1968 NAAF Draft

1968 NAAF Draft

Round 1

1 - Toronto Steelheads | LB Judge Barrett | UHamilton - Hamilton, ON - Darknes
Judge Barrett becomes just the second linebacker to ever be selected with the #1 pick, following Scotty Williams, who was the first pick back in 1952. Barrett is also the first Canadian picked 1st overall since OL Jean-Baptiste Desjardins in 1962. The Steelheads have desperately needed a new defensive leader. They hoped to get that from LB Sebastian Andrews III, but he has not gotten it done. Barrett is a great piece to build a defence around. He’s extremely intelligent and knows the plays inside and out, having a perfect idea of where everyone is supposed to be. On top of that, Barrett knows the rules just as well, knowing where to bend them to give him any advantage he can. While his brain is impressive, his physical abilities are just as great, being a great open-field tackler, while also having the athletic ability to move quickly on the field. It would be shocking if Barrett was not a franchise player for the Steelheads.

2 - Pittsburgh Blacksmiths | DL Arthur Bradshaw | Western New York - Batavia, NY - DireBear
For the second year in a row, the Blacksmiths take a Defensive Lineman with their first pick of the draft. Matthias Hartmann was not quite as great as his brother and rookie of the year Bernhard Hartmann, but adding a talent such as Bradshaw may help to create a strong duo on the line as the two develop. Bradshaw brings excellent skill to the line. In his final season in college, he had set a school record for sacks using his great hands and speed to cause many issues for offensive linemen in college. Bradshaw seems like raw talent and should hopefully give the Blacksmiths a long-term leader on the line.

3 - Ottawa Royals | QB Drake Young | UHamilton - Brantford, ON - ZO82
Despite drafting QB Martin Keller 7th overall last season, the Royals decided they could not pass up the opportunity to draft Drake Young. It appeared that the Royals were not very impressed with Keller in his first season after trading for QB Robert Humphrey at the deadline and sending Keller to the reserve list. Either way, they get one of the best college QBs over the past few years in Drake Young. Young brings a lot to the table, being an accurate passer, a good decision-maker, with a solid arm. However, the most important element of his game is his poise in the pocket and ability to improvise and not let the pressure get to him. Those traits are often what separate the great QBs from the good. Hopefully, the Royals finally have a long-term answer at QB. 

4 - Louisville Thunder (from Boston) | LB Daniel Timothy | Rhode Island State - Bristol, RI - Dan O'Mac
The Thunder were jumping for joy when the Royals passed on LB Daniel Timothy. GM Robbie Wilson immediately hung up on GM Joseph Johnson of the Tigers after the Royals picked Drake Young. The Thunder were eying one of the linebackers but didn’t think one would be there and had been looking at potential trade options. However, they do land the 2-sport linebacker out of Rhode Island State. Timothy is looked at as a little more raw than Barrett, but his senior season showed that he was good at coverage over the middle. His smaller frame for a LB, due to being a baseball player as well, allows for more mobility, but he does need to hit the gym to help with his tackling. He’s also quite smart and can be a signal-caller for a defence. Louisville lost their #1 LB in Calvin Hardy to Montreal, so they are hoping Timothy will be able to fill those shoes someday soon.

5 - Halifax Mariners | OL Kane Warwick | New England - Sleepy Hollow, NY - Darknes
The Mariners made a strong choice in Kane Warwick at 5th overall. After losing OL Harrison Ward and OL Wolfgang Vander Waal, the team had a hole on their O-line. Luckily, they were able to snag the top OL prospect in the draft. Warwick is not all that big, but he never quits. His junior and senior years at New England were very impressive standing out as one of the best blockers in college. Warwick is a passionate player that should be a great addition to the Mariners’ locker room this season. 

6 - Indiana Victors | WR Jake Abbredezzi | UHamilton - Niagara, ON - NoE38
The Victors had a choice of the top 2 WRs in the draft. After losing WR Orlando Barrack to Pittsburgh, the team desperately needed a #3 option. In the end, they chose Jake Abbredezzi out of UHamilton. Abbredezzi was Drake Young’s favourite target this past season, catching 12 touchdowns this past season. This was with Abbredezzi missing 2 and a half games with injury. Abbredezzi has the physical traits of a solid all-around WR. He’s quick and had great ball carrier vision from his time as a RB in high school. He also played QB making him a very versatile piece for an offence. The big concern with Abbredezzi however, is his health, as he had missed at least a couple of games in each one of his years at UHamilton.

TRADE ALERT
The first round had been pretty quiet, but by pick 7, the first trade of the draft occurred. Montreal knew that there was a market for a team to move up to take the other WR, Sterling Underhill, so they took advantage and traded back. They had fielded offers from Pittsburgh, Providence, and Toronto. In the end, the Steelheads would send the 10th overall pick and the 18th overall pick to the Rouge in order to move up to 7th overall. 

