Charlie Overton Re-Signed for 2025

By Alistair Kirsch-Poole
Dec 12, 2024 - 2:30pm

Old Glory has announced that lock Charlie Overton will return to the team for 2025. The 25-year old from Connecticut has played rugby since high school, which including a tour in Canada with the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy. He then played rugby for Penn State and the Rugby New York academy, before moving to Life University to get his master's degree. He was picked up in the 2023 draft by the Miami Sharks, but was then traded to Old Glory before the start of the 2024 season.

Overton's rookie season saw him play in just a single match for a total of just 3 minutes, although that is in part because he wasn't available to start the season as he was still finishing up his time at Life. His goal for 2025, then will be to expand his role on the team. At 6'6", 238 lbs he has the raw physical characteristics necessary, but beyond that we have no real idea how he will perform at this level. While he may not techincally be a rookie next year, he is as close as you can get to it.

His competition for a bigger role will also be stiff. In general, minutes at the lock position are divided between three main players in rotation, with a fourth man the go-to reserve if someone in the main rotation is unavailable or resting. Rob Harley and Tevita Naqali are both seasoned professionals and seem likely to be the primary starters, and Bill Whiteside could join them as the third man in the regular rotation, having been the go-to reserve last year.

That would leave the Overton as the fourth lock in the depth chart this year, but even that's not a guarantee. If Ignacio Dotti returns, he would be in contention for a spot in the regular rotation. There's also Logan Weidner, who played in 12 matches last season while on loan to Anthem and may be returning to OGDC this year.

Adding to the struggle, Overton can't even rely on his domestic status to help him out here, as Naqali, Whiteside, and Weidner are all domestic players as well. The only thing that will get him on the pitch is impressing the coaches in practice.