The vitriol is towards the man on the field, not the man off the field. Sure he's a good bloke, and that's his on field problem. For a guy his size he get's pushed around like a 6 years old Auskicker. He'll need to channel Mummy if he's gonna succeed at the highest level.
All those above mentioned players, apart from Pyke, played with a round ball using both hands and feet, in a game which skill set resembles ours best. Pyke played with an oval ball in game where kicking and catching and picking up an unpredictable bouncing ball is integral. Pyke was a winger so he ran like the wind and had great take-off speed.
Cox played a round ball game where using your hands to control the ball is penalised. And for those that say he was a basketballer. His time on court for Oklahoma State was a grand 57 minutes! If Aussie Rules was played exclusively with your feet, using a round ball, he might just make it.