Nathan Rourke Waived by Jacksonville Jaguars

[cromartie]

It looks like Rourke is signing to be on the Jaguars practice roster. Rourke could have signed to be on the practice roster of any NFL team who wanted him for that role.

Rourke thought he had a chance to challenge for the backup quarterback position in Jacksonville. But that was not the case. Beathard was slated in as the backup to begin training camp and that is where he was going to land when training camp was all over, no matter how well Rourke played.

There are a lot of aspects to decisions made in the NFL that are underneath the surface of things. Rourke will likely kick around down south hoping for a chance that may arrive but the odds are they never will.

I hoped for the best for Rourke down south and still do but the best odds are that he will return to the CFL one day and my hope is that team will be our Leos, who will still retain his rights.

There's only so much a team and a league can do to keep a player from making a stupid decision.

There was no purpose served by signing in Jacksonville. The writing was on the wall when they resigned Bethard to a multi-year deal and Burris wasn't invited to continue to be part of the coaching staff. Both of those things happened long before camp even opened.

The player is not served by taking a practice roster spot. He doesn't earn service time toward an NFL pension and there's a zero percent chance he gets any playing time in Jacksonville. Whatever agent he does have is doing him a disservice by keeping him in Jacksonville.

This was predictable. The league and the player had the opportunity to adequately compensate and market the best Canadian QB to come along since Russ Jackson, to an immense benefit to the player, the league and Canadian football in general. Since neither were willing to step forward, what we have is yet another Canadian player who will be judged as "not being good enough" for the NFL and the opportunity is gone. Whether it changes the Lions fortunes for the 2023 season or not is immiterial (it doesn't, and I don't blame the club, who has done nothing but manage this extremely well from a PR perspective). I hope that was worth $1 million to the player and the league.

Of course, in a league with a clown for a Commissioner, and a documented 40 year 90%+ failure rate of CFL QBs in the NFL this result is and was inevitable.

"But Cro, he didn't do that bad."

I know. But all you need to know is that despite doing well, he went through waivers unclaimed. That includes an Arizona team with a roster full of truck drivers, a New England team with one QB, and a Bears team with a guy off the street as a backup. All of them would rather have "their guy" in house than someone with demonstrable quality tape and a dozen professional starts. It's as much the system being broken as the player being obtuse.

[DanoT]

Rourke was and is all about playing in the NFL as evidenced by his moving to the US when he was in high school so he could benefit from the US's superior HS football programs.

Rourke's choice of signing with Jacksonville was, imo based on the Jags coaching staff and QB room. While Beathhard remains #2 as a veteran backup/mentor, if Lawrence actually does get injured and misses playing time, I look to Beathard being on a short leash because Coach knows he has an eager and capable backup in Rourke.

[OV:54-40]

Interesting take by Cro above, for sure.

Again - the off-season talk that Nathan would only go down to the NFL if it was a chance to compete for a #2 job, was either a pipe dream or else just PR spin & bafflegab, and maybe both. He likely jumped at signing with the only team that had any sort of interest ... none of them gave a rat's @$$ about his incredible CFL season (just have to watch the film) ... but I still believe Natahn will persevere and stick down there, and could well be he becomes #2 with the Jags fairly soon.

[WestCoastJoe]

Nathan Rourke was a blast of fresh air and football excitement last year with the Lions.

He strikes me as an amazing talent. Fast reads. Accuracy. Extreme elusiveness.

He got his chance with the Lions, and he shot the lights out. He danced all over the field. He seemed like one of those guys who plays a lot faster than his time in the 40 might indicate.

Are most of the NFL teams stupid? I would say yes. The teams are the prized toys of billionaires. Are most of them afraid to rock the boat, to think outside of the box? I would say yes. Do most of them think Rourke is a kid from Canada, who is not suited at the highest level to be an NFL QB? I would say yes. Do they respond favorably to his college success? Nah. CFL record-setting success? Nah.

