1956 AFL Draft

 

 

Round 1
1 - Philadelphia - RB Mickey Greene - Pittsburgh State - DireBear
2 - St Louis - LB Isaac Bullock - Pennsylvania - QCS
3 - Pittsburgh (via DET) - QB Aksel Kahr - Pittsburgh State - Darknes
4 - Boston - OL Harvey Leonard - Los Angeles State - DireBear
5 - New York - DB Joe Bellisario - New Jersey - DireBear
6 - Cleveland - LB Matt Ross - Texas State - Kingsfan11
7 - Detroit (from PIT) - DL Rusty Shankles - Wisconsin State - Dan O’Mac
8 - Tri-Cities - DL Moe Greene - Monongalia State - QCS
9 - Buffalo - WR Julian Washington - UCleveland - Kingsfan11
10 - Chicago - TE Isaac Vella - Chicago Christian - Darknes
11 - Washington - S Bobby Loes - Staten Island - DireBear
12 - Cincinnati - WR Jimmy Woods - Rogers Clark - Dan O’Mac

Like the year before, the draft was held in one of the new expansion cities instead of the traditional location of Chicago. Philadelphia would both host the draft and have the first overall pick, and there may have been a reason why they wanted the first pick in the rookie draft. They had their sights on one player in particular, and wasted no time in selecting RB Mickey Greene out of Pittsburgh State with the first overall pick. The versatile Greene split his time between running back and linebacker while in college, switching to exclusively being a RB as he was naturally better at that position. Entering college, Greene had no intention of playing football, but a chance trip to Chicago to see a Hogs-Shamrocks game changed all that. He was enamored by the ability of the league’s hottest sensations, and decided then and there that he would play football. As it turned out, Greene would be really good at this football thing and worked his way up the first overall pick in the AFL draft. Following up on the historic 1st pick, St Louis went to fix a particularly weak linebacking core by taking LB Isaac Bullock from Pennsylvania. Bullock may not be the physical type of linebacker that teams look for, but makes up for it with his mental game. The Stallions hope to develop his physical talents so that he can be their version of the prototypical linebacker, but for now it seems he’ll be leading the defense for the young team. Pittsburgh made it very clear who they were taking when they traded up to number 3 overall, taking hometown QB Askel Kahr to be their new starter. Kahr didn’t like to throw deep while at Pittsburgh State, instead using his smarts to throw to the right guy with insane accuracy, making him a perfect fit in the run-first approach of the Shamrocks. The Dragons were quite alright with OL Harvey Leonard falling to them at #4, adding him to what may be one of the best offensive lines in the league. Leonard was a phenomenal pass blocker while at LA State, wearing his opponents down but never seemed to tire as he started every game in his 4 years in college. Defense seemed to be on the minds of every team in the middle of the first round, with New York bolstering their weak secondary by selecting DB Joe Bellisario out of State Island with the 5th pick. A tenacious defensive back, Bellisario never gave an inch when in man-to-man coverage, with good speed to keep up with the league’s fastest receivers. Bellisario should make a good compliment to Jeff Brother, who could turn into the next best secondary duo in the league after Washington’s tandem. Cleveland would attempt to fix one of the league’s worst linebacking corps by selecting LB Matt Ross out of Texas State, who is great at making the stop in space and tracking down a ball carrier to take them down. The Crows haven’t had a great replacement in the wake of trading Arthur Conley to Chicago in 1953, so they’re hoping Ross will pair well with LB Lloyd Motta to at least improve in that area. There were not many elite defensive linemen in this draft, so drafting any would be seen as a reach. For both Detroit and Tri-Cities, they were willing to take the risk to make any sort of improvement to those weak spots. The Knights came first, taking DL Rusty Shankles from Wisconsin State with the 7th pick, a dominant run stopper that can halt any runner coming through just from his size alone. Similarly, the Hawks made an even further reach for a defensive line, taking Moe Greene from Monongalia State. Greene is less gifted athletically than some first round defensive linemen, but makes up for that with his football smarts and the ability to lead a defense with said smarts. He may be a bit of an unorthodox pick, but the Hawks desperately need help in the trenches and hope that Greene will be their number one defensive lineman. Buffalo did not join the defensive trend, instead taking the falling WR Julian Washington from UCleveland. Washington was seen as the best WR in the draft, with his excellent route running ability and great hands make him a great potential pairing for reigning Rookie of the Year Justin Harris, with his small stature turning teams away from taking him. The Hammers seem to be replacing their own WR core with younger talent, and this core may be better than the duo that took them to a NYPL and an AFL championship of Bernard Clark and Ben Farrell. Chicago would go with another falling player, selecting hometown TE Isaac Vella from Chicago Christian. After losing longtime TE Glenn Chambers this offseason due to retirement, Vella appears to be the long-term replacement with a block-first, catch-second mentality that perfectly fits the current Hogs offensive scheme. The Federals would bolster their secondary with the selection of S Bobby Loes from Staten Island with the 11th pick. Loes didn’t attract much attention during his college career, but broke out during his senior year with the ability to seemingly fly across the field to be anywhere that he needed to be. With the potential talent that he has, the Washington secondary could become a unit no team would ever willingly want to face. The defending champions in the Cincinnati Rivermen would finish out the round by taking WR Jimmy Woods from Rogers Clark. Woods could potentially be the speedy receiver the Rivermen had been wanting since acquiring Dunn in ‘51. Nicknamed “The Goods”, Woods blazed past his competition in not only the football field, but also on the hardcourt and on the diamond, with his athletic ability the primary feature that Cincinnati had wanted. 

