1970 NAAF Draft

Round 1

Ahead of the draft beginning, Louisville GM, Robbie Wilson appeared to be on the phone with multiple teams that were thinking about trying to move up to the #1 pick to potentially get their hands on a star QB in Red King. Wilson listened to the offers right up until Commissioner, Ryan Jameson announced that the Thunder were on the clock. Once on the clock, Wilson finished up one last phone call. When he hung up the phone, he pointed to one of his assistants who got up and handed the draft slip to the commissioner. Jameson got to the podium and announced:

“Louisville has made their selection. With the 1st Pick in the 1970 NAAF Draft, the Louisville Thunder select, Ricky Wildgoose, Linebacker, Western New York.”

1 - Louisville Thunder | LB Ricky Wildgoose | Western New York - Oil City, PA - Creator: Jayhawk
While trading out of the first pick was tempting, the Thunder knew that they had a stellar talent on their hands with Wildgoose. While the team has made some picks at LB with their first selection in recent years, they haven’t really landed on a true defensive anchor. So with the opportunity to take a guy who could fit that role, they had to take him. With Wildgoose, they are getting a hard-hitting and powerful defensive centrepiece that pretty much carried his team’s defence at Western New York this season. He does have a sporadic style, which is very aggressive in going for the ball. Hopefully, that can take some of the pressure off of Le’Darius Wynn down the middle of the field.

2 - Providence Gold Stars | QB Red King | Central Ohio* - Lexington, KY - Creator: QCS
The Gold Stars’ table held their breath right up until Louisville made their selection. Once, the pick was announced, the table was excited and they quickly made their selection. The Gold Stars had picked RISU QB Edwin Hunt, 15th overall last season, but after a miserable first start and a massive change in the front office, the team no longer had a lot of faith in the hometown hero. Now, they have their guy in Red King. King is easily the QB with the best base to work with. He’s got a solid arm that is accurate. Some would say he’s got the “it” factor that separates him from the rest, with an ability to make key plays when it counts, with great decision-making and poise. King has the highest ceiling for sure, and Providence certainly feels confident they got their guy. 

3 - Toronto Steelheads | WR Cameron Kane | Toronto - Brampton, ON - Creator: idm
The media seemed convinced that the Steelheads should be looking at QB for the future with the 3rd overall selection, as their star QB Todd Baker is now 38 years old. However, they would still elect to pass on a QB, taking Cameron Kane out of Toronto University. Clearly, the Steelheads were hoping they could replace WR Al Allmendinger who fled to Boston earlier in the offseason. Kane brings a physical touch to the Steelheads’ WR core. He’s been known as a tough guy to bring down. He’s got some solid hands to make some great catches, but he still tends to drop passes that he should catch. Overall, Kane is still a stellar talent and can make some waves in the NAAF.  

TRADE ALERT
Following the Steelheads’ pick, Ryan Jameson would announce the first trade of the day. The London Tigers elected to move down from their 4th overall spot. They would send the pick to the Thunder along with pick 46, in exchange for picks 7 and 14 along with a former 5th-round pick in LB Jethro Gibson. 

4 - Louisville Thunder (from London) | OL Robert Pelletier | Majeure Montreal - Laval, QC - Creator: Kingsfan11
With the newly acquired pick the Thunder aimed to bolster their O-line by taking Robert Pelletier. Pelletier’s specialty is in the passing game, being a prolific pass blocker. He’s got a strong stance with good positioning making it tough to get around. Pelletier isn’t very agile, however, so if a guy does get past him, there’s a good chance the QB is in danger. Overall, the move reinforces the Thunder’s desire to be a pass-first offence. 

5 - Long Island Raiders | OL Alan Mitchell | New England - Greenwich, CT - Creator: ZO82
The Raiders would follow suit with the Thunder, taking a much-needed O-lineman with their first pick of the draft. OL Alan Mitchell was looked at as the best OL in the draft but slipped to the Raiders at 5th. Long Island’s typically run-heavy offence is getting a big boost from Mitchell who is a towering and powerful run-blocking lineman. Mitchell plays right to the whistle and sometimes a little after it, something that the Raiders absolutely love in a prospect: fight. 