(Back in the days of Johnny Unitas I became an NFL fan. Lombardi was a pied piper for players and fans alike. Joe Kapp and Willie Fleming made me a CFL fan. After the Lions turfed Don Matthews, I drifted away from the CFL. Bill Walsh and Joe Montana of the 49ers were a great ride for this football fan. Wally Buono brought me back to the CFL, despite my fan's dissatisfaction with what I perceived as his overly conservative ways. A fair weather fan? Absolutely. Nathan Rourke actually got me interested again in football.)

I wish nothing but the best for Nathan Rourke and his NFL dream. I am not following all the details of his situation, as others here are doing.

The 24-year-old received a $5,000 signing bonus along with $216,000 in guaranteed base salary to total $221,000 USD in monetary assurances.

https://3downnation.com/2023/03/08/cana ... eed-money/

He can make that money in the CFL.

If his NFL dream fails, I would welcome him back to the CFL in a heartbeat, hopefully with the Lions.

He played well in his NFL opportunities. Is he making progress in his NFL dreams? Dunno about that. A cup of coffee so far.

Best wishes, Nathan. As Don Cherry used to say about a number of hockey players: "He's a good, Canadian Kid." How can I mention the shamed Don Cherry? Well I love that saying of his. Ha ha.

One time post, I expect. I am glad the Lionbackers site and its patrons are doing well.

[Blitz]

"Nathan Rourke was a blast of fresh air and football excitement last year with the Lions" West Coast Joe.

Hey WCJ...reading your post above makes football life feel life feel like a #*#+@ reunion!

WCJ, I couldn't agree more with your comment above...it truly was special to watch him play and Leos football nights had a sparkle again...roar you lions roar and all that!

Reading a WCJ post also creates a sparkle. Good to read you!!

There was no purpose served by signing in Jacksonville. The writing was on the wall when they resigned Bethard to a multi-year deal and Burris wasn't invited to continue to be part of the coaching staff. Both of those things happened long before camp even opened. The player is not served by taking a practice roster spot. He doesn't earn service time toward an NFL pension and there's a zero percent chance he gets any playing time in Jacksonville. Whatever agent he does have is doing him a disservice by keeping him in Jacksonville.

This was predictable.

cromartie.

I completely concur cromartie. I was very surprised by the decision and especially due to the context provided that Bourke was only signing down south if he had the chance to compete for a backup quarterback spot. Like you, well before he went into training camp in Jacksonville I knew that would not be the case.

[OV:54-40]

More interesting takes by WCJ & Blitz = beauty guys !

Nathan was a starting QB in Div I US college ball ; the NFL has an extensive scouting machine and surely knew of him (though Ohio is not a Div I powerhouse program that they favor); so they could see he was one of the best running QBs in all of US college ball, plus led his team to 3 straight seasons of Bowl wins; however, many of the so-called expert QB scouts there might have said they had reservations about his pure passing arm being able to translate to NFL success (and thus he only got a brief look as a receiver project (Giants i think it was?) coming out of college ball.

BUT - subsequently he goes to the CFL and becomes a starting QB, AND puts on an awesome passing display: reads/vision; mobility; accuracy (all-time best level completion %); arm strength - throwing lots of nice deep strikes, AND wins a bunch of games.

SO, now there is that CFL game film for NFL QB scouts to watch - in detail. And if they chose to dismiss or write-off that passing ability and skills, that is just mind boggling to me. Maybe because they view CFL QB success as nothing much , accomplished against a bunch of scrub defenders and competition ? Or they watched next to no or zero of this game film evidence? This would be incredibly ignorant, myopic, biased football scouting IMO. Sorry, but that's the only conclusion I can draw. I could be wrong there though.

[WestCoastJoe]

"Nathan Rourke was a blast of fresh air and football excitement last year with the Lions" West Coast Joe.

Hey WCJ...reading your post above makes football life feel life feel like a #*#+@ reunion!

WCJ, I couldn't agree more with your comment above...it truly was special to watch him play and Leos football nights had a sparkle again...roar you lions roar and all that!

Reading a WCJ post also creates a sparkle. Good to read you!!

Thanks, Blitz. Great to read your posts again.

