{"id":273332,"date":"2026-04-08T16:44:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=273332"},"modified":"2026-04-08T16:44:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:44:26","slug":"nfl-draft-international-player-pathway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/04\/08\/nfl-draft-international-player-pathway\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Draft: Eligible Players From the International Player Pathway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much has been made lately of the NFL expanding its game-play outside of the United States of America. At one time, football was predominantly an American game, but the success and high entertainment value of the NFL has caused it to become popular in multiple other countries as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, with the rise in popularity of the NFL in other countries, particularly in Europe and Australia, foreign bettors have been able to bet on games at popular online casinos such as top <\/span>Aussie Casino win spirit<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the rise in international fandom, the NFL has seen a rise in players from other countries entering the NFL Draft<\/a>. This year is no different, with multiple international players available for teams to select.<\/span><\/p>\n

10 Draft Eligible Players From the International Player Pathway Program<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"2026<\/p>\n

1. Uar Bernard (DT): Nigeria<\/span><\/h3>\n

Like many international prospects, Uar Bernard does not have much experience playing football. However, his sheer size (six-foot-four and 304 pounds) along with his incredible athleticism have drawn interest from no less than eight NFL teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Felix Lepper (OT): Germany<\/span><\/h3>\n

Felix Lepper is a 23-year-old offensive lineman who has played professionally in the European Football League. He stands six-foot-nine and weighs 276 pounds. He recently participated in the NFL\u2019s IPP camp in January.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Jarrod Gray (OT): Australia<\/span><\/h3>\n

A former professional rugby player, Jarrod Gray is transitioning to offensive tackle in football and hopes to land on an NFL roster in or after the 2026 NFL Draft. He was considered to bulky to play in the NRL, so switching to football made more sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Kaia Clarkin (OT): Australia<\/span><\/h3>\n

Another Aussie who is switching sports, Kaia Clarkin is a six-foot-eight 326-pound former professional volleyball player. Due to his size, NFL scouts believe he will be best suited as an offensive tackle.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Kaylan Faumui (OT): Australia\/Samoa<\/span><\/h3>\n

Another former professional rugby player, Kaylan Faumui was not deemed good enough to be a part of the 2025 NFL International Player Program. He spent the year refining his skills, though, and has earned an invite in 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Kansei Matsuzawa (K): Japan<\/span><\/h3>\n

Unlike many players on this list, Kansei Matsuzawa has played kicker in college in the United States. A self-taught placekicker, Matsuzawa is known as \u201cThe Tokyo Toe\u201d among fans of Hawaii University.<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Joshua Weru (DE): Kenya<\/span><\/h3>\n

The youngest player on this list, Joshua Weru is a 21-year-old who ran a 4.45s 40-yard dash, 1.59s 10-yard split, 41-inch vertical, and 11’1″ broad jump. Scouts believes his combination of size and speed could help him become an effective pass rusher.<\/span><\/p>\n

8. Laekin Vakalahi (OL): Australia\/New Zealand<\/span><\/h3>\n

Unlike everyone else on this roster, Laekin Vakalahi has already been a part of an NFL organization. He was part of the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> through the IPP and spent the entire year on their practice squad. He was waived following the season and has been added to this year\u2019s class.<\/span><\/p>\n

9. Anjola Oketola (DL): Nigeria<\/span><\/h3>\n

Another former rugby player, Anjola Oketola received sponsorship to join the IPP from Microsoft.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

10. Chibuike Madu (DE): Nigeria<\/span><\/h3>\n

Six-foot-five and 250 pounds, Chibuike Madu is one of the five Nigerian athletes chosen to be a part of the 13-player IPP this year. His size and athleticism have scouts thinking he could develop into a versatile pass rusher.<\/span><\/p>\n

main image credit: \u00a9 Ethan Morrison \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Much has been made lately of the NFL expanding its game-play outside of the United States of America. At one time, football was predominantly an American game, but the success and high entertainment value of the NFL has caused it to become popular in multiple other countries as well. Of course, with the rise in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":273339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647,33760],"tags":[33533],"class_list":["post-273332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","category-profiles","tag-2026-nfl-draft"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273332"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273344,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273332\/revisions\/273344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}