6 - Montreal Rouge | QB Nathan Houle | Majeure Montreal - Montreal, QC - Creator: Kingsfan11
Montreal’s plan heading into the draft was shaken up by the Tigers’ decision to move down. The Rouge had their eye on the local QB Nathan Houle but had thought the Tigers or even the Steelheads would have taken the QB at 4 and with King off the board. They were ready to pick Jean-Christophe Bain with the pick, but Houle was still on the board, so they gambled on taking the QB. Houle has been on the Rouge’s radar over the last several seasons and they feel that his talent can make him into a solid QB. He’s got a great base with a solid arm and accuracy, but he’s also got some legs under him that allow him to become mobile in the pocket. Unlike Red King, Houle doesn’t have the “it” factor, but he’s got a lot of the building blocks to grow and develop and potentially get to a point like that. Of course, the big side effect of the pick is on Montreal’s current starting QB Gene Bishop. Bishop has been struggling the last couple of seasons which may have led to the decision, as well as he is now 34 and not getting any younger. Montreal’s hope is Houle can develop under Bishop over the final two years of Bishop’s contract and be ready to go by the end of it.

7 - London Tigers (from Halifax via Louisville) | WR Leon Hudson | Central Ohio* - Columbus, OH - Creator: DireBear
Despite the 2nd best QB going off the board, the Tigers didn’t miss a beat in making their selection. Clearly, they had their eyes on someone else, that being WR Leon Hudson. The Tigers have been in need of another top-receiving threat to pair up with Cole Fletcher. Hudson is a great athlete. He’s quick and agile, even known for jumping tackles. Hudson does have some potential injury trouble due to having a fairly slim build, but if he can bulk up a little and work on conditioning, the Tigers may have a terrific weapon for their offence. 

8 - Minnesota Serpents | DB Austin Sherebernikoff | Haynes - Binghamton, NY - Creator: Timothy_1947
The Serpents would be the first team to really reach for a player, taking DB Austin Sherebernikoff. While Byron Knight out of New England was looked at as a better player at the position, the Serpents seem to like the more man-to-man style that Sherebernikoff brings to the table. Sherebernikoff was a lockdown corner at Haynes, and Minnesota is hoping he can develop into that at the next level.

TRADE ALERT
The second trade of the draft would happen as the Serpents were making their selection. The Montreal Rouge, still hoping to get the guy they wanted in LB Jean-Christophe Bain, would move up to pick 9 in a trade with the Indiana Victors. The Victors would get pick 13 and veteran OL Xavier Villeneuve to boost their O-line depth as compensation. 

9 - Montreal Rouge (from Indiana) | LB Jean-Christophe Bain | Majeure Montreal - Montreal, QC - Creator: Wallflower
Montreal was happy to pick their second Majeure Montreal alum of the draft. Bain is a solid Linebacker that should bring a sense of leadership down the middle. Bain has gotten some comparisons to Hall of Fame LB Aengus Lynch, who was exceptionally smart at the position. Bain didn’t wow people until his junior year, but his final two years at college were strong and he has shown a stellar ability to hunt down and contain players in open field. He does have to work on his strength a bit with some stronger RBs and TEs being able to break away from Bain. Montreal does add Bain to their defence with last year’s 4th overall pick LB Willie Stetson to start to form a solid LB core.

10 - Pittsburgh Blacksmiths | WR Edward Washington | Rockefeller* - Fargo, ND - Creator: NoE38
The Blacksmiths came up to pick at 10 with a bit of a decision to make. They had a local player in LB Dallas Rush that was very tempting, but the team instead selected a WR in Edward Washington. Washington doesn’t jump off the page in terms of his performance on the field, but his physical attributes are what made him a top prospect. He’s tall and much larger than the average WR. He’s strong, making him a great target that can fight for a catch. He’s got solid route running and fundamentals, but he does lack breakaway speed, so Pittsburgh will hope they can continue to build on an otherwise physically gifted player.

