When the NFL Draft rolls around, everyone is a draft expert. With the number of collegiate football games on national television, almost every player that is considered draft eligible has been seen by hundreds of thousands of fans across the country. The same can not be said of collegiate soccer. With fewer games broadcast on national television, fans rely on media members covering the games to give player scouting reports.
One such media member is Will Parchman, staff writer / editor at TopDrawerSoccer.com, one of the preeminent sites in the country covering collegiate and youth soccer. As the MLS Combine kicks off, we caught up with Parchman to get his thoughts on this year's Draft class.
Jonathan Kaplan: How many men's college soccer games have you watched this year (live or in person)?
Will Parchman: Between getting out to games and watching on TV and on school-hosted streams, probably around 40-50.
JK: How do you view this year's draft class compared to previous years?
WP: I'd say this year's haul is top-heavy. It's no secret this Generation adidas class is the smallest in MLS history by two players, which I think signals a broader truth. If you're picking in the top 8-12 picks, you've got a really good chance to pick up a long-term franchise player. Beyond that, this draft is maybe a bit more uncertain than others. You might see some frantic action early in the draft with teams recognizing that fact and trying to trade up.
JK: Is there one position of strength in this draft class?
WP: Every year you could point to the center backs and you wouldn't be wrong, but I'd say this is the strongest goalkeeping crop we've seen in a long time. Syracuse's Alex Bono is every bit as talented as No. 1 overall pick Andre Blake was last year, and there's depth too. Penn State's Andrew Wolverton and Northwestern's Tyler Miller both have first-round talent. And that's not even mentioning guys like Navy's Winston Boldt, Washington's Spencer Richey and UCLA's Earl Edwards. All project as potential MLS starters if things fall right.
JK: How much does the Combine impact a player's draft position? Can you think of a player whose fortune changed greatly with a good or bad combine?
WP: The combine is huge. MLS teams don't always have the resources or the time to devote a full-time scouting presence to college soccer in the fall, when playoff pushes are at their most intense. So this is an opportunity not only to scout players with incomplete scouting reports, but also to see them face up against fellow MLS-level talent. It can also be damaging. Last year, UC Irvine attacking midfielder Enrique Cardenas (who just signed a pro deal in Liga MX) was shoved into a defensive midfield role, where he'd never played before. Unsurprisingly, he didn't have a great week. It clearly hurt his stock, because he wasn't drafted and wasn't invited to an MLS training camp. So it goes sometimes.
JK: How many players in this current group do you feel can make an immediate impact in MLS?
WP: As I mentioned, this draft isn't long on immediate impact players. Of guys I'd expect to earn legitimate minutes in 2015, I think Cyle Larin, if he's taken No. 1 overall, has a chance to be a supersub for Orlando City. If he's converted into more of an Ozzie Alonso role, I think Cristian Roldan can make someone really happy from the first week of the season (though I hope someone grooms him to be more of an 8 than a 6, which will take more time). Bono as well should be ready out of the box. Aside from maybe four or five others, everyone else is more of a project.
JK: Over the last four years, the MLS Rookie of the Year has been drafted 6th, 11th, 9th and 10th. Who is a player in this group who you feel could fall out of the top 5 but still make an impact in 2015?
WP: Amazingly, I think this could be UCLA midfielder Leo Stolz (pictured, above). Two months ago I'd have told you Stolz was a deadlock No. 1 overall pick, but I think some MLS clubs are wary about whether the German will actually commit to the league long term. We have Stolz going No. 14 to the Crew (a Stolz-Trapp midfield would be incredible), but he could fall even further than that, especially considering he apparently declined a combine invite. He could be the best midfielder in the draft, and he may fall out of the top 20.
JK: Based on positional need and the draft-eligible players, what's your prediction for Sporting KC on draft day?
WP: With two picks in the top 12 and three first-rounders overall, SKC has a lot of options. We couldn't pass up allocating Nick Besler to KC with the 10th pick for most of the obvious reasons. Roger Espinoza makes this pick less essential, but defensive midfield depth is crucial, and Besler is as reliable a midfielder as anyone in the draft. With the 12th pick, I like the idea of forward and Hermann Trophy finalist Andy Craven in Peter Vermes' 4-3-3. Craven played a similar system at North Carolina, and he can fill in at any of the three spots up the top. With C.J. Sapong gone, I think he makes a lot of sense here. As for the rest of the draft, SKC doesn't have a ton of glaring holes, but the loss of Aurelien Collin means center back depth through guys like Tim Parker or Axel Sjoberg later in the draft would be a good move.
