Saturday, 18 March 2023

1970 Draft Preview


Hybrid Conference Results

Canada East Hybrid Conference
WEST
(1) Toronto Dukes
(7) Hamilton Howlers
St. George Maples
London Foresters
Dominion Knights
Sudbury Provincial Miners
Kitchener-Waterloo Provincial Beavers

EAST
(3) Majeure Montreal Insulaires
(8) Nova Scotia Armada
St-Laurent Cavaliers de Riviere
UPNB Pirates
Rideau Rams
Montreal Provincial Panthers
Mont-Bellevue Geais Bleus

CEHC Playoffs
(1) TORU 28-10 (7) UHAM
(3) MMTL 38-7 (8) UNS

CEHC Championship
(1) TORU 33-28 (3) MMTL

The Canada East conference was dominated by a pair of teams, the Toronto University Dukes and the Majeure Montreal Insulaires. Toronto faced pretty much no competition in the West Division, as UHamilton was weaker than usual, and the other schools were also lacking in talent. Majeure Montreal continued its streak of winning the East Division, as they took it for the 3rd consecutive season, led by their star QB Nathan Houle. Nova Scotia was able to beat out St-Laurent for the 2nd playoff spot, marking their first appearance in the CEHC Playoffs. 

In the playoffs, Toronto dominated UHamilton for the 2nd time in the season, while Majeure Montreal pounded Nova Scotia to set up a rematch of the 1968 CEHC championship. In that game, the two schools battled back and forth, but for the second season in a row, the Dukes would be victorious on the back of star WR Cameron Kane’s game-winning touchdown.

America East Hybrid Conference
(2) Western New York Whitetails
(4) New England Cardinals
(5) Haynes Colonials
(6) Rhode Island State Bulldogs
(9) Maine State Acadians
(10) West Mass State Rangers
Upstate Bluebirds
Erie Sailors
Cambridge of Boston Cubs
Concord-Manchester Fighting Pike
Vermont Republic Mountaineers
WNY-Rochester Eagles

AEHC Playoffs
(2) WNY 20-14 (6) RISU
(4) UNE 21-23 (5) HAY

AEHC Championship
(2) WNY 27-15 (5) HAY

The America East conference was much closer with Western New York, New England and Haynes all having shots at the conference’s #1 seed. Maine State and their run game behind RB Tank Ferguson would make a push to get into the top 4 with the WR Charles Toothacre-led West Mass State Rangers following closely behind. RISU would get the final spot despite a much weaker season from the team. 

The playoffs would see Western New York beat RISU in a defensive showdown. In the other game, Haynes would pull off an upset over New England, with QB Al Washington leading a magical game-winning drive. Unfortunately, Haynes’ luck would run out as they were steamrolled by WNY in the next game.

Hybrid Football Championship
(1) TORU 24-13 (2) WNY

The Hybrid Championship would see the Toronto Dukes finally capture their first title since joining the hybrid football conferences. The team was able to crush the Whitetails’ weak offence while their own offence was able to overcome the WNY defence.

The Prospects 

Despite falling just short of the national title, Western New York still has the best prospect coming into the draft with LB Ricky Wildgoose. The hard-hitting LB was a force in the Whitetails’ defence and many see him as having the physical traits to be a menace at the next level. The hybrid football champs, Toronto Dukes, do have several key players also near the top of the class. The aforementioned WR Cameron Kane leads the way as a playmaking WR who can make some great catches and has great physical traits to boot. Behind him are LB Nathaniel Lovelady and DL Matt Brown. Lovelady broke out this season as the team’s central linebacker, who did have some concerns heading into the year as a player that can get a little lost on plays, but this season seemed to show an improvement in that area. As for Brown, he was tabbed as a potential player to be a #1 talent after his sophomore year, but the last two seasons haven’t been as strong for him. He has the physical traits to suggest he can be great but needs to get better in the technical areas if he wants to succeed at the next level. 

New England still has some talent in the class like OL Alan Mitchell who projects as the best O-lineman in the class, as well as DB Byron Knight, who is a physical disrupter in the secondary. However, the strongest school yet to be talked about was Majeure Montreal, which has 4 guys in the top 15. The top prospect is OL Robert Pelletier, who was a vital part of the offensive success this season. Next to him is star LB Jean-Christophe Bain, who has developed into a leader in the LB core, drawing a lot of comparisons to Hall of Fame LB Aengus Lynch. RB Alain Ducharme was on no one's radar up until his senior year when he led the CEHC in rushing yards, so he certainly flew up the rankings and projects as the best RB in a fairly weak class. 

Finally, the team’s QB Nathan Houle is one of the top QB prospects in this year’s class. Houle has slowly developed over the last 3 years to give Majeure Montreal one of their best runs in school history. Houle has a solid arm and accuracy which makes him a great pocket passer, but he does have a strong ability to scramble if he needs to, which makes him a very well-rounded prospect. However, he does tend to shy away from making throws if it is too risky which has led him to back down in key moments.