Bud Grant. Joe Kapp. With their passing away, I had to comment on those legends of the football world, who had such a strong presence in my love of the game of football.

And Nathan Rourke was a comet for the Lions and the CFL. We watched him play, and we watch other guys play. And we think: ''Hey, can't those guys make that fast read, that quick accurate throw, that scramble?'' Nope. His skills are very rare. Re NFL thinking and evaluations: I would bet his arm is stronger than that of Joe Montana in his prime. But then Montana was drafted and developed by Bill Walsh (probably my favorite football coach of all time), who thought well outside of the box. I think Walsh would have loved Nathan Rourke, who shares many of the attributes of Montana and Steve Young. Would they have done better than Rourke in his one year in the CFL? Not in my opinion.

Great to hear from you Blitz. When we left this site, we kept each other going to an extent talking football in emails (private messages).

[WestCoastJoe]

More interesting takes by WCJ & Blitz = beauty guys !

Thanks, OV.

I share a lot of your views on the CFL/NFL games, the ways of thinking, evaluating, etc.

IMO the CFL led the NFL in many ways of innovative thinking. I would say scatbacks, athletic QBs who were not Caucasian, blitz packages, rotating specialists in, players not impressive by computerized, carbon-copy evaluation, like James Parker. On and on.

[Dusty]

Really great to read some thoughts from Blitz and WCJ, especially on the Rourke issue. I've told others that to me, the few games that Rourke played for us were the most fun I had going to a Lions game since..... well, since Flutie was our QB.

Not that I'm comparing Rourke with Flutie... they have really different QB styles.... Flutie was great at making plays work (somehow!), while Rourke is as WCJ says "Fast reads. Accuracy. Extreme elusiveness." He is probably one of the quickest decision making QB's I recall seeing over the 35 years I been a BC STH.

The times that Rourke was our QB was indeed "C'mon and Roar You Lions Rourke...."

I'm not surprised that Rourke is on the PR and was not picked up by another team. He is a risk for a team to commit a 53 man roster spot, for the reasons stated by Cro and others above. But, it's unlikely for a starting NFL QB to play every game in a season, so I expect that he will have an opportunity to dress for a game or two over the season. Meanwhile he gets more chances to work with one team and develop mutual trust with coaches and players. And some of the QB's that are currently on some teams may prove to be stiffs, so others teams may come calling.... At best (for me at least), he will be back in BC in mid September 2024.

[Hambone]

Interesting take by Cro above, for sure.

Again - the off-season talk that Nathan would only go down to the NFL if it was a chance to compete for a #2 job, was either a pipe dream or else just PR spin & bafflegab, and maybe both. He likely jumped at signing with the only team that had any sort of interest ... none of them gave a rat's @$$ about his incredible CFL season (just have to watch the film) ... but I still believe Natahn will persevere and stick down there, and could well be he becomes #2 with the Jags fairly soon.

None gave a rat's @$$ about his CFL season?!?!?!? How did he manage to get calls from 2/3 of NFL teams and workouts with 12 while declining several other workout offers? These teams must have all suddenly found his Ohio tapes collecting dust in the closet if his CFL play was not a factor in making him arguably the most sought after UDFA's this past offseason.

Beyond that we do know that he agreed to sign with the Jags in a deal that gave him the equivalent of CDN$300K in guaranteed money. Why did they offer so much guaranteed if nobody else was tendering contract offers as you seem to assert?

[OV:54-40]

Interesting take by Cro above, for sure.

Again - the off-season talk that Nathan would only go down to the NFL if it was a chance to posting.php?mode=quote&p=420358&sid=553 ... e2#compete for a #2 job, was either a pipe dream or else just PR spin & bafflegab, and maybe both. He likely jumped at signing with the only team that had any sort of interest ... none of them gave a rat's @$$ about his incredible CFL season (just have to watch the film) ... but I still believe Natahn will persevere and stick down there, and could well be he becomes #2 with the Jags fairly soon.

