Grade
C-
Best Pick
Pick 3 – Jack Lukosius
Selections
| Pick | Player | UF Games | UF Avg |
| 3 | Jack Lukosius GC – F | 1 | 50 |
| 13 | Orazio Fantasia ES – F | 5 | 72.2 |
| 19 | Patrick Ryder PA – R | 9 | 65.4 |
| 23 | Jamie Elliott CW – F | 1 | 62 |
| 33 | Mark Blicavs GE – B | 3 | 71.7 |
| 43 | Hamish Hartlett PA – B | 6 | 81.8 |
| 53 | Ed Phillips SK – C | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | Tim Membrey SK – F | 10 | 64.8 |
| 73 | Taylor Garner NM – F | 4 | 53.8 |
| 83 | Taylin Duman FR – B | 5 | 58.4 |
| 93 | Bailey Banfield FR – C,F | 3 | 55.7 |
| 103 | Ben Ronke SY – F | 0 | 0 |
| 113 | Harrison Himmelberg GWS – F | 6 | 68.5 |
| 123 | Jake Lever ME – B | 4 | 64 |
| 133 | Ian Hill GWS – C,F | 2 | 57 |
| 143 | Jake Melksham ME – F | 7 | 81.7 |
| 153 | Charlie Cameron BL – F | 9 | 70.1 |
| 163 | Grant Birchall HW – B | 0 | 0 |
| 173 | Griffin Logue FR – B | 4 | 40.5 |
| 183 | Josh Battle SK – F | 8 | 70.3 |
| 193 | Ryan Nyhuis FR – B | 0 | 0 |
Summary
Not a great draft for the Vipers.
The summary basically begins and ends with prized third overall selection Jack Lukosius. The forward-turned-defender was traded to the Soldiers almost immediately after the draft for Christopher Burgess (pick 15 – UGH), Jye Caldwell (pick 32 – prospect!) and Darcy Byrne-Jones. DBJ played 17 games at a 91.1 average. Lukosius made one appearance for the Soldiers for a score of 50.
Lukosius is an investment in the future. But the Vipers would be happy with the early results of this trade (once you get over the rank disappointment that was Burgess). DBJ is a leading defender, and Caldwell is an intriguing potential keeper for a rebuilding team.
In this context, the C- grade is perhaps harsh. If the table above is edited to include a 24 year-old defender and his 91.1 UF avg, we’re looking at a B grade at worst.
But the real issue is the dearth of useful selections following Lukosius. Fantasia was shipped out early in a deal that saw several young pieces come in from the Roughnecks. Given his injuries, the Vipers won’t rue his absence.
Hartlett scored alright, in the few games he played. Melksham teased as a back half bargain, but his season was derailed with injury. Battle is an intriguing player, but the Vipers didn’t benefit at all from selecting him. He was dropped, picked up by the Soliders, and shipped to the Roughnecks for a fifth round selection.
The Vipers were very active traders in season, and they’ve brought in a lot of young talent through that mechanism. Two selections here contributed to those efforts, but heading into 2020, they haven’t gotten much else out of this group.