The 2011 MLS Draft is less than 12 hours away, but it's never too late to project every single pick in the draft.
It took us some time, and plenty of travel, but we've come up with a full 54-player draft. Every team, every pick, every player.
No, we don't actually think we'll be right on all 54, or even most, but this Mock Draft should help give you a sense of how players are rated heading into Thursday's Draft.
Now, without any further ado, here is SBI's 2011 MLS Mock Draft:
SBI's 2011 MLS MOCK DRAFT
FIRST ROUND
1. Vancouver Whitecaps- PERRY KITCHEN, D/M, Akron
2. Portland Timbers- DARLINGTON NAGBE, F, Akron
3. D.C. United- WILL BRUIN, F, Indiana
4. Chivas USA- ZAREK VALENTIN, D, Akron
5. Philadelphia Union- KOFI SARKODIE, D, Akron
6. New England Revolution- JALIL ANIBABA, D, North Carolina
7. Houston Dynamo- COLE GROSSMAN, M, Duke
8. Vancouver Whitecaps- COREY HERTZOG, F, Penn State
9. Chicago- A.J. SOARES, D, California
10. Sporting KC- OMAR SALGADO, F, U.S. Under-20
11. Seattle Sounders-ANTHONY AMPAIPITAKWONG, M, Akron
12. Columbus Crew- MICHAEL NANCHOFF, M, Akron
13. New York Red Bulls- MICHAEL TETTEH, D, UCSB
14. Real Salt Lake- JUSTIN MERAM, F, Michigan
15. San Jose Earthquakes- ZAC MACMATH, GK, Maryland
16. Los Angeles Galaxy- VICTOR ESTUPINAN, F, Los Angeles
17. FC Dallas- STEPHEN McCARTHY, M, North Carolina
18. Colorado Rapids- MICHAEL FARFAN, M, North Carolina
—————–
SECOND ROUND
- Vancouver Whitecaps- Joao Plata, M, Ecuador
- Portland Timbers- John Rooney, M, England
- Seattle Sounders- Daniel Keat, M, Dartmouth
- Portland Timbers- Bobby Warshaw, D, Stanford
- Philadelphia Union- Levi Houapeu, M/F, UMBC
- New England Revolution- Jason Herrick, F, Maryland
- New York Red Bulls- Eddie Ababio, D, North Carolina
- Toronto FC- Jeb Brovsky, M/D, Notre Dame
- Chicago Fire- C.J. Sapong, F, James Madison
- Columbus Crew- Rich Balchan, D, Indiana
- Seattle Sounders- Greg King, D, UConn
- New York Red Bulls- Ashley McIness, M/F, Tulsa
- D.C. United- Michael Boxall, D, UCSB
- Sporting KC- Hector Jimenez, M, California
- San Jose Earthquakes- J.T. Murray, D, Louisville
- Los Angeles Galaxy- Paulo Cardozo, M, Argentina
- FC Dallas- Leone Cruz, M, SMU
- Colorado Rapids- Steven Beattie, M, Northern Kentucky
THIRD ROUND
- Vancouver Whitecaps- Tyler Lassiter, D, North Carolina State
- New York Red Bulls- Ryan Kinne, M, Monmouth
- New England Revolution- Dustin McCarty, M, North Carolina
- Chivas USA- Ernesto Carranza, F/M, Sacramento State
- Philadelphia Union- Konrad Warzycha, M, Ohio State
- New England Revolution- Colin Givens, D, Michigan State
- Toronto FC- Curtis Ushedo, D, UAB
- Toronto FC- Davis Paul, F, California
- Chicago Fire- Tommy Drake, M, Clemson
- Sporting KC- Matt Gold, M, Ohio State
- Seattle Sounders- Jeff Attinella, GK, South Florida
- Columbus Crew- Demitrius Omphroy, D, California
- Chicago Fire- Jon Okafor, D, Brown
- Los Angeles Galaxy- Steven Perry, F, Notre Dame
- Chicago Fire- J.C. Banks, M, Wisconsin-Green Bay
- Real Salt Lake- Joe Willis, GK, Denver
- FC Dallas- Blake Brettschneider, M/F/D, South Carolina
- New England Revolution- Josh Ford, GK, UConn
————–
And Salgado goes #1 overall, great job Simon Borg.
MLS should fire that clown before the draft is even over. How many experts have ever projected the #1 overall pick to not be drafted in the first round at all? It’s probably the first time in US professional team sports history.
Where is Ameobi like?
Chicago didn’t sign Ljunberg. It was awarded via the trade.
A first round pick would have been given had they “signed” Ljunberg.
picked up Anibaba… klopas did say he’d pick the best available. I thought he’d have been picked before that. Not surprised by that grab. He was solid all combine
Yeah true I forgot about AJ. But, I still think Anibaba is an all around better CB prospect.
Seattle’s GM has mention we have of 4 of the first 2 round picks. mls is wrong.
Watch the highlight carefully at 0:29 and you will see who pulls who down. Boxall catches up to him, Bruin pulls Boxall’s arm down. Boxall’s legs tangle with Bruin. Bruin gets PK?
It doesn’t really matter at this point but you can see why it was a bad call.
The MLS website has gotten things wrong in the past. My understanding for the conditional in 2012 was if Ljungberg wasn’t signed. Ljungberg has already signed with Celtic so we get the 2nd round pick this year.