However, Houle is not the top QB prospect in the class, that would be QB Red “Strawberry” King. The red-headed machine out of Central Ohio in the Conference of the Midwest has made waves with the school's first conference championship in many years. King was projected to be the best QB headed for the GLFL, but he elected to go the Nathaniel Braddock route and enter the NAAF instead, much to the disappointment of the teams of the GLFL. King has a great arm with good accuracy. His poise and leadership are also strong qualities which separate him from Houle. Many teammates have great relationships with King, both on and off the field. He does lack the scrambling ability that Houle has, but he has been able to take over games, unlike Houle. He is joined by his teammate WR Leon Hudson, who is also a very strong prospect at WR with great athletic ability and speed to make him a serious threat.

Houle and King will certainly be the two most sought-after QBs. Behind them are a few other options, but no one is jumping off the page. QB Al Washington’s performance in the AEHC playoffs did help his case, but some see him as a bit raw despite a strong arm. QB Darko Hardonk comes out of Jersey State, but scouts haven’t seen enough from him to really think he’s a franchise guy since he only started his senior season. Finally, is QB Colt Dorsey out of UPNB. Dorsey hasn’t wowed scouts, but he did lead the small school to its best finish in the hybrid conferences this season, finishing 4th in the East.

The Gains Report - Top 25 Prospects
* = American Football School
1 - LB Ricky Wildgoose - Western New York - Jayhawk
2 - OL Alan Mitchell - New England - ZO82
3 - QB Red King - Central Ohio* - QCS
4 - WR Cameron Kane - Toronto - idm
5 - OL Robert Pelletier - Majeure Montreal - Kingsfan11
6 - LB Jean-Christophe Bain - Majeure Montreal - Wallflower
7 - WR Leon Hudson - Central Ohio* - DireBear
8 - LB Nathaniel Lovelady - Toronto - idm
9 - QB Nathan Houle - Majeure Montreal - Kingsfan11
10 - DB Byron Knight - New England - QCS
11 - WR Edward Washington - Rockefeller* - NoE38
12 - LB Dallas Rush - Allegheny* - QCS
13 - RB Alain Ducharme - Majeure Montreal - DireBear
14 - DB Austin Sherebernikoff - Haynes - Timothy_1947
15 - OL Dane Hodgeson - Rhode Island State - JamHeronArk
16 - DL Matt Brown - Toronto - Dan O’Mac
17 - TE Pete Mayfield - North Indiana* - Slapshot Kirby
18 - LB Eric Strohecker - Rhode Island State - RaysUp
19 - LB Tyrone Dye - Major Ohio* - Stickman
20 - DL Haakon Leichenberg - UHamilton - Darknes
21 - S Derrick Fayden - Rhode Island State - Darknes
22 - TE Brandon McPhail - Indiana Tech* - Jayhawk
23 - RB Tank Ferguson - Maine State - Darknes
24 - S Frank Thorpe - Haynes - DireBear
25 - WR Ben Graham - Western New York - TigersFan93
==========================================
29 - WR Charles Toothacre - West Mass State - Scratch
31 - OL Louie DeBois - Nova Scotia - Sevsdast
32 - OL Terry Pennington - New England - Edgeworth
33 - QB Al Washington - Haynes - TheEnigmaticOne
58 - OL Bob Abuoy - Central Pennsylvania* - H-Town

Draft Order and Picks

1 - Louisville Thunder
Picks: 1, 7, 14, 23, 27, 40, 53
Needs: OL, LB, RB, WR

2 - Providence Gold Stars
Picks: 2, 15, 28, 41, 51
Needs: OL, DL, QB, LB

3 - Toronto Steelheads
Picks: 3, 16, 29, 42, 50, 55
Needs: WR, DL, OL, QB

4 - London Tigers
Picks: 4, 17, 30, 43, 46, 47, 54, 56, 58
Needs: QB, OL, DB, WR

5 - Long Island Raiders
Picks: 5, 18, 44, 48, 57
Needs: OL, LB, WR, TE

6 - Montreal Rouge
Picks: 6, 13, 19, 32, 45
Needs: RB, WR, DL, OL

7 - Halifax Mariners - 1st round pick belongs to Louisville
Picks: 20, 33, 59
Needs: TE, RB, DB, QB

8 - Minnesota Serpents
Picks: 8, 21, 31, 34, 49, 60
Needs: OL, DB, TE

9 - Indiana Victors
Picks: 9, 22, 35, 61
Needs: DL, DB, S, RB

10 - Pittsburgh Blacksmiths
Picks: 10, 36, 62
Needs: LB, DL, OL, RB

11 - Boston Independents
Picks: 11, 24, 37, 63
Needs: LB, OL, RB, DL

12 - Ottawa Royals
Picks: 12, 25, 38, 64
Needs: OL, WR, TE, DL

13 - Buffalo Blue Wings - 1st round pick belongs to Montreal 
Picks: 26, 39, 52, 65
Needs: DL, LB, OL, S

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