:

He just sounds like somebody the Patriots will turn into an all-star 15 year role-player lol

Give my regards to 2008.

This is 2024, when the Patriots would be more likely to name him offensive coordinator.

[lomaxgrUK]

3 hours ago, Kiwibrown said:

Jordan was semi pro in rugby league and young, he was clay and hadn't developed good rugby habits which would probably be bad nfl habits  

They are just totally different prospects based on their prospective position and physical makeup too. People who are 6ft 8 with nimble feet and long arms are rare, so they have a much better chance at sticking at the sport than someone of LRZ's physical makeup which, by NFL standards, is above average at very best.

 

Edited January 17 by lomaxgrUK

[Kiwibrown]

22 minutes ago, lomaxgrUK said:

They are just totally different prospects based on their prospective position and physical makeup too. People who are 6ft 8 with nimble feet and long arms are rare, so they have a much better chance at sticking at the sport than someone of LRZ's physical makeup which, by NFL standards, is above average at very best.

 

Lrz has a few key assets, he is tall, great movement skills and super fast. 

If he makes outside backs look slow at the professional level he has some special speed. 

Also doesn't slow down much when making moves. 

 

Also will have skills in all three phases. He can be an emergency punter, can run, catch and tackle. Also defend well in space which nfl players are terrible at. 

[notthatbluestuff]

I'm eagerly anticipating Harry Kane's transition to an NFL kicker, something he's said is an eventual goal later in his career.

[adamq]

Sam Monson spoke about him on the PFF pod, and had a fantastic idea. Make this dude your punter, kick returner, and gadget guy on offense. Saves you at least 1 if not 2 roster spots

[DoleINGout]

1 hour ago, SteelKing728 said:

He just sounds like somebody the Patriots will turn into an all-star 15 year role-player lol

bill belichick*

[RuskieTitan]

36 minutes ago, adamq said:

Sam Monson spoke about him on the PFF pod, and had a fantastic idea. Make this dude your punter, kick returner, and gadget guy on offense. Saves you at least 1 if not 2 roster spots

Smart. This way if he gets injured you lose 3 positions.

[Mox]

Didn't the 49ers try something like this in the past, it received some hype, and the dude was a nobody who was gone in a year?

[Manny/Patrick]

8 minutes ago, Mox said:

Didn't the 49ers try something like this in the past, it received some hype, and the dude was a nobody who was gone in a year?

Payne, he actually had a crazy debut on MNF if I recall

[Manny/Patrick]

1 hour ago, Kiwibrown said:

Lrz has a few key assets, he is tall, great movement skills and super fast. 

If he makes outside backs look slow at the professional level he has some special speed. 

Also doesn't slow down much when making moves. 

 

Also will have skills in all three phases. He can be an emergency punter, can run, catch and tackle. Also defend well in space which nfl players are terrible at. 

He’s 6”3 200 pounds, is that the normal size of a rugby player? He sounds like a physical beast

[malak1]

3 hours ago, SteelKing728 said:

He just sounds like somebody the Patriots will turn into an all-star 15 year role-player lol

Those days are gone. 

[RaidersAreOne]

15 minutes ago, Mox said:

Didn't the 49ers try something like this in the past, it received some hype, and the dude was a nobody who was gone in a year?

The Hayne Plane lol. 

[Daniel]

Played wing and fullback, so potentially a receiver, but passes in rugby are so, so, so different than passes in the NFL.  Running back or TE may be more appropriate if he's on the offensive side of the ball.  Don't know much about the guy, but everyone in rugby has to tackle, regardless of position, so defense seems like more of a natural transition to me.

Linebacker probably translates the best, IMO.

Edited January 17 by Daniel

[Soko]

3 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Linebacker probably translates the best, IMO.

From a purely physical standpoint, maybe.

But LBer is probably one of the worst positions anyone could pickup, IMO. Especially if he’s coming in under 220lbs. While not necessarily the most athletically challenging (cornerback), it really requires the most innate instincts out of any non-QB position. At that point you’re asking the dude to do two things he’s never even considered doing in his life (taking on 320lb+ blockers in a gap and backpedaling into coverage in zone/man), on top of reading offenses/blocking assignments. 

[Tugboat]

7 hours ago, lomaxgrUK said:

Man, the newspapers really have suckered so many people with this comparison of Tyreek's MPH vs LRZ ... It's utter nonsense. One is wearing full pads and a helmet, the other isn't. It's ridiculous. Tyreek Hill makes some of the greatest athletes in professional sport look like make-a-wish kids. 

LWZ is fast, sure. But he's absolutely not Tyreek Hill fast.

 

More than just "pads" vs "no pads" even, it comes down to that whole "track speed" vs "football speed".

 

The thing that makes Tyreek so special is that he is not only a pretty darn special, explosive athlete...but he's also an extremely natural football player.  He doesn't just "run fast"...he actually "plays fast".  When you watch the way he roasts guys, it's rarely just pure speed.  It's that ability he has to be elusive and deceptive in what he's doing, and then just completely change gears and take off in any direction at any moment.  It's a nightmare for a DB.  But that kind of thing comes from a ton of football background and experience.  Some have more natural aptitude for it than others...but at the end of the day, what Tyreek does is honed so much on reps and situations and understanding how he can use his acceleration and change of pace to completely put DBs off balance and out of sync.

 

17 minutes ago, Soko said:

From a purely physical standpoint, maybe.

But LBer is probably one of the worst positions anyone could pickup, IMO. Especially if he’s coming in under 220lbs. While not necessarily the most athletically challenging (cornerback), it really requires the most innate instincts out of any non-QB position. At that point you’re asking the dude to do two things he’s never even considered doing in his life (taking on 320lb+ blockers in a gap and backpedaling into coverage in zone/man), on top of reading offenses/blocking assignments. 

If anything, defense is probably even more difficult for a non-player to learn to play effective.

 

Special teams, sure...it's pretty structured for the most part.

 

But defense is a whole different animal.  It's positions where you have to be proactive about reading keys and understanding what the opposing player is even trying to do...which is just another entire layer on top of trying to learn to be a natural offensive skill player.  Where at least you know what you're supposed to do before the ball is snapped.  Defense...you've got your responsibility...but depending on the role, there can be a whole world of possibilities you need to sift through to figure out where you should be and what you need to be doing.  And a lot of other players (sometimes big ones) deliberately getting in your way and purposefully trying to mislead you or wash you out of the play.

Open field tackling is great.  But you still have to situate yourself in the right open field in the first place.  For the most part...you really have to understand how offense works, to play effective defense.  At least...again...outside of the trenches, where this guy isn't going to have any business at his size.

Edited January 17 by Tugboat