Top Stories

SBI 2016 MLS Draft Big Board (Version 3.0)

80 Shares

Photo by Andy Mead/MLS.
Photo by Andy Mead/MLS.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— After two days of the 2016 MLS combine, teams have begun to formulate opinions on the players  here, and as usual, there are players who are seeing their stock skyrocket, while some others see their names drop lower on the boards of the 20 teams in attendance.

Many of the players expected to go in the first round of Thursday’s MLS Draft are still the same, even after some combine performances that may have fallen below expectations. Players such as Jonathan Campbell and Kyle Fisher haven’t lived up to the billing, but the consensus is that they have strong enough bodies of work at the top college level to avoid tumbling too far on draft boards, if at all.

The players benefiting the most from showing we at the combine, as usual, are small-school players who most teams haven’t seen much of. North Florida’s Alex Morrell, SIU-Edwardsville’s Justin Bilyeu and CSU-Dominguez Hills’ Tony Alfaro are three who have seen their stock jump during this week.

It should be noted that Thursday’s draft will not consist strictly of players taking part in the MLS combine. A handful of teams have held their own private combines, and could very well grab players who impressed in those, even though they may not be on the radar. We saw it last year when Toronto FC drafted Clemont Simonin.

One player included in the Big Board, though he has yet to sign with MLS, is Abu Danladi, who is still in play as a potential Generation adidas signing.

With all that in mind, here is a look at how we see the talent pool in the 2016 MLS Draft stacking up, based on past rankings, combine performances and with input provided by multiple MLS coaches, general managers and scouts, as well as input from me (Keep in mind, these rankings do not correspond with those specific draft positions. This isn’t a Mock Draft.). Look for our final Big Board, a more detailed one, to drop on Wednesday:

2016 MLS DRAFT BIG BOARD

$-Generation adidas signing, #- Could sign GA deal, YI- Youth International, Bold– Stock rising

1 — Joshua Yaro ($)               Georgetown            RB/CB
2 — Abu Danladi (#)              UCLA                       F
3 — Jack Harrison ($)           Wake Forest           RW/AM
4 — Brandon Vincent     Stanford               LB
5 — Richie Laryea ($)           Akron                       CM
6 — Omar Holness ($)         North Carolina       RM/F
7 — Keegan Rosenberry  Georgetown      RB
8 — Jonathan Campbell     North Carolina         LCB
9 — Jordan McCrary          North Carolina          LB/RB
10 — Fabian Herbers ($)    Creighton                   F
11 — Ben Polk                         Syracuse                   F
12 — Kyle Fisher                  Clemson                    CB
13 — Julian Buescher ($)    Syracuse                   CM
14 — Andrew Tarbell ($)    Clemson                    GK
15 — Hadji Barry            Central Florida     F
16— Eric Verso                Stanford                 RM
17 — Tony Alfaro             CSU-Dom. Hills   CB/LB
18 — Todd Wharton            Virginia                      DM
19 — Cole Seiler                   Georgetown               CB
20 — Michael Salazar         UC-Riverside             F/RM
=====================================================================
21 — Taylor Washington  George Mason    LB
22 — Justin Bilyeu        SIU-Edwardsville  LB/CB
23 — Zach Carroll              Michigan State             CB
24 — Alex Morrell         North Florida          RW/F
25 — Chase Minter       Cal Poly                     CM
26 — T.J. Casner               Clemson                        RM
27 — Michael Gamble      Wake Forest                 F/RM
28 — James Moberg        Washington                   CM/DM
29 — Tsubasa Endoh   Maryland                  AM
30 — Callum Irving           Kentucky                       GK
31 — Liam Doyle              Ohio State                      CB
32 — Colin Bonner           UNC-Wilmington        F
33 — James Nortey         Marquette                      F/RW
34 — Dennis Castillo       VCU                                CB/RB
35 — Femi. Hollinger-Janzen    Indiana             F/LW
36 — Thomas Libih          Cameroon (YI)             CB
37 — Paul Clowes            Clemson                         CM
38 — Patrick Hodan      Notre Dame                     AM
39 — Ben Strong             Louisville                        CM
40 — Jorginho James      Jamaica (YI)                 CM
=====================================================================
41 —  Josh Heard            Washington                   RM
42 — Josh Turnley     Georgetown               LB

