1957 Expansion Draft

1957 Expansion Draft

The first expansion draft since 1951 was full of surprise surrounding the players being left unprotected and taken. A draw was done to determine who would get the choice to pick 1st or 2nd. Louisville would win and decided to go 2nd and get the 1st pick in the entry draft.

Indiana would take DB Lester Murphy from the Worcester Athletics with the first overall selection. Murphy was a surprise non-protection, but the rumour is the player would be too expensive for the team. Louisville would follow up the opening pick with a different direction going with a younger RB Lawrence Sharp from the Athletics. Sharp was expected to be one of the players picked after showing some promise behind Devonshire this season. The 27-year-old will be a strong piece for the Thunder to start with. They would continue the youth road with 26-year-old WR Marty Jay from Montreal. A smart choice with the WR having a 3-year deal. 

Indiana would not let up on their hunt to build a team that could win now going with longtime Blue Wing WR Joseph Barry and Royals QB Duane Logan. Barry is 32 and hasn’t been as successful over the past couple of seasons, but that may be due to the Blue Wings focusing their efforts around RB Arthur Conner. Logan on the other hand was expected to be taken by one of the teams. He is a strong veteran QB who was surprisingly in a backup role last season and will be eager to start this season. With Ottawa having one player taken now, Louisville went after the 3-time champions with selecting S Lester Greer and then 1956 All-Star OL Aaron Spears.  

Unsurprisingly, Ottawa had a tough time protecting all their stars. Just 2 picks later the Victors would select LB Roland Hensley who the Royals picked up just last season. However, the Royals had chances to protect him, but opted for OL Bravon Covington and S Neari Charles instead. There have been mentions of Hensley having character issues that might have been a big problem in Ontario with that team being unable to find success with him. There was also another big pick just before Hensley with RB Laurent Brazeau reuniting with Logan in Indiana. Louisville would round out the top 10 with LB Ben McCray out of Buffalo.  

It was clear that each team had their own strategy for this season. Indiana was looking to build a winner as soon as possible. A lot of their earlier picks were exactly for this and the veteran leadership might just get them there. In the later rounds, they did grab some solid depth and were smart with grabbing guys like WR Clifford Church and DL Robert Garrison who are under contract. They also would add some insurance on the offence with RB Rahil Boone and QB Brian Meadows out of Boston.  

Louisville, on the other hand, looked to go for younger talent, most likely due to GM Calvin Carpenter and his scouting background. They would take QB Ollie Rogers for the starting role. Rogers has very limited experience, but he showed some potential with the Tigers in a game last season. LB Charlie Finster and WR Truman Harry out of Long Island were interesting acquisitions as well with both players just hitting their prime now. A late surprise was the team grabbing 5-time Special Teams Player of the Year winner K Thomas McFadden. Long Island was okay with the departure as they have kicking prospect K Henderson Schumacher ready to take over. 

It looks like Indiana could be a playoff competitor out of the gate, but it's certainly a risk with the older set of players. Louisville looks to have a good foundation but might have a few rough years till they are true contenders.