With the number 63 pick in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft, the Denver Broncos chose defensive lineman Adam Gotsis of Georgia Tech. While several published boards listed Gotsis as a mid-round selection, ESPN draft analysts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay both graded him in the second round. McShay said that he is the second most underrated player in the entire draft. A factor is his unusual start by playing American football in Australia.

Some old footage of Adam Gotsis playing football in Austrailia back in the day. https://t.co/eLr4xJSQXa — Jon Heath (@JonHeathNFL) April 30, 2016

At the start of his adolescence, Gotsis primarily played Australian rules football (ARF) in his hometown of Abbotsford, Victoria, Australia. Bored with playing ARF and rugby, Gotsis discovered a local American youth football league via a Google search by his mother. His brother, then 17, and Gotsis, 13, joined. Because of his unusual size and speed, Gotsis turned heads with his play, recalling,

I was 17 and basically one of coaches back home had a relationship with [Paul] Johnson, who is my head coach here at Georgia Tech. He basically was looking for a kicker in Australia, and my coach back home was like, ‘Well, I’ve got this pretty big Australian kid that can run well and is pretty athletic for being 6’5, 300 pounds at the time.’ Next thing, Coach Johnson asked for some film of me to show my athleticism.

Here is an Australian video of Gotsis being coached through blocking progressions:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxkFXIuy7cY&w=560&h=315]

[Johnson] invited me over for a [Georgia Tech] recruiting trip and offered me a spot. They ended up putting me on the defensive line because they didn’t have too much depth there and they knew I’d play there at that time. It’s all worked out for me and I worked hard. It’s just awesome to see it paying off and I’m just ready for this next part.

To go with his massive size and speed, Gotsis has long arms and big hands. In his 36 starts during his final three years at Georgia Tech, he aggregated 105 tackles, 26 tackles for losses, and 10 sacks. Last October he suffered a season-ending ACL knee injury. Two months later, after only 3 1/2 years, Gotsis graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in business administration.

Broncos defensive line assistant Bill Kollar was keen on drafting Gotsis as the replacement for defensive tackle Malik Jackson, who departed by why of free agency to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Broncos GM John Elway, HC Gary Kubiak & DL coach Bill Kollar celebrate selection of DT Adam Gotsis in 2nd rd. pic.twitter.com/VZ4LHDGcb7 — Patrick Smyth (@psmyth12) April 30, 2016

GM John Elway on Gotsis, according to Denver Post‘s Nicki Jhabvala

Elway on Gotsis: "A guy we think has a really high *ceiling.* A guy we think can get better and better." — Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) April 30, 2016

Discussing his knee rehabilitation, Gotsis said,