Rd 7, Pick 221: OT Travis Clayton

[henry jones]

1 hour ago, Gunney said:

Think of all the extra Bills merchandise that will be sold in Basingstoke, England (pop. 120,000).

Goodell prolly instructed Beane to draft him in order to sell tix for a future game across the pond

[Warcodered]

Traded back out of the 1st round, but looks like we still had someone walk the stage after all, just took until the 7th round of the draft.

 

 

[peterpan]

So who knows something about Rugby?  What positions are there? Do they have players like OL or more like WR/TE??

 

has he shown good rugby ball catching skills? Or maybe great tackling? 

 

or did we just draft him bc he is big and can move? 
 

What position are they thinking 

[stuvian]

Finishes audibles with "mate"

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Blokestradamus said:

I refuse to believe a dude from Basingstoke got drafted. 

Know anything about him?

[Gunsgoodtime]

Fire the GM and coach.  We needed recevers because we are the only team in the league to not draft a wr in the first 3 rounds in 5 years, and in the deepest wr draft in history wr trade to KC for the player we so desperately needed.  Unbelievable.  

[Cache]

I realize many scoff at this experiment, but let’s recall the story of Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah. Long story short, he came from Ghana to try to play basketball at BYU. It never panned out. He tried track and did well, with sprinter like speed, in addition to being really big and strong. He was quickly encouraged to walk-on the BYU football team. Never played the sport in his life!

 

 Being big, fast and strong, he started to dominate. After college he became the 5th overall pick in the 2013 draft. 
 

You just never know!

[gobills404]

5 hours ago, mannc said:

Like Jordan Mailata??

I was just about to mention him too. If there’s even a 5% chance Clayton can be the next Mailata it’s worth the minimal risk.

[BADOLBILZ]

2 hours ago, Cache said:

I realize many scoff at this experiment, but let’s recall the story of Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah. Long story short, he came from Ghana to try to play basketball at BYU. It never panned out. He tried track and did well, with sprinter like speed, in addition to being really big and strong. He was quickly encouraged to walk-on the BYU football team. Never played the sport in his life!

 

 Being big, fast and strong, he started to dominate. After college he became the 5th overall pick in the 2013 draft. 
 

You just never know!

 

 

Ziggy Ansah didn't dominate in college.   He really only played defense his final year at BYU,  when he had a modest 4.5 sacks.   He had 8 as an NFL rookie.

 

Mohritz Boehringer was a story of a crazy size/speed talent who didn't make it.   9.98 RAS.

 

https://www.mockdraftable.com/player/moritz-boehringer

[Ralonzo]

I mean, if you want a freak athlete to develop there was Myles Cole. 6'6" 270 running 4.6 and change, who has actually taken snaps of American football. If Wade never got a real shot, neither will this guy I think.

[That's No Moon]

5 hours ago, peterpan said:

So who knows something about Rugby?  What positions are there? Do they have players like OL or more like WR/TE??

 

has he shown good rugby ball catching skills? Or maybe great tackling? 

 

or did we just draft him bc he is big and can move? 
 

What position are they thinking 

I'd imagine he's a solid tackler fundamentally. You aren't allowed to block in rugby. Catching the ball over his head wouldn't be something he's used to doing very often.

They drafted him as a physical freak of nature. Beane mentioned that Kromer went to his work out and liked him.  They get to hang on to him basically for free for a while so give Kromer a piece of unmolded clay, with no bad habits to break, and see what he can do.  If it doesn't work out it doesn't work out.  If it does? That's just free real estate.   I hope the kid moves in with Kromer immediately.  Legitimately. Into his house.  Just don't touch his beach chairs.

17 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

I mean, if you want a freak athlete to develop there was Myles Cole. 6'6" 270 running 4.6 and change, who has actually taken snaps of American football. If Wade never got a real shot, neither will this guy I think.

Having a roster and PS exemption makes a big difference.

[Danger Mouse]

He's being called a 'rugby player'.

 

But he plays in the eigth tier of English rugby. I. can't even tell you how far down that is. It's barely pub level. My old club plays 8th tier. 

 

He's also a winger in rugby. Which means his attribute is pace and he's too much of a pansy to get involved with the rough stuff. 

 

It's weirdest pick I've ever seen. 7th round or otherwise. I presume there are political reasons behind it. 

 

If he's a Tackle, I'm Napoleon. But it's a laugh, I suppose.

[Orlando Buffalo]

Obvious this is not expected but getting a guy who has never played football competitively and making him into a viable player would not be unprecedented. Antonio Gates had only played basketball before entering the NFL on his way to the HOF. 

[Dr. Who]

19 minutes ago, Bill Grundy said:

He's being called a 'rugby player'.

 

But he plays in the eigth tier of English rugby. I. can't even tell you how far down that is. It's barely pub level. My old club plays 8th tier. 

 

He's also a winger in rugby. Which means his attribute is pace and he's too much of a pansy to get involved with the rough stuff. 

