DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk 2024 NFL Draft Louis Rees-Zammit

Not sure if you have heard of this guy (yet).

I would very much like the Browns to draft this guy ... he's a 23 year old Welsh rugby superstar who has gone over to "try out" for the NFL and will be eligible for the draft.

He's a tad over 6'2" - 220lbs - and FAST. He's been clocked at 24.2 mph - which apparently is faster than Tyrek Hill. I've seen claimed 10.15 seconds for the 100m the video below shows 10.4s- apparently that equates to low 4.3's for the 40 yard dash.

He's a rugby player so he has good/great hands. His dad was in the NFL albeit for a brief second or two - but it's meant he's grown up in love with the NFL if not playing Football.





I want to get this guy so much I figured he's worth his own thread.

He certainly has the wheels. Wow! I don't know much about rugby or why you kick the ball to yourself, but he showed plenty of athletic ability and instinct tracking balls in that manner. And damn, that's when you really saw the speed.

These kind of picks are always intriguing, they're also the most likely to bust. I'm in favor of any pick after round 5 being a "speculation" type pick, and this is where he fits... right now.

This is a much longer article about the young man. It was published in January and said he was 22... so he just turned 23. It also stated his weight at 192, I'm suspecting he'll want to be about 210 and should have no trouble being there. I picked this part because it talks about the International Player Pathway (IPP) program. This program started in 2017 and gives clubs a much better look under the hood than we've had in the past.

That was some very good information about the International Player Pathway. I had no idea. Thanks.

Bone, he's looking at RB or WR i believe. If his hands are good wr makes more sense as he's not prototypical RB with that build. He's am elite rugby talent on a world cup/national level and i think he's got a real chance .

Fate, you can only psss bacwards in rugby but the guy with the ball can kick firward out of hand he or ant teammates that are behind him when he kicks are free to rush to the ball and claim it. It's a live ball and anyone can pick it up.... Takes an immense amount of skill to run flat out, kick the ball with that accuracy and touch. Normally the other teams fullback is back there like a free safety, but theres a lot of space and pressure!

As they say, leave no stone unturned.

I don't think the transition would be easy by any stretch. You can see with the players we've had like Anthony Schwartz who played football all his life - being an elite level athlete with speed doesn't mean you can succeed in the NFL.

That said I believe/expect LRZ to be a success in the NFL for a number of reasons - not the least of which, he's by far the best rugby player to ever have tried to make the switch. The guy is a world class rugby player. In a sport where many Nations play the sport at an elite level - he's up there with the very, very best of them. To try and give a comparison of someone in the NFL deciding to play Rugby - it'd be as good as Garrett Wilson or Chubb making the switch. He's been a pro-athlete since late teens - he knows the work ethic needed and the commitment. He's been on the world stage at the rugby world cup - knows pressure and the big stage. He's in his absolute prime at 23. He's used to playing offense/defense in a game that has two 40 minute halves of non-stop action. There are no downs and time outs... the only time the action stops is for penalties/infractions and head injuries.

So much of the technique is going to be different - and I'm not going to undersell the challenge. I just believe wholeheartedly he will be a success.

I disagree with the Georgia part. He's got the natural athleticism for that caliber of school to want to develop. But I do agree that he's behind the 8 ball on skills and just football instincts.

I think he could do it. I don't know if he will make it. He's never had to withstand quite the level of contact for an extended period of time. Rugby is a physical game. Football is more of a brutal game. I also don't know how he'll handle the intricacy of the sport. Maybe he can make it as a gadget guy and return specialist and develop over time. He's just got a lot of ground to make up.

I don't know. I agree that the process is fast, but I think a lot of the ability to process quickly translates. Obviously the what he is recognizing is a bit different, but that's true even for guys that did play in college (obviously some more than others.) Now how well that information can be transmitted/received/ingrained is hard to predict. It will depend not just on him, but the people imparting the knowledge.

Again, I don't know if he will do it. But I certainly wouldn't rule out that someone could do it. In some ways, I feel like a "skill position" guy has a somewhat easier path than someone in the trenches, and Jordan Mailata has shown that that can be done. A skill guy can have a more uniquely tailored role. But, it's hard to know what this guy can handle until he actually tries to handle it.

I tend to lean towards your side on this. I believe the ability to process information quickly is far more instinctual than taught. Often times we've seen QB's who play great at the college level that once they enter the NFL simply can't process what's going on in the field of play quickly enough. It's not because they haven't played the game since they were a kid. It's not that they didn't play well at the college level. They've been trained, coached and watched film for a long time. But despite all of that, their brains simply can't process the information at the speed of the NFL game despite all the years playing the game.

Some people just have that innate ability to process information quickly and some don't.