7 - Toronto Steelheads (from Montreal) | WR Sterling Underhill | Haynes - New Haven, CT - Enigmajones 
Toronto would grab Underhill with the newly acquired pick. Toronto has desperately needed a new star in the WR core to help with their offensive struggles from last season. Underhill seems like a great fit for the Steelheads. He still thrived in a Haynes offence that did not have any consistency at QB this season. Underhill has a great catch radius which is very helpful for a team that may have the QB under pressure a lot. Toronto certainly had that last season with easily the worst O-line in the league. Hopefully, Underhill can make the quick transition to the next level and help the Steelheads quickly.

8 - London Tigers | DL Mo Kahn | Maine State - Portland, ME - Stickman
London toyed with the idea of trading up to get QB Drake Young, but the Royals beat them to it. Fortunately, they still landed a guy they liked with the 8th overall pick. Mo Kahn should bring a boost to a very weak D-line that London has struggled to improve in the last couple of seasons. Kahn may be considered a bit of a reach, being projected as an early 2nd round option, but clearly, the need for DL was much more important. Kahn has the makings of a very good D-lineman, with great strength and speed to get around the O-line, however, a big concern is his injury history having only played a full season once in college. His knee issues could start eating into his skill which may make this pick not look too great in the long run.

TRADE ALERT
The second trade of the draft saw the Steelheads make another jump back into the first round. They would make a swap with the Louisville Thunder to move up to 9th overall. In return, the Thunder would receive picks 13 and 27.

9 - Toronto Steelheads (from Louisville) | OL Alan Farquharson | Rhode Island State - Warwick, RI - Dan O’Mac
After taking a LB and WR with their first two picks, the Steelheads would aim to solve one of their biggest issues, the offensive line. In order to do that they would take Alan Farquharson out of Rhode Island State. Farquharson is a big guy, got lots of strength, and he often bullied O-linemen. Well, bullying also extends to his past, being suspended a few times in high school, which may mean a not-so-friendly personality, but Toronto should get a solid O-lineman out of Farquharson. 

10 - Montreal Rouge (from Providence via Toronto) | DB Lamar Brown | New England - Concord, NH - Kingsfan11
Montreal finally came up to pick and they would grab Lamar Brown out of New England. They were in dire need of depth in the secondary, especially after DB Quentin Xavier retired. Brown is on the larger side of DBs, at least in terms of his frame and muscle. He uses his body to punish wideouts but does have the agility to be strong in coverage as well. If Brown can bring his physicality to the NAAF, he could be a game-changer for the Rouge defence.

11 - Long Island Raiders | OL Doyle MacInnis | Haynes - Rockland, ME - Dan O’Mac
The Raiders had a weaker O-line over the past season, so they would look to add some help with MacInnis. MacInnis is a strong interior lineman, who is a specialist in creating holes for running backs. His specialty is what makes him a great fit for the run-heavy Raiders offence.

12 - Buffalo Blue Wings | OL Ty Barrett | UHamilton - Hamilton, ON - Darknes
With the final pick of the first round, the Blue Wings drafted Judge Barrett’s cousin, Ty Barrett, to help out on the O-line. Buffalo’s weakest position was easily on the line, so the addition of Barrett should help out. Barrett is a muscle man who likes to overpower his opponent in blocks rather than use technical skill. He did that very well in college, but there are some worries that he may not stand up to the stronger NAAF D-lineman and could become penalty prone. 

Round 2

The second round would kick off with the Louisville Thunder’s first pick of the draft. They would take Louisville State DB Oswald Murray, continuing their pattern of taking players from the local university. Murray is a strong man-to-man defender that should be able to lock down WRs he is matched up against. Pittsburgh would pick a DB of their own in Zed McLaughlin out of Nova Scotia. McLaughlin didn’t get a lot of recognition initially at Nova Scotia, but as the draft approached many scouts started to see his skill on the field and clearly, Pittsburgh thought so too and grabbed him to shore up their secondary. 

Following Pittsburgh’s pick, the Royals and Rouge would make a swap with the Rouge acquiring picks 15 and 36 in exchange for picks 19 and 31. Montreal would take OL Shane Willis with the pick to add to their O-line. 

Another trade would occur right after in the biggest deal of the draft. The Boston Independents would acquire former 6th overall pick, RB Reggie Whitehead, in exchange for WR Evan Clanton, the 16th overall pick and a 4th rounder in 1969. Boston should have a RB of the future to replace Tresean Jones, while Indiana gets a reliable WR in Clanton to go along with their first-round pick in Abbredezzi to help solidify their WR core for this season. 