 

It's weirdest pick I've ever seen. 7th round or otherwise. I presume there are political reasons behind it. 

 

If he's a Tackle, I'm Napoleon. But it's a laugh, I suppose.

Don't invade Russia.

[stevewin]

27 minutes ago, Bill Grundy said:

He's being called a 'rugby player'.

 

But he plays in the eigth tier of English rugby. I. can't even tell you how far down that is. It's barely pub level. My old club plays 8th tier. 

 

He's also a winger in rugby. Which means his attribute is pace and he's too much of a pansy to get involved with the rough stuff. 

 

It's weirdest pick I've ever seen. 7th round or otherwise. I presume there are political reasons behind it. 

 

If he's a Tackle, I'm Napoleon. But it's a laugh, I suppose.

Thanks for including some perspective.  I'm not sure I would call it political per se, but with all the international promotion the league was/is doing they definitely wanted teams to take these guys - even if it was mostly a PR thing.  On NFLN at the end of the draft where they are basically ignoring all the last picks they actually showed the pick on the stage like it was some big deal.  The incentive to a team I guess is that you can carry them on an extra PS spot - I'm actually surprised there isn't more incentive given.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if the league tries to grow this over time into trying to make more international players available (and possibly give more incentives to teams to pick one).  Regardless of whether any have any shot at all of actually every playing, the league seems so determined to promote this international thing I could see it increasing.  

 

[Dr. Who]

2 minutes ago, stevewin said:

Thanks for including some perspective.  I'm not sure I would call it political per se, but with all the international promotion the league was/is doing they definitely wanted teams to take these guys - even if it was mostly a PR thing.  On NFLN at the end of the draft where they are basically ignoring all the last picks they actually showed the pick on the stage like it was some big deal.  The incentive to a team I guess is that you can carry them on an extra PS spot - I'm actually surprised there isn't more incentive given.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if the league tries to grow this over time into trying to make more international players available (and possibly give more incentives to teams to pick one).  Regardless of whether any have any shot at all of actually every playing, the league seems so determined to promote this international thing I could see it increasing.  

 

Maybe it's Beane trying to make sure we get the 3rd round comp pick next time.

[518Buffalo]

52 minutes ago, stevewin said:

Thanks for including some perspective.  I'm not sure I would call it political per se, but with all the international promotion the league was/is doing they definitely wanted teams to take these guys - even if it was mostly a PR thing.  On NFLN at the end of the draft where they are basically ignoring all the last picks they actually showed the pick on the stage like it was some big deal.  The incentive to a team I guess is that you can carry them on an extra PS spot - I'm actually surprised there isn't more incentive given.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if the league tries to grow this over time into trying to make more international players available (and possibly give more incentives to teams to pick one).  Regardless of whether any have any shot at all of actually every playing, the league seems so determined to promote this international thing I could see it increasing.  

 

 

Interesting. I'll admit my first thought was that a third OL pick on day 3 was confusing, unless they really wanted competition for Van Demark. But with how often our 7th rounders get scooped by other teams, if this is a guy that isn't coveted and can be lotto pick on the PS for a year with his ridiculous physical tools that's a fine use of that pick.

 

Even better if he can do a Tea Time segment on social media like Christian Wade did

 

Edited April 28 by 518Buffalo

[Rockinon]

14 hours ago, Whkfc said:

Wasn't this guy from England? He was a rugby player not from south florida

A boxer too. Even played tennis. Interesting background. If he's any good at throwing a punch, that's actually a pretty good trait for and OLman.

Edited April 28 by Rockinon

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Bill Grundy said:

He's being called a 'rugby player'.

 

But he plays in the eigth tier of English rugby. I. can't even tell you how far down that is. It's barely pub level. My old club plays 8th tier. 

 

He's also a winger in rugby. Which means his attribute is pace and he's too much of a pansy to get involved with the rough stuff. 

 

It's weirdest pick I've ever seen. 7th round or otherwise. I presume there are political reasons behind it. 

 

If he's a Tackle, I'm Napoleon. But it's a laugh, I suppose.

He’s a free stash as he allows us to have an additional PS spot.  It’s a 7th round pick…. 
 

We have a year to work with him with zero downside

[Cache]

8 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Ziggy Ansah didn't dominate in college.   He really only played defense his final year at BYU,  when he had a modest 4.5 sacks.   He had 8 as an NFL rookie.

 

Mohritz Boehringer was a story of a crazy size/speed talent who didn't make it.   9.98 RAS.

 

https://www.mockdraftable.com/player/moritz-boehringer

Fine. “Dominate” might’ve been too strong sounding. Let’s just say he stood out as a man among boys on the field. I live in Utah and have watched/ followed BYU closely for a long time. He was very impressive.  Of course that’s no guarantee, just saying.

 

my point is when you possess the tangles that cannot be coached, possibilities can be very strong.