Tag: Christian Wade

Pathway to Success?

Pathway to Success?

With sport slowly returning and NFL teams preparing to return to team facilities, we are entering a crucial stage in Christian Wade’s attempts to transition from rugby to the NFL. The Wasps superstar is going through the International Player Pathway and spent last season on the Practice Squad of the Buffalo Bills, with the Pathway allowing the Bills a roster exemption to keep him in that spot all season.

Now entering his second season in the league, he is at a key point. He is 29 years old, which is already old for a Running Back, though he may have a couple of extra seasons in him due to not having years of contact at the position behind him, but he may soon find his pace – a key part to his game – starting to diminish in the near future. During last year’s preseason, he had some impressive plays – including a touchdown on his first touch of the ball – but there is a lot more to the running back position, such a pass protection that will take time to learn.

Has he had that time? A year on the Bills practice squad will have helped, but the pandemic has surely disrupted his off-field practice and he needs as much time as possible to not just familiarise himself with the position, but make its requirements second nature. What also isn’t going to help is the potential reduction in preseason games this year due to the pandemic, giving Wade less chances in-game to prove himself worthy of a space.

But who is he up against? NFL teams will generally carry 4 running backs on the final roster, 1 of whom will usually be a fullback. Looking at the current wider roster, that means 1 spot will go to either Patrick DiMarco or rookie Reggie Gilliam. So that leaves 3 spots. Devin Singletary looks set to top the depth chart, and I can’t see the team spending a third-round pick on Zack Moss if they don’t intend to use him a decent amount this season. As for the final spot, I can see the Bills going for a more experienced option in T.J. Yeldon as he will probably be seen as a less risky option coming off a disrupted offseason and preseason. Right now it looks like Wade’s best chance of making the roster would be on Special Teams as a Punt Returner, but that will also cut into his time practicing as a RB.

So if we assume that Wade finds himself missing out on the roster, what happens next? Well, thefirst step would be to go through waivers, where the other 31 franchises would have a chance to sign him. There is always the chance that a team will take a shot on him, but with the running back role becoming very much a by-committee approach, there are a lot of options out there and I can see teams looking for players with more experience of the game rather than taking a risk on Wade’s intangibles.

The good news for Wade is that clearing waivers would not be the end of things. Back in April, he was given a roster exemption for a second season, which would leave the Bills with 3 options after clearing waivers:

  • They could cut him, but as we will see from the other options, there would be very little point to doing this
  • They could assign him to the Practice Squad using the IPP exemption, meaning that Bills would have 11 players on their Practice Squad compared to the usual 10. He would not be able to be claimed off Practice Squad by another team, but would also not be able to be called up to the main roster at all during the season
  • The could assign him to the Practice Squad without using the IPP exemption, meaning that he is just one of the normal 10 members of the Practice Squad, so could be called up to the main roster during the season, but would also be able to be claimed by another team during the season.

Now if Wade only just misses out on a roster spot, I can see the Bills taking a risk by assigning him as one of the 10 members of the Practice Squad so that they could call him up later in the season. More likely, though, I see them taking advantage of the roster exemption and having him as an 11ᵗʰ member of the Practice Squad for a second year. It stops other teams picking up a running back with great intangibles later in the season, while also meaning that they are not taking up a spot on their roster or Practice Squad for someone they don’t think is ready for the NFL.

And after 2 seasons on the Practice Squad, and being the wrong side of 30 by the time the 2021 season comes around, will that be the chance gone for a player who found himself underappreciated by the England coaches? Only time will tell…

Wade to the NFL

Wade to the NFL

In the big news of the week, Christian Wade has left Wasps and rugby union as a whole with the intention of pursuing a career in the NFL. The winger, capped just once by England, could potentially have broken the Premiership record for tries in a career but appears to have played his last game (for now at least).

Since the news broke, I have not yet been able to find anything saying how he plans to enter the league: whether he plans to train with a view to entering the draft, or will he sign on directly with a team as an undrafted free agent in a similar way to rugby league star Jarryd Hayne.

Wade becomes the latest in a list of pro rugby players who have made the switch to the NFL in recent years. The aforementioned Hayne had an impressive preseason but struggled in the regular season and split his time between the active roster and practice squad before leaving for the Fiji rugby 7s team less than a year after signing for the 49ers. 2015 RPA Sevens Player of the Year came through the NFL’s International Player Pathway program and currently finds himself on the Atlanta Falcon’s practice squad. Former Worcester lock Christian Scotland-Williamson also finds himself on the practice squad, in case for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As can be seen from those players, it is not an easy transition from rugby to the NFL. The two sports may share many similar skills but they are also two very different games. Whereas rugby requires endurance to keep going for 80 minutes, the NFL is about 4-6 seconds of going flat out with rests in between. Roles are much more specialised and involve skills such as precise route running and blocking. On top of this, there is the extra equipment (a gumshield looks insignificant next to NFL pads and helmets) and also the extra physicality from more larger players and plenty of impacts that would be far from legal in rugby.

Assuming Wade can make the transition, where will he play? Personally, I see him playing offense due to his dangerous footwork and ability to make a player miss. With that footwork and pace, I expect his earliest contributions to be as a returner, much with Hayne in San Francisco. If he develops well enough to feature away from special teams, then I can see him at one of two positions.

My initial thoughts when I heard he was leaving rugby was to imagine him as a Wide Reciever. At 5’8″ it will not be easy for him especially in the redzone, but if he can run precise routes then he could become a dangerous slot receiver like Wes Welker, while his pace could also make him a dangerous downfield threat.

The other position I can see Wade would be in the backfield. Obviously he’s not someone that I would want to see running between the tackles regularly but in more of a scatback role – running outside the tackles and catching out of the backfield. My only worry about this position would be the need for him to learn to pass block and pick up the blitz, or his Quarterback could be in trouble.

How will he do? Well judging by the fact that Wasps look set to sign Malakai Fekitoa, Wade must have been on a pretty nice contact at Wasps, so to give that up he must be confident that he can make it in the NFL and, I would assume, have taken advice from people who know the league. The important thing will be getting a team that will be willing to take the time to develop him rather than expecting him to be an immediate star. It will also help to end up on a team with coaches who can scheme to take advantage of his skills while also trying to limit the impact of his weaknesses. Suffice to say, I will be following the progression of this story with great interest.