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News The Brandon Kaufman experiment
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Scotty_222
Norm Smith Medallist
Will be interested to watch him develop into the next Jason Holmes
Wonder what position he will play
Wonder what position he will play
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For those who have missed it, here is a little bit about 'The Kauf'!
He is a 25 y/o ex American football player
He has represented Eastern Washington at College level followed by being picked by the Buffalo Bills as a free agent in 2013.
He is mostly played as a wide receiver but was also tried at cornerback with reasonable success. Both of these positions rely on speed, great play reading skills and being able to handle man on man pressure
He never played a regular season game but went a perfect 6 catches from 6 attempts and a touchdown in the preseason (effectively our NAB challenge)
Athletically he is at an elite level, especially when you take in his size. As of late last year he was 196cm and 107kg. However that does not stop him from running a 100m in 10.8 seconds
He has an under the radar try out with the SUNS in January. Rocket Eade was impressed with what he saw
“His ability to grab concepts and improve quickly is quite incredible and this includes kicking,” Eade told AFL Tonight. “So you would think if he can keep improving at that rate it’s not unrealistic,”
Here is some vision of him playing American football
He is a 25 y/o ex American football player
He has represented Eastern Washington at College level followed by being picked by the Buffalo Bills as a free agent in 2013.
He is mostly played as a wide receiver but was also tried at cornerback with reasonable success. Both of these positions rely on speed, great play reading skills and being able to handle man on man pressure
He never played a regular season game but went a perfect 6 catches from 6 attempts and a touchdown in the preseason (effectively our NAB challenge)
Athletically he is at an elite level, especially when you take in his size. As of late last year he was 196cm and 107kg. However that does not stop him from running a 100m in 10.8 seconds
He has an under the radar try out with the SUNS in January. Rocket Eade was impressed with what he saw
“His ability to grab concepts and improve quickly is quite incredible and this includes kicking,” Eade told AFL Tonight. “So you would think if he can keep improving at that rate it’s not unrealistic,”
Here is some vision of him playing American football
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Depending on how well his ball skills pick up, I reckon he could play anywhere from a Key defender to a Key forward.
With his skillset and play reading ability though, I see the backline as the most likely of options
LynchysMob
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Can't wait to see this massive unit in the NEAFL.
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That's a little bit unexpected from you mate. Didn't know you swung that way
LynchysMob
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Jesus good pick up.
Chuck him in the midfield for like 5minutes a game until he's exhausted. People thought k.hunt was a wrecking ball 
wait til this guy steam rolls their ruckman
wait til this guy steam rolls their ruckman
Donble
Club Legend
You would think he would have to lose a good 10-15kg if he was to make it , his endurance will be one of many things holding him back . But will be good to see how he progress's and how quickly he will adapt.
Experimental
Norm Smith Medallist
Interesting!
I like to think we did.. But he's been kicking it around for a few months.
Can he run for 100 minutes?
AFL endurance is a bit different to NFL repetitive burst type endurance.
Why do I feel like we've swapped Aussie Joel Wilkinson for American Joel Wilkinson?
(unless he doesn't actually appear on our roster - is that the deal with exotic imports?")
AFL endurance is a bit different to NFL repetitive burst type endurance.
Why do I feel like we've swapped Aussie Joel Wilkinson for American Joel Wilkinson?
(unless he doesn't actually appear on our roster - is that the deal with exotic imports?")
He is a category b rookie, so he doesn't take up a list spot.
TJ Hendricks
All Australian
As a American the biggest question for me as others have mentioned will be the running. There is a lot of running in footy. In American football you get plays off to catch your breath you got timeouts and media timeouts. In footy you run like all the time. Total different endurance level.
There is some freak athletes here in America and if they can get used to the running it could be a big market.
There is some freak athletes here in America and if they can get used to the running it could be a big market.
Scotty_222
Norm Smith Medallist
speed off the mark looks pretty good in that video! runs the 100 metres in 10.8 seconds. obviously will take a while to learn how to kick effectively, but very excited to see how he develops!
GcSunsfan
Norm Smith Medallist
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Everyone's up and about this week at the club, pumping out some great content http://m.goldcoastfc.com.au/video/2016-04-05/fiat-suns-in-cars-brandon-kaufman
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Haha quiet kinda guy
First time I've ever seen the AFL do a 'feed an American ex-pat some Vegemite video' and actually fed them Vegemite on toast rather than straight from a spoon. It was a travesty how the Saints and the evil Schneiderman force-fed Jason Holmes Vegemite on a table spoon. Yes, I care about this way more that I should.
princy_99
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That pace of the mark seemed almost like an Alex Rance thing looks very promising
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A little (or 196cm and 107kg) birdie just told me that he is supposed to be starting up with Labrador in May. Can't wait to see it 
Experimental
Norm Smith Medallist
Just watched the video on the Suns site. The dude's closing speed is ******* crazy. He's like a massive version of Adam Saad when he runs, which is pretty amazing considering his size and weight.
Kicking style is awkward, but definitely better than other American converts who've come over in recent years. But in saying that, it's expected. Kicking style isn't something you can learn overnight - it's something you craft and create, and it can be awkward as anything but still be effective. Aesthetically pleasing kicking doesn't always mean accuracy (see Cloke and Casboult lol).
I've been hoping for ages that we'll see a US/international recruit and Kaufman looks the goods. It'll be a big investment so I hope the club and Brandon are prepared to put in the hard yards in an experiment that hasn't yet proven successful in any other club in AFL history. Jason Holmes comes close, but he's still a little while away.
All those other clubs, though, have always experimented with ex-basketball 2 metre plus giants to develop into ruckmen. We've got an athletic beast of a dude who's going to slot nicely into our backline in the future if all goes well.
It's a huge task for Brandon and his family, but I'm super proud that both he and the club took the risk.
Can't wait to follow his development!
Kicking style is awkward, but definitely better than other American converts who've come over in recent years. But in saying that, it's expected. Kicking style isn't something you can learn overnight - it's something you craft and create, and it can be awkward as anything but still be effective. Aesthetically pleasing kicking doesn't always mean accuracy (see Cloke and Casboult lol).
I've been hoping for ages that we'll see a US/international recruit and Kaufman looks the goods. It'll be a big investment so I hope the club and Brandon are prepared to put in the hard yards in an experiment that hasn't yet proven successful in any other club in AFL history. Jason Holmes comes close, but he's still a little while away.
All those other clubs, though, have always experimented with ex-basketball 2 metre plus giants to develop into ruckmen. We've got an athletic beast of a dude who's going to slot nicely into our backline in the future if all goes well.
It's a huge task for Brandon and his family, but I'm super proud that both he and the club took the risk.
Can't wait to follow his development!
TJ Hendricks
All Australian
Kicking and endurance will be big. Kicking is pretty much foreign to us over here.
