During their 11 previous seasons, the most generous way to describe the Seattle Sounders record in the MLS SuperDraft is probably “spotty.” Their best-ever draft class was almost certainly in 2015, when they picked Cristian Roldan, Tyler Miller and Oniel Fisher. Coincidentally that was also Garth Lagerwey’s first draft with the Sounders.
Since then, however, the Sounders have had far less success. Tony Alfaro (2016) has carved out a decent enough career and Alex Roldan (2018) could develop into a solid pro as well, but as things stand today none of the players the Sounders have picked in the past four drafts is currently on a MLS roster.
Disappointing as that may be, it’s mostly a product of where they’ve been picking. In none of those four drafts have they picked higher than 20th, and this will be the second time that they’ve not even had a first-round pick. (The Sounders will pick 35th and 52nd this year.)
Simply put, finding useful players that late in the draft is a virtual crap shoot. Hasani Dotson (31st pick in 2019) and Jack Elliott (75th pick in 2017) are probably the most notable players the Sounders had a chance to select but didn’t. There are only a handful of other players selected after the Sounders’ first pick in any of the four previous drafts who have even made as many as 30 MLS appearances, and only two others who have made as many as 20 MLS starts.
So it’s probably worth setting your expectations appropriately today when the Sounders eventually pick.
When: Today at 9:30 AM PT
How to watch: youtube.com/MLS, facebook.com/espn, twitter.com/espn and ESPN app.