One of the most fascinating stories of the Kansas City Chiefs’ offseason has been rugby-star-turned-running-back Louis Rees-Zammit.

He’s been adapting to the NFL game as quickly as he can, learning the ins and outs of both offense and special teams after never having played organized football. The team has a specific role in mind for Rees-Zammit, especially with the new kickoff rules in place for the 2024 NFL season.

He’ll get his first taste of the real stuff on Saturday when the team faces off against the Jacksonville Jaguars in preseason Week 1. According to Chiefs assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Dave Toub, Rees-Zammit’s transition has been going swimmingly, at least when it comes to special teams.

“For me, he’s been great,” Toub said. “I mean, he’s he’s doing a good job as a returner. You know, he’s got to continue to get better as a running back. He’s got to learn stuff and pass blocking, I think is a, it’s a major hurdle that he needs to get, you know, figure out, because that’s a big part of what we do in our offense. So that’s, that’s where he’s at.”

Just in the past four practice sessions, the rookie has made some clear progress on the offensive side of the ball. His pad level is getting more and more natural by the day, and he’s even begun earning repetitions with the second-team offense. A day after he got some one-on-one instruction from assistant RB coach Porter Ellett on pass protection, Rees-Zammit had a standout play against UDFA LB Swayze Bozeman in 1-on-1 drills.

Another reason for Rees-Zammit’s fundamental improvements as a pass blocker? Dave Toub has been utilizing him more and more on special teams outside of working him as a kick return specialist.

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” Toub said. “That’s why I moved him over to PP (punt protection), you know, which is exactly that it’s past blocking on the punt team. So, you know, we’re trying to get them all the work we can to try to he’s on an accelerated program. We’re going to try to do everything we can to bring him up to speed.”

There’s little doubt that Rees-Zammit can be effective as a blocker on special teams or pass-blocking as a running back. Rugby has prepared him for some of the physicality he’ll face in the NFL game. The real challenge is learning and doing so quickly, knowing that he’s going up against people who have been playing this game since they were children.

“Yeah, I don’t think there’s any question he could do it,” Toub said. “It’s not about his toughness, or anything like that. But he’s never done it against this level of caliber of football player. You know, that’s the thing. That’s, I mean, the speed. And you know, and these guys have been doing this, since they’ve been fifth grade. He’s been playing rugby since fifth grade. So it’s, there’s a learning curve there.”

The preseason will present the first true test for Rees-Zammit, where he’ll be able to apply everything that he’s learned to this point. In Jacksonville, Toub will begin to find out just how far away he is from making an impact for Kansas City.