Jarryd Hayne is a freak of an athlete. That’s no question, but will he succeed in the NFL? I hope so.
Hayne knows that he has a massive challenge ahead of him, he is at the bottom of the NFL mountain and it is no Kosciusko, Everest may only just come close to describing the challenge ahead of him.
Where would he play?
This will be an interesting decision for Hayne. The NFL is very stringent in assigning players top specific positions. Gone are the days when players will play both ways (i.e. offence and defence).
We can immediately rule out punter/kicker – the favoured position for Australian NFL converts. Hayne has a nice boot but he is not quitting the NRL in his prime to play in a position that is often (and unfairly) derided.
We can also put a line through offensive line, defensive line and full back – he’s not big enough.
Tight end? Apparently Willie Mason was once tested by the New York Jets and was told he would be best suited to tight end. But Hayne is too small.
Quarterback? No way
That leaves defensive back, line backer, wide receiver and running back. I would think defensive back and line-backer would be too complicated to pick up for Hayne at this late stage in his career.
He’s probably a little too small for line-backer. The same goes for wide receiver in terms of size and skill. That leaves us with running back, a position where Hayne can put to use his current skills of running, ball-handling and evasiveness.
Given we’ve settled on running back, let’s compare Hayne with current 2014 NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray, who plays for the Dallas Cowboys. Murray has rushed for 785 yards, a lead of almost 250 yards over the next best running back (LeVeon Bell – Pittsburgh Steelers).
The similarities between Hayne and Murray are a little scary
• Born three days apart – Hayne 15/2/1988; Murray 12/2/1988
• Height – Hayne: 189cm, Murray: 183cm
• Weight – Hayne: 100kg, Murray: 98kg
Murray is a little more stout than Hayne, but it’s clear Hayne has the body type to be an NFL running back. But Murray has played gridiron since high school, Hayne has not, to my knowledge, played a serious snap of American football.
As mentioned by other Roarers the talent pool for the NFL is enormous. The development pathways and infrastructure are well ingrained through the high school and college systems. I’m sure that NFL teams would want a raw athletic freak, like Hayne, to have chosen American football earlier and progressed through these systems.
But, hey, best of luck to him, I genuinely hope he succeeds. I’ll sure enjoy following his journey from afar.
Hey, supercoach? Choose your own ultimate NFL team and compete with other players for cash prizes in daily competitions on any match. If you’re after the best odds on the NFL, PlayUp is your best bet. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
The extraordinary episodes after his life as an American Football hero quite overshadowed the career of O.J. Simpson, who has died at the age…
The Kansas City Chiefs, steered brilliamtly at the end by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, downed the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime to secure…
San Francisco 49ers will make their eighth appearance in the Super Bowl after a stellar season from a team stacked with real talent across the whole line-up.
The Chiefs are no longer strangers to playing matches in February. What was once a multi-generational 50-year drought has become an almost yearly tradition.
Daniel Faalele and Mitch Wishnowsky have kept their Super Bowl dreams alive, with Baltimore and San Francisco winning the divisional round playoff.
Six-time NFL champion Bill Belichick has agreed to part ways as the coach of the New England Patriots, bringing an end to his 24-year…
