The Philadelphia Eagles definitely went outside the box for their final selection of the 2018 NFL Draft on Saturday. With the 233rd overall pick, Philly selected someone who's never actually played a down of football in his life: Australian rugby player Jordan Mailata. 

Although Mailata has never played American football, it's easy to see why the Eagles decided to take a chance on him: Not only is he built like a human wrecking ball (6-foot-8, 346 pounds), but he's also pretty athletic for someone his size. According to NFL.com, Mailata ran a 5.12 40-yard dash during the predraft process. 

Here's what Mailata looks like on the rugby pitch. 

Before making the move to football this year, Mailata was actually playing rugby for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, which is mostly notable because that's the team owned by actor Russell Crowe.

The reason Mailata decided to make the jump from rugby to football is because, apparently, he was too big for his native sport. 

"Rugby's such a get-up, get-down game, and playing that for 80 minutes is a lot for a 310-pound guy," Mailata told NFL.com recently. "They wanted me to lose another 50 pounds but I couldn't because I was (at) 10 percent body fat. That goal was just unrealistic."

Since he didn't want to lose 50 pounds, Mailata decided to give up on rugby and try to make his way to the NFL. The Australian's journey started in December when he was accepted into the NFL's International Pathway program. The month before the draft, Mailata held a workout in Florida that was attended by all 32 teams. After that, he individually visited with eight teams, including the Eagles. 

Even though he met with multiple teams before the draft, Mailata never actually thought anyone would select him. The Australian figured that he would end up signing as an undrafted free agent. 

"To be honest, I'm not expecting to be drafted," Mailata said before the draft. "I'll just see how it goes. If I get drafted, I get drafted. I don't want to get my hopes up."

So why make the jump to the NFL now? 

At 20 years old, Mailata felt there probably wouldn't be a better time in his life to try and make the jump from Rugby to professional football. 

"I had to weigh the pros and cons of leaving a sport I had played my whole life for a foreign sport I had never played before," Mailata said. "What kind of helped me make my decision was weighing what I could lose vs. what I could gain. What it came down to was them saying I was too big to play top-tier rugby and, at the same time, International NFL offering me this amazing opportunity. When it came down to it, I just thought, 'I'm only 20 years of age, I'm still young."

The decision to leave rugby means that Russell Crowe will no longer be signing his paychecks, but it sounds like Mailata is OK with that. Although the Eagles have Mailata penciled in to play tackle, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock pointed out that he would probably make a good tight end. 

Mailata is the second rugby star to try to make the jump to the NFL over the past few years. Jarryd Hayne spent one season with the 49ers in 2015 before making the move back to rugby in 2016.