With the 16th pick, the Victors would draft DB Carl Odebell out of Indiana Tech. Odebell is looked at as a bit of a reach at 16, but the Victors really liked him and after the top 3 DBs were off the board they had to make the move up to make sure they got him. He could be a bit of a project DB which works with Indy having some strong veterans still able to start for them at the moment. Montreal was back on the clock for back-to-back picks. They would go off the board a bit but filled positions of need with DL Alan Franjkovic and LB Aloysius King IV. The pick of Franjkovic, threw a wrench in Ottawa’s plans as they had hoped to still get him at pick 19. Instead, they would take local talent, TE Luiss de Brands out of Rideau in hopes of giving some support to the commonly injured TE Ryan Hatcher. 

London would pick WR Jessie Lambert next to pair up with WR Cole Fletcher for the future of their WR core. Pittsburgh would then grab a TE themselves in Sid Sydney fearing they may start to fly off the board. Providence would finally have their first selection of the draft and played it safe with OL Bobby Shields to add to their O-line. The Raiders would draft a WR out of Nova Scotia in Frank Drysdale in hopes of striking gold again at the position after trading Casey Coleman last season. 

Through all of this, there were several top prospects that were in free fall in the draft. Most notably was S Jarrett Sutherland, but the bigger story was the plethora of running backs that had not been taken yet. Buffalo would be the first to take one. Many expected them to pick Shannon West out of the local Western New York, but instead, they would get Jasper Dickerson out of Toronto. Buffalo appears to like Dickerson’s all-around style more than West’s pound-the-rock style.

Round 2 Picks
13 - LOU (From TOR) | DB Oswald Murray | Louisville State* - Evansville, IN - Jayhawk
14 - PIT | DB Zed McLaughlin | Nova Scotia - Zealand, NB - idm
15 - MTL (from OTT) | OL Shane Willis | Toronto - Stratford, ON - Edgeworth
16 - IND (from BOS) | DB Carl Odebell | Indiana Tech* - Santa Claus, IN - JamHeronArk
17 - MTL (from HFX) | DL Alan Franjkovic | Toronto - Toronto, ON - ZO82
18 - MTL (from IND via TOR) | LB Aloysius King IV | Rockefeller - South Bend, IN - JamHeronArk
19 - OTT (from MTL) | TE Luiss de Brands | Rideau - Ottawa, ON - NoE38
20 - LDN | WR Jessie Lambert | Western New York - Indianapolis, IN - DireBear
21 - PIT (from LOU) | TE Sid Sydney | UHamilton - Guelph, ON - Wallflower
22 - PRO | OL Bobby Shields | West Mass State - Albany, NY - DireBear
23 - LI | WR Frank Drysdale | Nova Scotia - Digby, NS - idm
24 - BUF | RB Jasper Dickerson | Toronto - Toronto, ON - Kingsfan11

Round 3

The 3rd round would be focused on the top players that had fallen. S Jarrett Sutherland would finally get picked by the Blacksmiths as they could easily have a starting safety out of the 3rd round. Before the real drama kicked off, Louisville continued their pattern of drafting Louisville State players with pick 27. At 28, the Independents were slated to have their first pick of the draft, however, they would move back yet again with a trade with the Tigers. They would pick up picks 32 and 44 in exchange for the 28th pick. The Tigers would take LB Gerrard Miller with the selection. 

Boston would finally make their first selection at 32, being the second latest any team has made their first pick of the draft ever and took OL Mackens Stevenson. 

As for the drama, it really revved up when the Halifax Mariners elected to go way off the board and select Majeure Montreal RB Rene Lyons over the much higher-ranked Shannon West and Neil Bradley. West reportedly was very displeased while waiting to be drafted, questioning the NAAF teams if they had their heads on straight. Luckily for West, he would finally be picked at 30 by the Victors who aim to replace Whitehead as the backup RB to Raymond Green. RB Neil Bradley would not be far behind West and would go to Louisville. 

As for a couple of other notable picks, the Royals would draft DL Wallace Cutt out of Hamilton to pair back up with former teammate DL Bernhard Hartmann, and Montreal would draft the first French-born player in S Etienne LaMond.

