A quarterback option to look right now: Nathan Rourke (BC Lions) edt, signs with Jaguars (1 Viewer)

[jasonsw]

Id hate crush dreams and hope but there is a reason he is in the CFL.

If he even had potential backup QB ability he would be taking the much larger NFL check.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

Interesting prospect. I watched a few minutes of the highlight video. He does not have a cannon for an arm, but neither did Drew Brees and a lot of other highly successful NFL quarterbacks. He seems to be accurate. Based on what I saw, he can make every throw an NFL quarterback has to make, but the personnel people are exponentially more qualified than I to make that determination. He has average size--6-2 and 209--but he is obviously a very good athlete with some speed. On the highlight video, he repeatedly pulled away on long runs from defenders who had the angle.

Suppose the Saints were interested. If several other NFL teams also have a serious interest, it will be imperative that the Saints have settled who their head coach will be, who their offensive coordinator will be, and what type of offense they will use--questions at the moment that nobody on this forum can answer and that possibly nobody on Airline Highway can answer.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

I agree there is a reason he is in the CFL and the Giants looked at him as a wide receiver. The odds of someone like Rourke making it in the NFL would seem very long. But on rare occasion, players do fall through the cracks. Kurt Warner comes quickly to mind. Given where the Saints are, they will have to take some chances and explore options they might not have considered in past years.

 

[Kegger]

Warren Moon, Joe Theisman, Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia all played in the CFL. It's worth kicking the tires at least.

 

[Trey W.]

He played college ball for the Ohio Bobcats which is probably why no one’s ever heard of him before. Had a 55.1, 59.9, & 61.0 comp percent, averaged 2,500 passing yards, has a great TD-INT ratio. His rushing stats he averaged close to 900 yards a season, with at least 13 TDs.

Seems to be extremely physically gifted. I’d say he’s a lot like Taysom without the injury history and not as old.

Like I said earlier, with our lack of a QB1 what can it hurt to bring him in. We already have packages for his style and when Taysom’s contract expires we can have a younger version already waiting and experienced with the playbook.

 

[guillermo]

I agree there is a reason he is in the CFL and the Giants looked at him as a wide receiver. The odds of someone like Rourke making it in the NFL would seem very long. But on rare occasion, players do fall through the cracks. Kurt Warner comes quickly to mind. Given where the Saints are, they will have to take some chances and explore options they might not have considered in past years.

RJ, he took a logical path to the CFL. He played in college at Ohio (as his QB brother is doing right now), he was not invited to the combine, so CFL was his only choice.

He was followed by CFL scouts for the sole reason of being Canadian. Not many Canadian qbs actually play at the CFL.

I think what has impressed the league is he level of maturity at 22 years old. I mean, he has tons to learn but seems that he is able to absorb all the information and has showed a poise that only comes with time.

Being said that, he got injured during the season, so there are only few games to evaluate.

I do think it is worth to take a look at. We are seeing college quarterbacks from lower divisions make it in the NFL, we will not sacrifice picks to try him. And considering salaries, whatever we will paying will be more than what he will get in Canda.

Saints should jump in front of the list and offer him a Shaheed kind of contract. Nothing to loose.

 

[guillermo]

He is signing with the Jaguars. Saints didn’t take a look at him