The North American Soccer League Draft first overall pick was the player who is selected first among all eligible draftees by a team during the annual North American Soccer League (NASL) Draft. The first pick was awarded to the club with the poorest regular season record during the previous NASL campaign. Exceptions were when there was an expansion club, where the expansion side has the opportunity to select the first overall draft pick.
The draft was held in 1968 and annually from 1972 until 1984.
| ^ | |
| Elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame | |
| ^* | Denotes Hall of Famers who have been selected to the All-Star Game |
| Player (in bold text) | Rookie of the Year |
| App. | NASL appearances |
| Goals | NASL goals |
| Asst. | NASL assists |
| Draft | Selected by | Player | Nationality | Position | College/high school/former club | NASL rookie statistics | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App. | Goals | Asst. | |||||||
| 1968 | New York Generals |  | GK | Akron | [1] | ||||
| 1969 - 1971 | No draft | ||||||||
| 1972 | Miami Gatos |  | DF | Brockport | [2] | ||||
| 1973 | Philadelphia Atoms | ^ | | GK | East Stroudsburg | [3] | |||
| 1974 | Los Angeles Aztecs |  | FW | UCLA | [4] | ||||
| 1975 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | ^ |  | DF | Oneonta State | [5] | |||
| 1976 | Los Angeles Aztecs | DF | Brown | [6] | |||||
| 1977 | Dallas Tornado | | DF | Hartwick | [7] | ||||
| 1978 | Colorado Caribous | | DF | SIU Edwardsville | [8] | ||||
| 1979 | Dallas Tornado | FW | Ulster County CC | [9] | |||||
| 1980 | New York Cosmos | | FW | SIU Edwardsville | [10] | ||||
| 1981 | Tulsa Roughnecks | | MF | Connecticut | [11] | ||||
| 1982 | Tampa Bay Rowdies |  | FW | Connecticut | [12] | ||||
| 1983 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | ^ | | DF | Indiana | [13] | |||
| 1984 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | FW | South Florida | [14] | |||||