Happy to see Sterling go in the first round. Just a question though, what is Sterling's hometown?

Dan O'Mac wrote:

Enigmajones wrote:

Happy to see Sterling go in the first round. Just a question though, what is Sterling's hometown?

Didn't you scout him?

Yeah I did but it was a while back, and he changed the hometown of Le'Darius and Xerxes, so I was wondering.

Sweet!  Mo Kahn being a 1st Rounder was a pleasant surprise, we'll see if the injuries are a problem for him, but hopefully not!

1968 NAAF Draft

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

Last edited by Wallflower (6/07/2022 10:50 pm)

Enigmajones wrote:

Shame Dean Carroll didn't get drafted, but at least he was mentioned right?

 As for Sterling, how far from New Haven is the Haynes campus? I know you've mentioned where it is, just blanking on the locale.

I cannot tell if the first sentence is rhetorical or a literal question lmao.

Haynes is based in Hartford and is the main Connecticut school.