PROSPECTXI – 2016 MLS SUPERDRAFT ANALYSIS/BEST AVAILABLE

PROSPECTXI – 2016 MLS SUPERDRAFT ANALYSIS/BEST AVAILABLE

By: PXI STAFF (@ProspectXI)

On Thursday, January 14th saw the first two rounds of the MLS SuperDraft take place. The draft was highlighted by a number of trades which saw Chicago Fire draft British and former Manchester United youth player Jack Harrison 1st Overall only to see him traded to NYCFC in exchange for the fourth pick where the Fire drafted Brandon Vincent. Colorado also traded the second overall pick to the Philadelphia Union in exchange for Zach Pfeffer and allocation money, giving them three of first six picks where they drafted PXI top prospect Joshua Yaro, Fabian Herbers and former Union reserve player Keegan Rosenberry who didn’t qualify for a Homegrown Contract. The top 10 went as planned according to our scouting except for Toronto FC who picked Tsubasa Endoh, a 24-year-old Japanese midfielder who was in our top 100 NCAA prospects all season although in our own communication many thought he be picked much later in the draft.

MLS teams again put an emphasis on athleticism in Orlando drafting Hadji Barry, Colorado picking Emmanuel Appiah, and FC Dallas picking 6’7 keeper Ryan Herman. We at ProspectXI see the positive attributes of these players, but traditionally in the MLS these athlete first/soccer ability second prospects have failed to materialize if you look at previous drafts. While players such as Endoh, Justin Bilyeu and second round pick Alex Morrell recently came off a strong combine, something that  seems to have had a significant influence on where they were picked.

After 41 players were selected, there are still a number of high profile players from our scouting left in the draft. We are not sure why teams chose to pass on these players earlier in the draft and it could be something behind the scene like an agent that a club or the MLS prefers not to work with. ProspectXI feel the following 10 do have the ability to make a MLS club in 2016 and if not given that opportunity, could be an impact player in NASL or USL next season.