CAFL Draft Recap: Guangzhou Power

(photo credit: CAFL/Twitter)

In the first ever draft of the China Arena Football League, the Guangzhou Power mostly went local in the trenches, opting to pick a majority of Chinese players along the offensive and defensive line (including three who can play on both), and a touch of other skilled position talent throughout the team (specifically LB, WR, and DB) to help provide a good base of talent and domestic growth.

In something of a surprise, the Power were the last team of the six to draft a quarterback, waiting until the 12th round to select JJ Raterink and Alex Carder in the 19th round. This sets an interesting tone, as both quarterbacks are known as more scramblers and runners instead of your typical dropback passers. Also, in an interesting twist, Raterink and Carder combined to play for 16 different teams in their indoor careers, neither of them spending longer than three seasons with any individual franchise.

Given the right amount of speed, both pivots could add a dangerous feature to their offense that could make any CAFL defense scramble to contain them. In addition, Raterink is a proven passer both in the AFL and in the af2, as he is the Quad City Steamwheelers' all-time leader for passing yards (11,152) and touchdowns (233), along with holding single-season records for passing yards (4,870) and touchdowns (93) for the Iowa Barnstormers, which he set in 2012.

For all of Raterink's experience, Alex Carder matches his talent without seeing too much time on the field. Carder's primary action was with the Nashville Venom in 2014, where he started 3-0 before his assignment to the Jacksonville Sharks.

To continue with the theme of speed, the Power added more on both offense and defense with Duane Brooks and Virgil Gray.

Brooks, who spent time playing both ways up in the Pacific Northwest, made his primary impact on special teams. With the Spokane Shock in 2013, he caught 35 passes for 316 yards and six touchdowns in just eight games, in addition to registering 7.5 total tackles. Playing for the Portland Thunder, Brooks really broke out. Playing his first full season featuring on offense, defense, and special teams, he made plays all over the field.

In 2014 alone, Brooks caught 60 passes for 660 yards and eight touchdowns on offense, made a career-high eight tackles on defense, and averaged 18.8 yards per kick return. Following that act in 2015, he caught 60 passes again for 559 yards and seven scores on offense, registered 6.5 tackles on defense, and set an AFL record with eight kick returns for touchdowns, averaging 22.2 yards/return, translating to just short of 2,000 yards.

With Brooks adding firepower on offense, Virgil Gray matches it on defense. In his six AFL seasons, Gray averaged 63.5 tackles and 19.3 pass breakups a season. Even in his injury shortened 2013 season with Pittsburgh, Gray netted 42 tackles, broke up 23 passes, and returned 11 interceptions for 297 yards and two scores in a mere seven games. On top of that, he also ran back 15 kickoffs for 344 yards and a score.

In total, Gray has 16 touchdowns to his credit between interception returns and on special teams. Count on him to be the ball hawk Guangzhou needs to solidify a dangerous secondary and to get their offense back out on the field.

With these players, expect the Power to be one of the fastest, highest-scoring teams in the CAFL in their inaugural season, and expect teams to try and outscore them every week. For those who don't know about the Greatest Show on Turf, they'll see glimpses of it in 2016.