Seriously though…who knows with MLS? We’ll find out for sure in a couple hours.
He had 2 assists and was pulled down in the box for a PK. He didn’t s ore directly, but was responsible for 3 goals. That’s a good combine IMHO.
Will Bruin had a bad to so-so combine but, regardless i am still excited about the possibility of him in a United uni…
If the player doesn’t sign with the league, the team who drafted him retains their rights for the calendar year. In 2012, they lose their rights to the player.
I gotta disagree with your assessment of Anibaba. As a Revs fan, if we were going to go in the CB direction, I’d MUCH rather have AJ Soares. For me, he is hands down the best CB in the draft.
Personally, i dont see Chicago picking up a 1st round defender.
1) klopas has already stated he was going to pick up the best player available, regardless of position (im guessing outside of GK’er). We’ve lost players in every position.
2) Yes we are thin at defense, but we still have Kwame, picked up Gibbs and recently signed an intl’ CB. Still, our wingbacks are getting thinned. We still have Kinney (out til May), Robinson, Umanzor and Segares.
3) Ultimately we are weak up top. We have Castillo (who knows there), Carr (nice sub player, but starter?) and Nyarko (he can surely assist, but hasnt scored too often).
Personally i would love to see the likes of Bruin (if he falls that far), Salgado or even Hertzog.
I expect a couple defense and midfielders picked in the 3rd round and supplemental draft
I am curious to know if a player selected in the supplemental draft remains unsiged, does the club retain the rights to that pick. Essentialy what is the purpose of these picks other than to fill out the expanded rosters.
LOL, Bruin got to day 1 about 45 minutes to game time. He literally got off the plane, took the physical and went out and played. His 2nd game was stellar, and by his 3rd game he was worn down from playing so much in a short amount of time.
Bruin has to be polished, he’s far from a finished player, but if DCU doesnt pick him i would be more then happy to see him at chicago. Guy has a nose for the goal, he just has to work on his first touch a bit. Still there are plenty of solid options for striker.
ok, maybe i was mistaken
and you just verified what i suggested above… glad i wasnt going nuts
i think your 3rd pick is Chicago’s 2nd round pick. I believe you got it from Fire signing Ljungberg.
Bruin didn’t do anything in the first combine game. Had two assists (the pk didn’t count because it was a bad call) in the 2nd game. Didn’t do jack in the 3rd game; looked like Allsopp out there on Tuesday.
Since he is so highly rated, why didn’t he score? If you are that good, you should be able to adapt quickly, and create your own chances and shots and score…
DC received LA’s first round supplemental draft pick, basically their fourth round pick.
Correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t DC have the LA 1st round pick this year because of the Cristman deal? I have yet to see that reflected in any of the mock drafts thus far.
(SBI-It was for the first round pick in this year’s Supplemental Draft.)
Ugh, Ives I usually trust your opinion, but I’m concerned about Will Bruin. I don’t see his value, aside from being big. I’d rather see us take Anibaba. Anibaba is the best true central defender in the draft. But you’ve seen Will play more than I have, so maybe he does have something besides being a big fatty.
No way Omphroy is dropping to the 3rd round. He’s way too much quality for someone to overlook. I think he will be 1st or 2nd round at the worst.
In every draft there are players who were not invited to the combine who are picked, esp. in later rounds. So I think we’ll see some other names along with many of the combine group. I wish I knew who they are.
News Flash – Seattle Does Not Have Chicago’s 2nd Round Pick in 2011 (just check mlssoccer.com’s draft order – I would think that they have it right) – looks like the pick will be in 2012. Here was Seattle’s own press release:
Freddie Ljungberg, an MLS Best XI selection and two-time All-Star midfielder for the Seattle Sounders FC, has been traded to the Chicago Fire today in exchange for a conditional selection in the 2011 or 2012 SuperDraft.
your right about that
It seems like every mock draft I read is missing the Ljungberg trade agreement of Seattle owning Chicago’s second round pick.
where is eliason?
If Houston manages to sign Josue Soto as a homegrown player, I bet they would take Soares in the first round. Soto is a midfielder (reducing the need for another young midfielder in Grossman) and they released Cochrane and Serioux. I used to think Houston would trade their first-round pick, until I realized it was the only one they had in the SuperDraft. Not sure what the Supplemental Draft situation is for Houston.
Ives and Co., are you guys pulling at all-nighter? It is late out here in CA, and you guys are still posting.
Simon Borg is nuts. I don’t know if MLSsoccer released a new mock draft but in the original mock draft from a few days ago Borg didn’t have Omar Salgado drafted in the first round!
I think Borg is a bit of a contrarian while not being nearly as intelligent as he thinks he is.
Yeah I noticed that as well
Borg was betting that Ampi wouldn’t be drafted tomorrow…even more crazy.
Seattle has 3 picks in the second round…
I only see you having them with 2.
I think they have 21, 27 and 29 (so round two 3, 9 and 11)
I don’t know, crazy old Simon Borg might be right that Ampai falls to 2nd round (you should have taken the bet, in any case). I’d bet on Nagbe going first or getting traded. Vancouver is up to something. And given the fact that they have no forwards, you gotta think they’re going for an attacker. I’m thinking Kitchen might be getting overhyped.