We are now just days away from the 2016 MLS SuperDraft on Thursday in Baltimore, Maryland, where Real Salt Lake holds the fifth overall pick in the first round and the 25th overall pick in the second round as the club looks to bolster its roster heading into the 2016 season.
This year as we look to preview the pick, we enlist the help of J.R. Eskilson from TopDrawerSoccer.com to analyze the top available players in each position group, starting today with the defenders.
Here, the talent has a wide-ranging dispersal, with quality player in central and wide roles. The question will come as to where the top players in each role are chosen.
“From the defending pool, there’s just a lot of options, whether its center backs or outside backs. There’s quite a bit of depth from that position. If you can get four starters from one position in a single draft, that’s a really good draft. That’s a lot of quality,” Eskilson said. “These are guys who can contribute right away. I think they’ll be able to step into MLS teams in the first season – maybe not in the first week, but they have the possibility of contributing in the first year.”
Joshua Yaro from Georgetown has received the lion’s share of the hype and for good reason. The junior signed a Generation adidas contract and is widely considered the top center back in the draft.
“Yaro is the headliner of the draft and I think people expect him to be a franchise-changing player immediately. If you watched him play in college you can see what he does athletically. He’s one of the fastest players out there on the field and sometimes that makes things a little too easy on him. Sometimes he makes casual mistakes with the ball, but he can get away with it because he’s so good,” Eskilson said. “It will be interesting to see how he adjusts when he gets to MLS and players punish those mistakes a little bit more.”
Contrasting the physical attributes of Yaro is the cerebral Jonathan Campbell from North Carolina. He played four seasons in Chapel Hill and has a different makeup than Yaro, but could still make a quick impact.
“Jonathan Campbell doesn’t have that burst of pace or the leaping ability of Josh Yaro, but he has the intelligence part and the understanding of how to play. So he might have a little bit of an easier transition to MLS, but he doesn’t have the ceiling that Josh Yaro has,” Eskilson said. “He should be a good player for whichever team takes him.”
In the wide positions, Stanford’s Brandon Vincent and Georgetown’s Keegan Rosenberry project as top-flight picks on the left and right sides, respectively. Vincent’s stock took a leap forward when he was invited to the U.S. National Team’s January camp in Carson, California.
Meanwhile, among the goalkeepers two players stand out above the rest – Kentucky’s Callum Irving and Clemson’s Andrew Tarbell.
“I like Tarbell. I think he’s done well. He has good positioning. He seems to understand shooting angles pretty well,” Eskilson said. “I think Irving has been tremendous for Kentucky. He’s a solid option for whatever team takes him.”
For more on this year’s draft class, visit www.TopDrawerSoccer.com.
Top Defenders
Joshua Yaro, Georgetown, 21, 5-11, 163
Career: 57 GP, 57 GS, 1 G, 2 A
2015: 17 GP, 17 GS, 0 G, 1 A
Brandon Vincent, Stanford, 21, 5-11, 175
Career: 80 GP, 80 GS, 13 G, 3 A
2015: 23 GP, 23 GS, 6 G, 2 A
Keegan Rosenberry (pictured), Georgetown, 22, 5-8, 160
Career: 90 GP, 90 GS, 4 G, 13 A
2015: 21 GP, 21 GS, 2 G, 6 A
Kyle Fisher, Clemson, 21, 6-0, 176
Career: 83 GP, 83 GS, 6 G, 3 A
2015: 20 GP, 20 GS, 1 G, 1 A
Jordan McCrary, North Carolina, 22, 5-9, 165
Career: 86 GP, 86 GS, 1 G, 9 A
2015: 20 GP, 20 GS, 0 G, 5 A
Jonathan Campbell, North Carolina, 22, 6-2, 188
Career: 77 GP, 76 GS, 3 G, 7 A
2015: 20 GP, 20 GS, 1 G, 4 A
Top Goalkeepers
Callum Irving, Kentucky, 22, 6-1, 190
Career: 57 GP, 57 GS, 51 GA, 27 ShO
2015: 19 GP, 19 GS, 13 GA, 10 ShO
Andrew Tarbell, Clemson, 22, 6-3, 194
Career: 56 GP, 55 GS, 53 GA, 18 ShO
2015: 24 GP, 24 GS, 22 GA, 9 ShO