Round 3 Picks
25 - TOR | DL Daniel Myers | Rhode Island State - Woonsocket, RI - Darknes
26 - PIT | S Jarrett Sutherland | Western New York - Erie, PA - Kingsfan11
27 - LOU (from OTT via TOR) | OL Kash Wilder | Louisville State - Louisville, KY - ZO82
28 - LDN (from BOS) | LB Gerrard Miller | King’s - New York City, NY - Kingsfan11
29 - HFX | RB Rene Lyons | Majeure Montreal - Montreal, QC - Darknes
30 - IND | RB Shannon West | Western New York - Rochester, NY - Dan O’Mac
31 - OTT (from MTL) | DL Wallace Cutt | UHamilton - Hamilton, ON - JamHeronArk
32 - BOS (from LDN) | OL Mackens Stevenson | Allegheny - Pittsburgh, PA - Stickman
33 - LOU | RB Neil Bradley | New England - Boston, MA - NoE38
34 - PRO | LB Austin Ford | Haynes - Bridgeport, CT - idm
35 - MTL (from LI) | WR Izzy Woods | Montreal Provincial - Montreal, QC - Wallflower
36 - MTL (from BUF via OTT) | S Etienne LaMond | St-Laurent - Nice, FR - Dan O’Mac

Round 4

In the last 2 rounds, there were no trades that occurred as the teams would rattle off their picks. Boston continued to have a somewhat questionable draft, grabbing TE Spencer Griepentrog out of New England, while still not addressing issues on the DL, however, they would get a DL out of Adam Thweatt, which many questioned considering he was one of the lowest-ranked prospects. The Raiders once again showed their willingness to draft Division 2 prospects and grabbed Porter Pikesville out of Scranton State College. 

Round 4 Picks
37 - TOR | LB Grover Smith | St. George - Orangeville, ON - Dan O’Mac
38 - PIT | DB William Cunningham | Brooklyn Metropolitan* - Newark, NJ - ZO82
39 - LDN (from OTT) | OL Felton McDowell | Haynes - Bridgeport, CT - idm
40 - BOS | TE Spencer Griepentrog | New England - Worcester, MA - Dan O’Mac
41 - PIT (from HFX) | WR Devin Smith | Western New York - Jamestown, NY - ZO82
42 - IND | S Geno Aranda | King’s* - New York City, NY - vladee
43 - OTT (from MTL) | LB Wallace Jordan | Northern Indiana* - Indianapolis, IN - DireBear
44 - BOS (from LDN) | DL Adam Thweatt | Maine State - Bath, ME - idm
45 - LOU | WR Raul Creek | Montreal Provincial - Montreal, QC - DireBear
46 - TOR (from PRO) | DB Felix Roy | St-Laurent - Quebec City, QC - Kingsfan11
47 - LI | DL Porter Pikesville | Scranton State College (DIV II)** - Wilkes-Barre, PA - Jayhawk
48 - BUF | DB Davey Woods | The Colonial College* - Wilmington, DE - Dan O’Mac

Round 5

The second QB to be drafted would have to wait until the 5th round, when the Gold Stars took Cambridge of Boston QB, Mac Ennis. Shortly after Boston would pick up Daryl Plum out of Upstate. Many of the remaining picks were teams looking a bit off the board or getting any last positions of need. Buffalo would close out the draft with TE Ben Gibson being the final selection.

Round 5 Picks
49 - PRO (from TOR) | QB Mac Ennis | Cambridge of Boston - Wellesley, MA - Dan O’Mac
50 - PIT | DL Brock Dyson | New England - Salem, MA - vladee
51 - OTT | OL Martin Graw | Majeure Montreal - Sorel-Tracy, QC - idm
52 - BOS | QB Daryl Plum | Upstate - Binghamton, NY - DireBear
53 - MTL (from HFX) | LB Donte Chino | St. Paul* - Austin, MN - Scratch
54 - HFX (from IND) | DL Jimmy Snack | Jersey State* - Blandford, MA - Dan O’Mac
55 - MTL | RB Maxwell Greenfield | Northern Indiana* - Indianapolis, IN - idm
56 - LDN | DB Alex Pollard | London - Barrie, ON - Wallflower
57 - LOU | LB Jethro Gibson | Erie - Erie, PA - Darknes
58 - PRO | WR Mark Taylor | Newark College (DIV II) - Newark, NJ - Kingsfan11
59 - LI | DL John Dough | Haynes - Hartford, CT - idm
60 - BUF | TE Ben Gibson | Major Cincinnati* - Cincinnati, OH - ZO82

Undrafted Players
TE Dean Carroll | Vermont Republic - Plattsburgh, NY - Enigmajones
OL Marshall Craig | Atlantic State Of Massachusetts - Plymouth, MA - DireBear
S Bennett Drill | Concord-Manchester - Manchester, NH - QCS
OL Robin Beard | Northern West Virginia - Cumberland, MD - DireBear
S Pete Gunner | Cape Cod College (DIV II) - Mashpee, MA - Jayhawk
QB Emmitt Jackson | Petersburg College (DIV II) - South Hill, VA - Wallflower
LB Marc Hand | Nova Scotia - Halifax, NS - idm