43 — Calvin Rezende      St. Francis (PA)            F
44 — Timo Pitter             Creighton                       F
45 — Cole Missimo         Northwestern                RW
46 — Zach Mathers        Duke                                DM
47 — Emir Alihodzic      Omaha                            RB/CM
48 — Kevaughn Frater   Jamaica (YI)                  CM
49 — Zach Bennett         Michigan State              GK
50 — Max Lachowecki    Notre Dame                  LB
51 — Tyler David              Saint Louis                   CB
52 — Emmanuel Appiah   Cincinnati        CM
53 — Vincent Keller            Creighton                   CB
54 — Neco Brett                 Robert Morris            F
55 — Tyler Thompson       Stanford                     DM
56 — Vincent Mitchell       Butler                          RW
57 — Matt LaGrassa          Cal Poly                       CM
58 — Amass Amankonas  Dayton                         F
59 — Chris Hellman          Lynn                    F
60 — James Luchini          Lehigh                          F
=====================================================================
61 — Ryan Herman          Washington              GK
62 — Mitchell Lurie          Rutgers                     CB
63 — Kyle Parker              Charlotte                   F
64 — Norberto Ochoa      UC Riverside           F
65 — Mikhail Doholis     Oregon State            RM/LM
66 — Darius Madison      UMBC                       F
67 — Ivan Magalhaes       Maryland                  CB
68 — Anthony Matarazzo Columbia                CB/DM
69 — Freddy Ruiz            UAB                            F
70 — Thomas Sanner      Princeton                  F
71 — Keegan Smith         San Diego                  F
72 — Elias Gomez           Argentina (YI)          LB
73 — Connor Sparrow    Creighton                 GK
74 — Mitchell Taintor    Rutgers                      CB
75 — Sean Sheridan       Villanova                  DM
76 — Javan Torre            UCLA                        LB
77 — Wade Hamilton     Cal Poly                     GK
78 — Connor Klekota     Notre Dame             CM
79 — Miguel Salazar      Elon                           CM
80 — Ryan James          Bowling Green        LM

 

Comments

  1. MLS needs to step up it’s combine layout and coverage, but I can understand why that isn’t a priority for them at the moment.

    Still, if MLS had better angles on scrimmage and drill highlights and more of them, if they did 40 times and vertical leap tests, and if they conducted filmed player interviews, it would make following and caring about the draft so much more interesting and easy, at least for me.

    The NFL has become the most popular sport in the nation because we fans care about the combine/draft even if we don’t care about college football. How do these players compare physically, how do they perform in well thought out drills, and how do they perform in a pressurized interview?
    I can look at that footage and their collegiate statistics, and grasp a decent enough opinion on who I want my team to target in the first few rounds of the draft.

    I don’t know if MLS wants this draft to become popular as it is, or if they want the draft to evolve in a different way (more NBA than NFL?), or if they want to just scrap the draft altogether. I think MLS is playing the long game, thinking victory is theirs. Maybe MLS thinks that soccer will become a much more popular sport at some point in the future due to evolving demographics and the pressures of cultural globalization.

    Since MLS will continue to grow without any drastic mistakes, it makes sense for them to be risk averse in aspects of the league that are followed by a minority. It just sucks for us few who want to care about the draft, combine, and other things the league seems to enjoy keeping a little obscure.

    Reply
  2. If MLS thinks that this is going to make any noticeable difference in fulfilling Garber’s goal of making MLS one of the top 5 leagues in the world by 2022, it is only kidding itself. Opening up its wallets and attracting younger proven quality players from Europe, Africa and south of the border is MLS’ primary, if not only hope to provide a an attractive and entertaining product on a par with the better mid-level European First Division’s. Because of its present low budget approach, the quality of play generally has remained stagnantly mediocre for the past few years, especially on the attacking side.

    Reply

Leave a Comment