Former Nantucket Star Football Player Invited To Two NFL Minicamps

Nick Correia, a member of Nantucket High School's Class of 2018, has received invitations from the Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins to participate in their rookie minicamps in May. Correia confirmed Tuesday afternoon that he received the invitations from both teams.

If Correia impresses, he could sign an NFL contract and would then shift his focus to training camps in July - where he would have a spot on a team's initial 90 man roster before it is trimmed down to 53 players prior to the start of the regular season. Correia would have all preseason to either make a push to make a team's 53-man roster or secure one of the 16 practice squad spots each team has at their disposal.

Correia took part in the New England Patriots local pro day last month and was one of 19 local players reported to be present. Speaking to members of the URI football coaching staff and some of Correia's former coaches on island over the years, each have lauded Correia's work ethic, athleticism, and strength. 

Correia's tape and measurables may not have led to his name being called in the NFL draft late last month, but his profile caught the attention of at least two NFL teams who think he could have what it takes to play in the National Football League.

It begins with his size. How many humans can say they are 6'6, 335 pounds? Well, Correia can.

Then you have his consistency and durability - which Correia displayed as he became a staple on a talented and successful URI offensive line throughout his college career - starting 48 straight games for the Rams as their right guard. 

Success as an undrafted NFL player also isn't unheard of and in fact, is much more common than many would expect.

Last season, 486 players that made Week 1 NFL rosters entered the league as undrafted free agents. That makes up approximately 28-29% of all NFL players. There are currently 15 players in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame who went undrafted.

Correia will hope to take what he learned while leading a URI offensive line to several impressive milestones over the course of his five years into this next stage of his football career.

To name a few of those milestones, this past fall Correia and his fellow linemen helped running back Ja'Den McKenzie break the record for most single season rushing touchdowns in school history (13) and helped URI finish 10th in the country in passing offense with 284.8 passing yards per game. Two notable performances were Aug. 31 against Georgia State when URI accumulated 520 yards of total offense and Nov. 11 when the Rams rushed for a season-best 286 yards against North Carolina A&T.

In 2022 Correia blocked for the third-highest scoring offense in the CAA when the Rams averaged 30.6 points per game. The Rams had four games where they rushed for over 200 yards that season.

Correia earned Phil Steele All-CAA Football Fourth Team in 2023, First Team All-CAA in 2022 as well as Stats Perform All-America Third Team, and in 2021 earned All-CAA Second Team honors.

Back in 2021 we wrote a feature on Nick while he was in the midst of his college career that you can read here.

Current Columnist Chris Perry also wrote a column discussing Correia's journey and his fantastic career at URI last April, which you can read here.