Round 2
13 - Philadelphia - LB Tim Semptimphelter - Montana State - idm
14 - St Louis - RB Andrew Outlaw - Wisconsin State - Kingsfan11
15 - Detroit - LB Gabriel Rose - Trinity - DireBear
16 - Boston - WR Ben Fitzgerald - Brooklyn College - idm
17 - New York - OL Ted Charles - Alabama A&M - DireBear
18 - Cleveland - DB Casey Selig - Permian Industrial* - DireBear
19 - Detroit (from PIT) - DL Buford Grant - Utica* - Wallflower
20 - Pittsburgh (from CHI via TRI) - LB Hak-Kun Park - ULA - Darknes
21 - Buffalo - S Ernie Haas - Washington State - DireBear
22 - Chicago - DL Perry Winkler - New York State - idm
23 - Washington - RB Rob Golden  - Anaheim State* - DireBear
24 - Cincinnati - OL Russell Bess - UCleveland - DireBear

In a flip of their first round picks, Philadelphia took a linebacker, Tim Semptimphelter out of Montana State, to help a lackluster core and St Louis took a running back, Andrew Outlaw from Wisconsin State, that could potentially become their starter.Teams seemed to also be passing on higher talent to fill gaping holes on their team. New York and Cincinnati in particular passed on the best available at this point to reach for the best offensive linemen they could grab, taking Alabama A&M’s Ted Charles and UCleveland’s Russell Bess respectively. On the other hand, the first players from the Lower Division were taken back-to-back, with the excellent man-to-man DB Casey Selig out of Permian Industrial (Midland, TX) going to Cleveland, and the great run stopper DL Buford Grant from Utica. Pittsburgh would also make a notable selection at 20, taking LA State’s Hak-Kun Park at linebacker to replace the recently-departed Barry Moore. Park is also notable for being the first non-North American player to get drafted into the league, having fled to the states from Korea and taking up football as a way to vent his frustrations and ended up getting really good at it in the process.

Round 3
25 - Philadelphia - DB Harold Knox - Calvert - MitchSwanson94
26 - St Louis - WR Vlademar Kahr - Pittsburgh State - Darknes
27 - Detroit - DB Brad Langham - University of the Bronx - Kingsfan11
28 - Boston - DL Buster Wright - Pittsburgh State - Dan O’Mac
29 - New York - LB Leigh Sunderland - Anaheim State* - DireBear
30 - Tri-Cities (from CLE) - DL Johnny Gwiadkowski - Putnam* - idm
31 - Pittsburgh - OL Dewey Hartwig - Lyons - DireBear
32 - Tri-Cities - LB Jimbo Kimball - Louisiana - idm
33 - Buffalo - DB Mosiah Gore - Central Illinois - DireBear
34 - Chicago - QB Johnathan Lewis - Calvert - MitchSwanson94
35 - Washington - DL Geoff Hopperdietzel - Milwaukee - Dan O’Mac
36 - Cincinnati - OL Justin Horton - Minnesota State - Kingsfan11

The draft continues to see teams focusing on the defensive side of the ball, with 8 out of the 12 teams choosing a defensive player in the third round. The few teams that didn’t include St Louis wanting a young receiver in Vlademar Kahr to out-muscle the defenders on him, and Pittsburgh and once again Cincinnati going with an offensive lineman. Chicago was the notable selection on this side of the ball, taking the slipping QB Johnathan Lewis simply because he was still on the board. With the loss of Jehoshaphat Murphy in the Barry Moore trade, they needed a QB to start in the ASPFL in his stead and develop into a potential future starter for either themselves or another team. Lower Division players this round included LB Leigh Sunderland from Anaheim State going cross country to play for New York to pair with their young core and DL Johnny Gwiadkowski out of Putnam (Athens, OH) going slightly less far to the Tri-Cities to play for the Hawks and their decimated defensive line.