Would love to know what teams are thinking and seeing

Tight end project who nnight be better as a DL.
Seriously? Rugby?

Things like this could lead to the NFL beginning to poach all sorts of international talent, if the money is good enough. That increases the talent pool and spreads the popularity of the sport like wildfire.

You can pretty much bank on him getting a contract from someone on size & athleticism alone. Teams will want to sign that and figure out what to do with it later.

I'm a huge rugby fan ... other than watching the NFL it would be my second favorite sport. The athletes that play rugby - overall - don't tend to be quite as big as the biggest NFL players, and generally not quite as fast. Zammat is one of the fastest rugby players but he clocked a 4.44 on his official pro-day. Fast but not in the 4.2's and 4.3's that the NFL sees. But then he's (genuinely) over 6'2" and 200+ lbs. Rugby is 15 men a side - and the play is continuous and there is one team on the pitch for 80 minutes. 5 subs allowed - once the sub is on the other player can't return. There can be a lot of boring possesion/territory games - but there's always moments of brilliance. The bigggest obstacle with rugby gaining popularity is the rules are hard to learn and follow when casually watching.

Purp - I agree. The upside is potentially big salaries. The downside is short careers and the churn/burn for most backup players. Zammat is young enough at 23 to try the NFL and if he doesn't become a starter in the next 3 years, he can return to rugby at the world level and play for another 6-7 years (assuming no injuries).

I don't know , anything is possible

The Browns had the Scottish Hammer Experiment who busted footballs

The Browns had the star basketball player Marcus Santos - Silva

Rugby is a tough sport and the players are tough

It's also a game where they don't line up on a line and are to follow blockers or are used to finding a hole open up

Not saying he won't work or make a good NFL player

Just seems like another experiment

If he comes to the Browns, wish him the best and hope he succeeds in however the coaches want to use him.

The Hammer still kicks for the Giants and has done a pretty good job.

He's inconsistent and horrible at the pooch punts, He kicks so hard that his gunners can't get down the field fast enough to put a play on the ball.He's in the bottom third of punters. He did improve as a place kick holder.

Corey Bojorquez over the hammer !

He might be a perfect player type for the new kick-off rules. They are expected to pass.

I never said I preferred the Hammer .. I voiced a casual opinion. He also acts as their back-up place kicker and has preformed at a very high level. chaio

I think this guy is a bit unique... comparing him to the Hammer does him a disservice ... the Hammer didn't play at an elite world level and start for his country in the world cup. And while they don't follow blockers in rugby, as that'd be illegal , they do creat designed plays where he gets the ball at full speed hitting a hole. For sure its unusual and a long shot but I reckon he's 100% getting on a team and from there who knows. Practice squad I would bet the house. Final.53? That's the unknown....Dude is a world class athlete ... can.he play at a high level in the NFL ? We will find out.

I'm impressed with how you think of him. You know his talent is elite and I trust you entirely on that. It will be very interesting to follow his path and see where he lands and how he does.

I used to watch some Rugby and had a few friends play. I never really got to learn the Rugby rules or schemes which i'm disappointed in myself.

I wish I had your knowledge and understanding of it. Now you have me wanting the Browns to get him. lol !

I was under the impression that teams could make contract offers to the international pipeline players at any time and I thought I read that an unnamed team had made him an offer. Did I hallucinate that? I didn’t think this was a draft thing.

I played rugby throughout college (after dropping out of football) and I love the sport. We played against Penn state, air force and Virginia, which were all top teams back then. We mostly got murdered by big teams but it was still great fun.

The one thing though is tackling is just very different. You can and do take some big hits but rarely with the kind of violent abandon you get with American football. Rugby kinda has the hockey rule. If you really lay someone out it’s absolutely going to come back to you. There being no pads/ helmets plus the hockey rule means the hits by and large are just not nearly as severe.

I’m sure people including his dad have clued him in to this but until he starts taking American football hits from the Garretts, bosas and von millers of the league no one really knows what he is. Every other receiver & runner in the league has come up taking lots of shots. He’s probably had very few.

The flip side is for a big guy he’ll have a ton of stamina. I was never as tired after football games as after rugby games, no close. You’re just running, jumping, scrumming and just moving way more non stop. You get very fit, just cut out of mahogany. He’ll continue to have wheels late in games.

Hey who knows. I've been wrong more times than right on players!! But it's a great story.

10yrs. Yes, tackling is very different. I played both and put down the more violent collisions in football down to being protected and using that as a means to impart impact. Should be an interesting story and I saw today he signed with Jay z and his sport agency. Pressure that's a positive for Zammat

Bummer

He's going to get one of the best opportunities to be successful that he could have landed ... no excuses at this point. I read it was a $900K contract? Not sure how that's structured.