Louis Rees-Zammit: Expert’s blunt verdict on code hopper’s progress at Kansas City Chiefs
Louis Rees-Zammit in Kansas City Chiefs training in May 2024.
Louis Rees-Zammit is battling to adapt to the NFL’s speed and will be involved in a head-to-head duel with one of his team-mates for a position in the Kansas City Chiefs’ final team.
That is the word from Emmy-winning sports producer for KSHB 41 News Nick Jacobs, who was speaking on the ChiefsDigest podcast hosted by Matt Derrick.
The former Wales and Gloucester flyer’s progress in his new sporting code has been a hot topic since he made the switch from the 15-man game and Jacobs and Derrick discussed how he fared at a recent Kansas City Chiefs training camp at St Joseph in Missouri.
When asked what his first impressions were of Rees-Zammit, after seeing him in pads for the first time, Jacobs said: “So, the three things that I had questions on: How well does he protect the ball? Does he get his pad level down, so that he doesn’t get laid out? What is he like in pass protection?
‘The game is moving very, very fast for him’
“So, from what I saw from a pad perspective on those two days that I was there – right now the game is moving very, very fast for him. I mean really fast for him. To the point where there was a hole a couple of times and he either didn’t see it or he wasn’t sure. It closed down quick.”
Jacobs believe Rees-Zammit is battling to come to terms with some of the finer nuances of American football.
“Him being able to read it right now, that is a struggle for him. I think that’s going to take a lot more time than people realise because in rugby, I don’t know if you have to make the decision that quickly on some of those interior runs,” he said.
“From what I remember, a lot of his highlights were his ability to bounce it outside. Which would be the equivalent in football of a toss, reverse or pitch, getting to the edge and out-running the guys in rugby’s angles to the end zone.
“Right now, I see a guy that has too high a pad level. But he hasn’t been able to play. I’m not knocking on this like – ‘He’s got to be up to speed’ – he didn’t play it in high school, he didn’t play it in college.
“So for him to be doing this at NFL level, for people that are video-gamers, it’s like him being playing Madden for the first time on the hardest level possible. That’s what he’s going against, and he’s going against elite athletes.
“He’s an an elite athlete from a rugby perspective and a speed perspective, but there’s a lot more you need skill set-wise and rep-wise to be able to make that happen. So, he’s not there yet on that front.”
Despite that, Jacobs said there were some positive to Rees-Zammit’s game which caught his eye.
“He held his own a couple of times, he did better in those reps so I’m not saying that he was just awful, but I expected him to struggle with that,” he added.
“He didn’t get laid out as quickly as I thought he was going to, simply because that’s probably the first time he’s had a guy running at him at full speed with full momentum and he’s got to have a particular set, and he’s got to have a particular hand placement to be able to stop that momentum and stop that rush and essentially be on the defensive, like he would have to be as a player.”
Tough competition
However, Jacobs believes that Rees-Zammit could still improve but it could come down to a straight choice between him and Kadarius Toney, who won back-to-back Super Bowl titles with the Chiefs in 2023 and 2024, for a spot on the team’s final 53-man roster which will be announced on August 27.
“Here’s the reality: the fact that the Chiefs put Kadarius Toney as a potential running back, maybe wide receiver, maybe kick returner, punt returner, I actually think that who Rees (-Zammit) is now competing with for a roster spot is Kadarius Toney,” he said. “Kadarius can play multiple positions if he can stay healthy. Rees (-Zammit) has a way to go.
“I’m not saying he can’t get better in pre-season, I want to make that clear, it doesn’t mean he can’t get better, it doesn’t mean that he’s not going to be a much better player by the end of this, because he picks things up pretty quickly from the softball game we saw.
“So I’m not counting him out. If you think the battle I’m watching that nobody’s talking about right now is Kadarius Toney versus Rees-Zammit. I’m not kidding you, I think that’s actually the battle for a roster spot.”