Round 4
37 - Detroit (from PHI) - QB Otto Brunswick - St. Paul - MitchSwanson94
38 - Pittsburgh (from STL) - OL Aston Thorley - UCleveland - Jayhawk
39 - Detroit - WR Johnathan McDonald - Minnesota State - Kingsfan11
40 - Pittsburgh (from DET via BOS) - S Carl Drysdale - ULA - DireBear
41 - Chicago (From NY) - DL Terrance Everett - Ohio - Jayhawk
42 - Cleveland - TE A.J. Lamb - Manhattan State - Kingsfan11
43 - St Louis (from PIT) - LB Joseph Vinson - Franklin College - Kingsfan11
44 - Tri-Cities - OL Herbert Marshall - Buchanan - DireBear
45 - Boston (from BUF) - WR Johnathan Carroll - Ohio - Jayhawk
46 - Chicago - RB Neil Alexander - UCleveland - Jayhawk
47 - Washington - LB Claude Crawford - UCleveland - Jayhawk
48 - Cincinnati - QB Chris Bell - Washington A&M - Kingsfan11

Detroit caught on to Chicago drafting a slipping QB, and drafted the biggest slider in St. Paul’s Otto Brunswick at 37. Brunswick may also need a little bit of time in the ASPFL if the Knights don’t have an immediate need at QB, but will need a few more years to get a starter role somewhere in the AFL. The offensive needs were finally realized a little late into the draft with just 2 rounds remaining, and teams that didn’t take a weapon were scrambling to grab someone. Boston and Detroit each picked up an extra wide receiver with Johnathan Carroll from Minnesota State and Johnathan McDonald from Ohio respectively, Cleveland drafted a potential starting tight end in A.J. Lamb from Manhattan State, Chicago grabbed a backup running back with Neil Alexander from UCleveland, and Cincinnati drafted a backup/ASPFL starting QB with Chris Bell from Washington A&M to end the round.

Round 5
49 - Philadelphia - DL Daniel Lattimore - California State - Kingsfan11
50 - St Louis - DB Terrance Sparks - Louisiana - Kingsfan11
51 - Boston - OL Jason Collins - UCleveland - Jayhawk
52 - Detroit - RB Lawrence Avis - Rogers Clark - idm
53 - New York - TE Brian Rubadue - UCleveland - Jayhawk
54 - Cleveland - S Brock Thomas - Louisville State - Kingsfan11
55 - Pittsburgh - S Rhett Prescott - Georgia State* - DireBear
56 - Tri-Cities - DB Jake Montague - Ohio- Jayhawk
57 - Buffalo- DL Will Hale - Lyons - Dan O’Mac
58 - Pittsburgh (from CHI) - RB Don Azira - Worcester State - DireBear
59 - Washington - S Stanley Taylor - Clemson State - DireBear
60 - Cincinnati - QB Maximus Richards - UCleveland - Jayhawk

The final round saw teams taking a last player or two to fill out their ASPFL team or their practice squad, generally taking the best player available unless there was a player they desperately needed this late into the draft. Unlike previous years where numerous teams swapped 5th round selections, Pittsburgh was the only team to have multiple selections, taking S Rhett Prescott and RB Don Azira to bolster their ASPFL team in Burlington. The Rivermen would make the final pick in the draft by taking UCleveland QB Maximus Richards to add to their QB depth in their organization.

Undrafted
QB Chick Buckley - Michigan - Wallflower -> Cleveland
RB Earl Whittle - Florida A&M - DireBear -> Tri-Cities
WR Caleb Harrington - Parsons* - Wallflower -> Cleveland
WR Gideon Upton - Fox River* - Dan O’Mac -> Washington
TE Jackson Burke - Guilford - Cwillnance -> Tri-Cities
TE Peter Dalziel - Connecticut - idm -> Washington
DB Willie Van Dyke - Wisconsin State - Dan O’Mac -> St Louis
S Clifford Holmes - North Dakota - DireBear -> Tri-Cities
K Kevin Finch - St Louis State - Kingsfan11 -> St Louis
K Tyrone Jackson - Ohio - Jayhawk -> New York
P Charles Tillman - Minnesota State - Kingsfan11 -> Buffalo