DRAFT | Elks add trio of legs in CFL Global Draft
Edmonton selects pair of punters and placekicker
EDMONTON — The Edmonton Elks added some legs in Tuesday's CFL Global Draft, selecting two punters and a placekicker with picks No. 9, 17 and 20 respectively.
Edmonton's first selection, 9th overall, saw them take Australian punter Ben Griffiths from USC. In three seasons (31 games) with the Trojans, the 30 year-old Aussie averaged 43.5 yards on 114 punts, with 48 punts pinning opponents inside the 20-yard line.
He also earned 2021 All-Pac-12 honorable mention and won USC’s 2021 Special Teams Player of the Year Award, all while being a team co-captain.
Before coming to North America, the six-foot-seven, 240-pound punter, played eight seasons for the Richmond Tigers in the Australian Football League.
In the second round, the Elks selected Brazilian placekicker Rafael Gaglianone with the 17th overall pick. Playing in 56 games for the University of Wisconsin from 2014-2018, third most in school history, Gaglianone went 70-of-92 on field goals and was named All-Big Team Second Team in 2017 and Freshman All-Big Ten in 2014.
With the 20th pick, the Green and Gold select punter Corliss Waitman from Belgium. Playing four seasons at the University of South Alabama, he recorded a 42.7 yard punt average in 38 games.
A 2019 undrafted free agent, Waitman bounced around various practice squads, from Pittsburgh to Las Vegas to New England before resettling with the Steelers and appearing in two regular season games to close out the season in 2021. The South Alabama product was claimed by the Denver Broncos in January of 2022.
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