None gave a rat's @$$ about his CFL season?!?!?!? How did he manage to get calls from 2/3 of NFL teams and workouts with 12 while declining several other workout offers? These teams must have all suddenly found his Ohio tapes collecting dust in the closet if his CFL play was not a factor in making him arguably the most sought after UDFA's this past offseason.

Beyond that we do know that he agreed to sign with the Jags in a deal that gave him the equivalent of CDN$300K in guaranteed money. Why did they offer so much guaranteed if nobody else was tendering contract offers as you seem to assert?

Did every single NFL team not just pass on the opportunity to land Rourke on waivers ?

Did u read Cro's post/take above ? Connected agents or other NFL contacts can land a football player cursory "try-outs" down there.

[cromartie]

None gave a rat's @$$ about his CFL season?!?!?!? How did he manage to get calls from 2/3 of NFL teams and workouts with 12 while declining several other workout offers? These teams must have all suddenly found his Ohio tapes collecting dust in the closet if his CFL play was not a factor in making him arguably the most sought after UDFA's this past offseason.

Beyond that we do know that he agreed to sign with the Jags in a deal that gave him the equivalent of CDN$300K in guaranteed money. Why did they offer so much guaranteed if nobody else was tendering contract offers as you seem to assert?

A good agent can get you a lot of tryouts.

What they can't get you is over the hump of:

A coach who wants a veteran backup.

A myriad of front offices who have more faith in "their guys" than taking a shot on someone else.

Evaluating pro tape, I'd take Rourke over:

Tyson Bagent, CHI
Kyle Trask, TB
Easton Stick, LAC
Either Arizona QB
Stetson Bennett, LAR
Sean Clifford, GB

He's an upgrade on any of those guys and, frankly I like him better than Brock Purdy (who, without the luck of landing in San Francisco would be a CFL QB).

The problem is those guys are the picks of the GMs in question, and they aren't going to be jettisoned in favor of someone they didn't sign, regardless of the tape he puts out there.

The only reason Jeff Garcia was an exception was because he was a family friend of the Walsh's.

Chad Kelly gets it, much to the benefit of the Argonauts who have the makings of a couple of bankable stars now. Rourke should have gotten it to and if he did he'd be the standard bearer of Canadian football.

[WestCoastJoe]

Really great to read some thoughts from Blitz and WCJ, especially on the Rourke issue. I've told others that to me, the few games that Rourke played for us were the most fun I had going to a Lions game since..... well, since Flutie was our QB.

Not that I'm comparing Rourke with Flutie... they have really different QB styles.... Flutie was great at making plays work (somehow!), while Rourke is as WCJ says "Fast reads. Accuracy. Extreme elusiveness." He is probably one of the quickest decision making QB's I recall seeing over the 35 years I been a BC STH.

Hey, Dusty.

For this fan Rourke's reads were astonishingly fast. Then the quick delivery, with excellent accuracy. And his escape instincts are out of this world.

A lot like Flutie? Absolutely. Of course the NFL did not like Flutie. Too small, etc. Eventually he got some time there, although it was far from optimal time. I did think that Jackie Parker was the all time greatest CFL player, but that is another issue.

[Blitz]

Thanks, Blitz. Great to read your posts again.

Bud Grant. Joe Kapp. With their passing away, I had to comment on those legends of the football world, who had such a strong presence in my love of the game of football.

And Nathan Rourke was a comet for the Lions and the CFL. We watched him play, and we watch other guys play. And we think: ''Hey, can't those guys make that fast read, that quick accurate throw, that scramble?'' Nope. His skills are very rare. Re NFL thinking and evaluations: I would bet his arm is stronger than that of Joe Montana in his prime. But then Montana was drafted and developed by Bill Walsh (probably my favorite football coach of all time), who thought well outside of the box. I think Walsh would have loved Nathan Rourke, who shares many of the attributes of Montana and Steve Young. Would they have done better than Rourke in his one year in the CFL? Not in my opinion.

Great to hear from you Blitz. When we left this site, we kept each other going to an extent talking football in emails (private messages)

West Coast Joe

.

