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N.F.L. Draft 7th Round: Where Rugby Players and Future Dentists Get Picked

Jordan Mailata, a rugby player, after being selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the N.F.L. draft.Credit...Doug Benc/Associated Press

It’s the round for the “good but not great,” the “project” or the “flyer.” The seventh and final round of the N.F.L. draft doesn’t unearth many superstars, but every once in a while it produces a gem, like Julian Edelman or Shannon Sharpe.

More often, the seventh round is where general managers do something off the wall, like select a long-snapper, or even a rugby player. The stakes are somewhat low, so teams are willing to gamble.

This year’s class, chosen on Saturday, included some nontraditional selections.

The Patriots appeared set at quarterback last season, with the ageless Tom Brady ably deputized by the promising backup Jimmy Garoppolo. Then, although Brady is 40, the team inexplicably traded Garoppolo away, and he proceeded to play quite well for the 49ers.

Though Brady is still putting up good numbers and talks about playing for five more years, the team must know it will eventually need a successor. In this year of the quarterback, they passed in rounds 1 to 6, before settling on Etling.

Brady himself wasn’t taken until the sixth round, so it’s possible Etling could be a good one. He completed 60 percent of his passes last season and threw just two interceptions. Yet he was benched at Purdue before transferring to L.S.U. and wasn’t on many mock draft boards.

As long as Brady defies time, this pick means little. But someday, New England really will need a new starting quarterback.

Right?

When you’re the Super Bowl champion you can take a few chances. And this is a big one. Mailata, a 6-foot-8, 346-pound Samoan, has been playing professional rugby in Australia with the South Sydney Rabbitohs. (A “rabbitoh” is an old term for someone who sold rabbit meat. Ah, Australia.)

Mailata looks huge on the rugby pitch, rolling over one, two, three or more smaller men.

But his American football experience is zero. He feels the stop-start nature of the sport could play to his strengths: “Rugby’s such a get-up, get-down game, and playing that for 80 minutes is a lot for a 310-pound guy,” he told NFL.com. Nate Ebner, an American rugby player until his junior year of college, made the transition and became a Patriots special teams contributor. But Ebner is a different kind of player, weighing 100 pounds less.

The Eagles were high enough on Mailata to trade up to get him. “With this guy, we don’t know his floor, and we don’t know his ceiling,” General Manager Howie Roseman told Sports Illustrated. “With this guy, we’re molding a piece of clay.”

Here’s a guy with a bit more experience than Mailata. A bit. Bawden was a quarterback when he arrived at college, before being shifted to fullback. He was mostly a specialist blocking back and finished his career with a total of 30 catches and 12 rushes in 24 games. He would figure for a specialty role in the N.F.L. as well, if he makes a roster.

“At first, I really didn’t believe that I could do it,” he told The Detroit Free Press of his transition from quarterback. “I was willing to give it a chance. That definitely gave me an opportunity to be where I am today, talking to you as a Detroit Lion.”

“LS.” Yes, the Packers drafted a long snapper. Not everyone was enthused.

“This is a very questionable decision,” opined CBS Sports, while grading the pick a D-plus.

Bradley was the only player drafted who was listed as a long snapper. Last year, there was also one: Colin Holba of Louisville, who went in the sixth round to the Steelers. (CBS gave him a D-plus too.) He got in seven regular season and three playoff games as a rookie for the Jaguars, where he wound up.

Bradley was aware he was bucking the odds. “Being a long snapper, it’s not something that happens often,” he told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

For some reason, many of the stars who have emerged from round seven over the years were pass catchers: Harold Carmichael (1971), Shannon Sharpe (1990), Donald Driver (1999), Julian Edelman (2009).

Austin Proehl will be aiming to join them, but he is still probably best known as the son of Ricky Proehl, who had a solid 17-year career in the N.F.L.

But history is not quite repeating. Although Ricky Proehl was not considered a sure star out of Wake Forest, he was highly regarded enough to be taken in Round 3.

There are many seventh rounders. But only one — the final player taken — gets a nickname: “Mr. Irrelevant.” One Mr. Irrelevant appeared on the “Bachelorette.” Another became a dentist. None became Jerry Rice or J.J. Watt.

Quinn may wind up in the C.F.L. or on a practice squad. But for now he has some additional motivation. “There’s a big chip on my shoulder and you’ll see it on me, but I’m excited,” Quinn told the Redskins’ website.

A correction was made on 
April 30, 2018

An earlier version of this article misstated the day on which the seventh round of the N.F.L. draft took place. It was Saturday, not Sunday.

How we handle corrections

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 11 of the New York edition with the headline: Slim (and Not-So-Slim) Pickings in Round 7 of the N.F.L. Draft. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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