2012 MLS SuperDraft
by tarheels24 on Dec 15, 2011 11:43 AM PST
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PrintWhile not the primary way of gaining talent in the MLS today, the MLS Superdraft is one of the many ways to add talent to the team. Last year we saw the Sounders trade back and still acquire a good Generation Adidas player in Michael Tetteh, who has much promise for future playing time and may see much more time next year on the pitch with the Sounders to IX, instead of the mainly reserve role he played this year.
The Sounders have done well in their brief existence picking Tetteh, Estrada, and Zak in the first rounds, and have also found a couple later guys such as Fucito in the 4th round in 2009. That being said the Sounders sit at pick #15 this year and are in a position to pick up another talented player.
As those who know me from over at Lookout Landing know, I am very interested in things like this and as much as I would love to between school and other responsibilities I can not write a whole lot about players and options in this draft right now, so I figured I could drop a couple of links here and get some discussion going with a few quick thoughts on some players.
Ives Galarcep and FoxSports 2012 Board
MLS Soccer Top Draft Prospects (Senior Only)
Now for some quick thoughts of mine:
- Darren Mattocks has recently been rumored to be willing to pass on a Generation Adidas Contract to go to Europe. This is dumb, but the big thing is Montreal would be more willing to trade this pick if he is gone as they like him a lot. I don't know if the Sounders would be interested in moving up, but I think Wegner could be a star, and a lot of the other players at the top of the draft I like a lot too.
- It will be interesting to see how the Sounders approach this draft. Last year they were able to move back and still get a GA player in Tetteh, but t 15 you wonder whether they will just go BPA or go for a need. I really am leaning toward BPA, especially if the signings come through that AH talked about the other night. In that case we won't have a specific glaring need to try to fill with a young guy, potentially picking a high ceiling guy or one that is a little bit more raw.
- Speaking of a player more looked at as a raw player there is this guy named David Opoku out of Santa Barbara. At strong 6'2, he is very athletic and although he wasn't a starter all season, he is well thought of, although higher in some places than others. If Seattle isn't worried about contribution right away, I think he could be worth a shot at developing the potential there.
If anyone has any questions about players or anything else, go ahead and ask in the comments. hoping this starts some discussion as this draft is closing in on us quick (Jan 12th).
FanPosts only represent the opinions of the poster, not of Sounder at Heart.
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I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
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No matter who we get
with how deep the roster is, I’m not sure how much the player will see the field this coming season (as long as all our signings pan out). I also haven’t noticed many good fullbacks mentioned in the draft, which is the team’s biggest need (granted I haven’t paid a ton of attention yet). I would almost rather have the Sounders trade their first round spot for Allocation $$ at this point. I like having Tetteh and Estrada around and clearly Fucito has worked out very well, but we have a number of young, developing players on the roster, a fairly strong academy system, and with how tight we’ll almost surely be up against the cap, I might rather the Sounders bow out of this one.
I think there is a real opportunity for teams to trade up this year
There is a real dearth of defensive talent this year and a lot of the teams with top picks need defensive help first… they might be willing to trade down for allocation money or give up their pick entirely for a defensive vet.
Also, I recommend all of UCLA’s players, who are shaping up to be this year’s Akron with the volume of talent invited to the MLS combine… Kelyn Rowe, Chandler Hoffman, Andy Rose, Eder Arreola, Shawn Singh, and Brian Rowe are all on the MLS radar.
Tip of the hat to UNC for playing beautiful soccer in the final four. Too bad Columbus owns Ben Speas’s rights.
Win or lose, we'll always be there for you.
by johnjahafanclub on Dec 15, 2011 5:23 PM PST reply actions
GA
The Sounders depth would make this a good year to try for a GA player. They end up off cap and could really add to the Sounders overall development. Wenger appears to be particularly drool worthy. I also like what I’ve seen of Chandler Hoffman out of UCLA. He’s got a creative nose for the net and might be a good future forward.
Wenger is a top 3 talent
Hoffman top 10
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart Follow @bedirthan Dave's Twitter
Yep
Wasn’t limiting myself to just where the Sounders pick. Because the Sounders are deep and young, later round draft picks are not as valuable this year. I could see the Sounders bundling multiple picks to move up, particularly if Montreal doesn’t want Wenger and Mattocks opts to go overseas.
by Abbott Smith on Dec 16, 2011 8:59 AM PST up reply actions
We do have a lot of allocation this year too.
It’s not inconceivable to think they’ve hoarded some to move into the top of the draft.
This is an idea I have liked.
Depending on the approach Montreal takes to build their franchise, we could possibly match well for a trade.
If you are looking for a GA near where we pick.
Which I do think will happen, a guy that I am intrigued by is Andrew Jean-Baptiste, the defender from UConn. Great size and could develop into a top notch central defender, but there is a possibility he isn’t around when we pick.
Any mock that suggests Seattle will take based on need
Doesn’t pay any attention to Seattle.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart Follow @bedirthan Dave's Twitter
by Dave Clark on Dec 17, 2011 12:49 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Agreed.
Personally I didn’t really like the pick, but I like seeing the other positions of players.
Very true
Seattle is about the hardest team to predict, IMHO. They don’t often pick based on need. Also, they’re list of BPA and the consensus list is often quite different. Seattle does its own scouting, holds their own combine and Sigi tends to favor West Coast players that don’t appear often on the regular blogs, websites, mock draft lists, etc.
I got a kick out of Ives latest board
He’s got Seattle using their second round pick to nab a GK. Just makes me want to shake my head.
by Abbott Smith on Jan 3, 2012 10:53 AM PST up reply actions
Sneaking suspicion
I have a feeling that Seattle is going to wreak havoc with all the mock drafts. I fully expect that they will hit the ground trading on draft day and not look back. They simply don’t need the lion’s share of their draft picks. As soon as they wade in, all the boards are going to get jumbled. Whoever acquires Seattle’s picks is going throw off the sequence by either trading them or picking multiple times in one or more rounds. Suddenly players that teams expected to have a shot at will be off the board and the dominos will fall.
Interesting development
Now that Enzo Martinez has joined the GA class of 2012 and Schuler has bolted to Europe, the top of the board is evolving. An interesting effect of these changes is that now the top of the board is heavy with Attacking MFs. Two of the GA class, Martinez and Rowe and two of the top Seniors, Nick DeLeon and Luis Silva are all Attacking MFs. Ives Galaracep has these four players as the next 4 players on his latest big board after Wenger and Mattocks.
This could have some interesting effects on the draft. First, this is a position that doesn’t have a strong track record in leading to MLS success. Too often, strong attacking MF college players have withered when they made the jump from college to MLS. The consequence of this history is that teams are a touch reluctant to take these players. Second, not every team at the top of the draft needs an Attacking MF. I expect that all 4 players are likely to be taken in the first round, but not necessarily by the top teams in the draft order.
This creates a situation that the Sounders may be able to exploit in a couple of ways. The Sounders could actually use an Attacking Mid as a developmental prospect. Depending on how they rate these four players, they may think that they can move up cheaply and snag one. They may also use the fact that a team like NE might not want to use the 3rd pick on an Attacking MF to move up and take their pick of the rest of the draft after Wenger and Mattocks. This would enable them to pick whichever of the Attacking MFs they most covet. It could also help them snag a player like Chandler Hoffman if they think that he is who they most want.
Regardless of what the Sounders elect to do, I think that this development is going to make this draft even more volatile than it already was looking to be and the Sounders have positioned themselves very well to take full advantage of the opportunities this chaos might create.
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