Jarryd Hayne is yet to make the San Francisco 49ers squad roster, but special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey Jr says the former NRL star has some traits of great NFL kick returners.
What he still needs to hone is the feel for where tacklers are going to come from when they can arrive from all directions.
"Jarryd is fearless. That's one of the characteristics it takes to be a great punt returner," McCaughey said on Friday (AEST).
"He has great lateral quickness and that's another characteristic of a great open-field runner."
"You look at Dante Hall (retired), Devin Hester (Atlanta Falcons), those types of runners, guys that can make people miss, Darren Sproles (Philadelphia Eagles), they've got great lateral quickness and Jarryd possesses great lateral quickness.
"He's a joy to coach."
However McGaughey warned against expecting too much to soon, attempting to play down the hype growing on both sides of the Pacific.
"He has a lot of natural ability, but we have to be realistic, too," he said.
"He's got a long way to go, he's doing some good things and hopefully he'll continue down that path."
He said a steep learning curve remained to make the NFL grade, as Hayne shifts from rugby league to American football.
"I think he's used to having that ball in his hands and that's real natural for him," he said.
"(But) Most of the tackles you have (in NRL) are just one-on-one, open-field tackles as opposed to a group of guys dropping back in an area and all of a sudden they're coming from all kinds of different angles, and you got to know what you're looking at."
McGaughey also said he'd welcome other NRL players to the NFL, should they have the natural talent and application of Hayne.
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