The Edmonton Elks used the 2022 CFL Global Draft on Tuesday morning to select three players from three continents with one common trait: they’ve all got powerful legs.
With the ninth overall pick in the first round, the Elks grabbed Australian punter Ben Griffiths. They then snapped up Brazilian place kicker Rafeal Gaglianone in the second round with the 17th overall pick, before rounding things out by selecting punter Corliss Waitman, originally from Belgium, with overall pick No. 20 in the third round.
All three selections played college football in the NCAA and thrived against top competition.
“We were just looking for players that can do something elite,” Elks coach and general manager Chris Jones said.
Griffiths is coming off his junior season at USC, where he punted for an average of 45.0 yards, pinning the opponent inside the 20 on 17 of his 44 punts last season. He received All-Pac-12 honorable mention and was named to the Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 first team and Phil Steele All-Pac-12 fourth team in 2021.
Before coming to USC, Griffiths product spent 8 seasons playing Australian rules football with the Richmond Tigers in the Australian Football League. The Melbourne native trained to punt with Prokick Australia, an Australian-based kicking academy.
“Some of the Australians that we’ve had in this league are also from that program, and they recommended him very highly,” Jones said. “He’s got a huge leg, he’s 6-7, 240 pounds, so he’s got a lot of length to him. He can really rocket the ball, he’s got tremendous hangtime, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
A native of Sao Paulo, Gaglianone played at the University of Wisconsin from 2014 to 2018. He was named Second Team All-Big Ten in 2017, received All-Big Ten honourable mention in 2018 and was a All-Big Ten Freshman Team selection in 2014. He is tied for second all-time in the Big Ten with 426 points, in 56 career games.
“He’s kicked in the cold, he’s kicked in the wet, he has kicked in the elements and he’s done extremely well,” said Jones.
Waitman, who was born in Ghent, Belgium, played college football at South Alabama from 2014 to 2018 and has spent the last two years in the NFL, serving stints on the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots practice rosters. He made his NFL debut with the Steelers against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16 last season, totalling 365 yards on seven punts. Following the season, Waitman was waived by Pittsburgh and claimed by the Denver Broncos.
“He’s with the Broncos right now, so my thoughts are we can bring (Griffiths) in right now to compete and try to win the job,” Jones said. “Then if and when Waitman does get an opportunity to come here we can do a comparison on the two.”
The Elks were originally slated to pick second in the 2022 Global Draft, but completed a trade on Monday night sending the No. 2 overall pick along with offensive lineman Kyle Saxelid and linebacker Grant McDonald to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in exchange for the 8th and 28th overall picks in the 2022 CFL Draft and the 9th overall pick in the CFL Global Draft.
The 2022 CFL Draft gets underway at 6 p.m. MDT Tuesday. Fans can tune into live broadcast coverage of the first two rounds on TSN. For the latest draft night updates on the Elks, follow the team on social media.
ELKS 2022 CFL GLOBAL DRAFT PICKS
- Round 1 | 9th overall
- Ben Griffiths | GLB | P | 6’7 | 240 LBS| Melbourne, Australia | USC
- Round 2 | 17th overall
- Rafael Gaglianone | GLB | PK | 5’11 | 240 LBS| Sao Paulo, Brazil | Wisconsin
- Round 3 | 20th overall
- Corliss Waitman | GLB | P | 6’2 | 210 LBS| Ghent, Belgium | South Alabama