11 - Boston Independents | LB Dallas Rush | Allegheny - Bethlehem, PA - Creator: QCS
With the Blacksmiths passing on Dallas Rush, the Independents were able to jump on Rush and pick up a depth piece in their LB core. Rush seems like a great fit for Boston, who has a pair of already solid and young LBs. Rush is a hard-working player that can be a great support player with good tackling ability and solid IQ. He doesn’t have the raw talent that some of the other players in the class do, but his effort is next to none which makes him a great player for any team to add depth.

12 - Ottawa Royals | OL Dane Hodgeson | Rhode Island State - Block Island, RI - Creator: JamHeronArk
With OL Amos Sewell heading to Minnesota, the Royals looked to fill in the missing spot with a new O-lineman. Hodgeson is a strong pass blocker that aligns with Ottawa looking to protect their young star in QB Drake Young. He’s got pretty much all the fundamentals down, he just may need to work on some adjustments in run blocking, but Ottawa has a solid base to work with.

13 - Indiana Victors (from Buffalo via Montreal) | DB Byron Knight | New England - Boston, MA - Creator: QCS
To close out the opening round of the draft, the Indiana Victors would elect to pick DB Byron Knight out of New England. Knight, who was apparently passed on by the Minnesota Serpents, is a physical corner who can be a disrupter in the secondary. Knight’s style is often about jamming WRs at the line or using his body to get in the way. His style does tend to lead to some penalties, but he certainly gets into the head of his opponents and takes advantage. 

Happy to see Le'Darius get some company on that D. Still hoping Al Washington will be drafted. Fingers crossed!

Cool to see Washington on the Thunder, now I have even more of a reason to root for the team. Also proud that Wesley Wu got drafted since they weren't mentioned in the Prospect list, guess that Halifax is on the list of teams I like (though I have several players that have been picked, I have a special place in my heart for the Thunder and London, so I'll probably remain on that. can't wait for the 1970 season!

I could have sworn I created a total of 7 draft prospects yet only three of them were in the draft. Odd. Oh well, not a big deal.

TigerFan93 wrote:

I could have sworn I created a total of 7 draft prospects yet only three of them were in the draft. Odd. Oh well, not a big deal.

Yes, you had submitted more than had made it into the draft class, but that is normal. Going into this draft, since the last one was in August, I had around 200 prospects that I had not used yet that made it through the process of making sure they are appropriate or felt real enough. I only have around 70 per draft class, I had some players in this draft that were sent to me in 2021, but I just never got around to using them or had been saving them for a time when they fit where I wanted to go in my story. So yea they are there, I'll get to them just not this year.

Slapshot Kirby wrote:

Wow, Pete Mayfield got taken in Round 2 by London! For the first player I have ever submitted for this league, I am actually very pleased! I also may have to start pulling for the Tigers too now I suppose, LOL.

Also, to clarify with how other football leagues in this universe reacted to the temporary merger with the WFU, why are ACFL followers making it sound like the merger is permanent? Feel free to correct me if I misread something, but it seems that the ACFL is overreacting to the NAAF having more teams than them since their merger with the WFU is temporary as you previously stated.

Anyway, this was a neat draft! Looking forward to seeing what 1970 brings!

Oh good question, I hope I can clear it up. The overall thought behind it is that regardless of whether the merger is temporary or permanent, the ACFL sees its biggest competitor expanding its influence. Like even if the NAAF doesn't stay in Western Canada, they will still have more eyes on the league regardless as there will be more fans made aware of the NAAF and potentially become fans of the league. Also, there are probably some ACFL folks that fear it won't be temporary as well. Since they are competing with them, that is certainly intimidating from a competitive standpoint that the NAAF has potentially 10 more teams than the ACFL. So yea the reactions are more out of fear of what potentially could happen, not so much about what is currently happening. 

Last edited by Wallflower (3/23/2023 10:13 am)