I enjoyed the occasional private message football chat WCJ (its been a while) but its good that others are reading your thoughts again. Joe Montana was voted the best quarterback of all time (NFL) while Montana himself defers that status to Dan Marino. Both had excellent coaches (Walsh, Shula) to play for.

MO the CFL led the NFL in many ways of innovative thinking. I would say scatbacks, athletic QBs who were not Caucasian, blitz packages, rotating specialists in, players not impressive by computerized, carbon-copy evaluation, like James Parker. On and on.

West Coast Joe

The CFL certainly was the more exciting and more innovative football league than the '3 down and a cloud of dust' NFL for so long. The CFL professionally, led the way with mobile quarterbacks, motion, misdirection, shotgun and pistol, inside trap blocking, bunch formations, stacked receivers, lighting quick rush ends who were really large linebackers, nickel backs, dime backs, zone blitzes, etc. The list is almost endless.

But no more and I never thought I would ever say that the NFL would be more innovative than the CFL game, which I always found much more exciting and not just because of the wider, longer field and two downs. No, the CFL game just had more flair, more dynamism, more innovation, and was just a more exciting product, even though the NFL was so good at marketing.

Now the NFL is the better game and I have preferred the CFL game for decades. CFL offences have turned into mirrors of each other and stuck in mostly the Spread offence ever since Hugnagel brought the offence to Calgary with much success. About the only addition to the Spread has been the occasional venture into RPO (run/pass option) with McAdoo in Edmonton in Regina and Jarious Jackson (mostly) in B.C.

The Spread is long past its due date and just needs to become one aspect of a multi-dimensional CFL offence. Hey, TSN made a big deal of a direct snap under center by Hamilton because the CFL only knows the shotgun formation - the lack of variety and dynamism is astounding. Just watching CFL offence after offence, send in their backup or third string quarterback to quarterback sneak with an empty backfield, after the so called decoy fly sweep motion is not even a threat, is like watching a Dumb and Dumber movie.

The CFL running game has become so bland, with its simple zone read blocking in the ace back formation out of the shotgun or pistol, that its mind numbing.

Meanwhile, the NFL game has become much more dynamic with its multiple formations, going from three tight end sets to spread formations and everything in between. By doing so, it also has forced NFL defenses to become more dynamic too.

There was some hope for innovation when Tedford announced he was going to use tight ends in his offence but it never materialized and we ended up stuck in the Spread, with Cortez as OC and the tight ends used exclusively as slotbacks (duh) Presently, Maksymic utilizes Cottoy as a tight end on occasion but as a Spread disciple, really has no clue how to integrate him into that position as an effective, versatile weapon.

Scott Milanovich, in Hamilton, will likely introduce some of the West Coast concepts he learned under Trestman and Buck Pierce has continued using an innovative approach to the ground game that was inspired by Paul LaPolice.

But overall the CFL has basically been a 'monkey see, monkey do' league offensively, for the most part for over two decades. Defensively, innovative coaches as Don Matthews, Dave Ritchie, Rich Stubler have been difficult to replace. I have much hope for Ryan Phillips but time will tell.

The times that Rourke was our QB was indeed "C'mon and Roar You Lions Rourke...."

Dusty

Dusty, they certainly were some of the best of times as a Leos fan. Its too bad we really only got to see Rourke play much was last season. So wish it could have been longer. Certainly one likely reason why Mike (I want to be your hero) Reilly, in 2021, refused to come out of games, no matter the score or how hurt he was, was he did not want Rourke to see the field lest we realize how good he was.

The problem is those guys are the picks of the GMs in question, and they aren't going to be jettisoned in favor of someone they didn't sign, regardless of the tape he puts out there.

cromartie

You nailed it cromartie!!!

[Coast Mountain Lion]

Chad Kelly gets it, much to the benefit of the Argonauts who have the makings of a couple of bankable stars now. Rourke should have gotten it to and if he did he'd be the standard bearer of Canadian football.

And Kelly DOES get it, having re-upped today with the Argos for three years. He's talked a lot about trying out for the NFL, but he can read the writing on the wall.