If ever there was a time, if ever there was a spot, for Louis Rees-Zammit to chase his NFL dream, that is it. The previous Welsh rugby union star is reportedly nearing a deal to hitch the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, the back-to-back Tremendous Bowl champions.
Rees-Zammit is more likely to be part of the crew for his or her annual coaching camp, a type of prolonged trial as he learns the trials of the NFL. He’ll be part of a 90-man coaching camp roster that may finally be whittled all the way down to 53, with 16 additional locations up for grabs on the observe squad, in impact a reserve crew. This season additionally marks the primary time that groups may have an additional spot obtainable on the observe squad carved out for gamers who’ve come by the league’s Worldwide Participant Pathway program. For the reason that IPP was launched, 37 worldwide gamers have signed with groups and 18 stay on rosters.
In different phrases, there’s nonetheless a protracted solution to go for Rees-Zammit though it is a promising begin. The transition from rugby to the NFL is fierce. The complexities of the positions and playbooks are robust for even a number of the finest school gamers to know. And no franchise runs as subtle a system because the Chiefs.
However there was information this week that ought to encourage those that imagine in Rees-Zammit and might be the minor miracle he wanted to construct a significant NFL profession. NFL homeowners have agreed to a rule change that may overhaul the league’s kickoff process. Lately, as a result of sport’s ongoing concussion disaster, the league adopted a neutered model of kickoffs, one of the best probability for a participant to collect the ball and make a play within the open discipline. To handle damage considerations, the league drafted guidelines that drastically decreased the variety of returns. Final season, solely 23% of kickoffs had been returned. The newest change will remodel that. The NFL is transferring to a brand new type that may see returns leap to between 60 and 90%, making the kickoff a weapon once more.
That is excellent news for Rees-Zammit, whose finest probability at making an NFL roster was as a kick returner on the particular crew unit. And returners at the moment are at a premium. Enjoying a standard place, it might take time for the 23-year-old to collect the institutional information wanted to line up on Sundays. However being given 4 or so possibilities a sport to collect the ball, run and break tackles ought to come naturally to a proficient however uncooked participant just like the Welshman.
Franchises normally take a bet on gamers coming by the worldwide program within the hope that they may develop into one thing sometime. With the roster exemptions, there are not any downsides. At finest, these gamers are seen as fringe prospects, sometimes elite athletes, who might be molded into roster-caliber gamers. Rees-Zammit’s worth is that he has upside at the moment.
With the brand new guidelines, groups can be chasing a market inefficiency, on the lookout for a participant on an affordable contract – Rees-Zammit would make $216,000 (£171,000) a season on a observe squad – who wouldn’t have made a roster beneath the outdated methods however who can now deliver juice to the return sport.
Rees-Zammit suits the invoice, although the percentages are nonetheless lengthy. Plug him into this yr’s NFL draft and his efficiency in drills that measure pace, measurement and power are within the backside 7% of broad receiver prospects. At his Professional Day, the place crew scouts take a look at prospects, he clocked an excellent dash time however did not match as much as even low-level draft prospects of the identical construct in different essential metrics. As a operating again, he’s too lanky and unfamiliar with the nuances that dictate whether or not a participant makes the sphere or not.
However with the kickoff revamp, Rees-Zammit turns into much less of a long-term receiver or operating again mission and extra of an instantaneous specialist, tilting the percentages ever so barely that he may hold on to a roster spot. Groups historically carried a return specialist on their roster on the understanding {that a} sudden jolt – a rating, an enormous breakaway – may shift momentum, spark a drive or tip the sport of their favor. Because the league started to legislate returns out of the video games, although, groups opted towards retaining a specialist, preferring to make use of a operating again, broad receiver or defensive participant who may moonlight as a returner.
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Now, that calculus is altering, with the revamped kickoff guidelines. Via that prism, Rees-Zammit’s abilities make sense; he can shake away tackles and drive downhill somewhat than having to cope with the intricacies of route operating or mastering cross safety.
The timing is right – and the touchdown spot, if confirmed, is even higher. With Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, he’ll be working with one of the best quarterback within the sport and the league’s most revolutionary coach. If anyone is prepared to bend the norms, it’s Reid. At worst, Rees-Zammit will spend time round one of many best coach-quarterback duos within the league, working in essentially the most cutting-edge offense within the sport. For a former rugby star attempting to dwell out a fantasy, that’s objectively cool.
Even with the rule change, the percentages are slim that Rees-Zammit will make it out of coaching camp and decrease nonetheless that he makes the Chiefs’ lively roster this season. The Chiefs are aiming for an unprecedented three-peat – and usually tend to fall again on identified portions with expertise within the sport. However the kickoff reform has opened up a lane that the Welshman may run by in some unspecified time in the future. It’s not out of the query that the Chiefs squirrel him away on the observe squad to study the sport earlier than giving him a chance to play within the NFL in a season or two.
