2012 MLS Draft Defender Rankings UPDATE
January 11, 2012
**Please note that this is the opinion of Joe Mauceri. More opinions from other TopDrawerSoccer.com writers will be released as the draft nears. **
After watching 120 live college soccer games this year, supplemented by another 63 games on tape, composed of 151 different college teams, here is my Final 2012 MLS Draft Ranking.
This version includes Generation Adidas players that have signed, international players that have been reported to be attending the combine, and all seniors.
Joe's 2012 Draft Rankings: Goalkeepers | Midfielders | Forwards
Players that I haven't seen are generally ranked lower than players that I have seen. I'm from the East coast - so it's easier for me to see teams in the East. However, I've seen UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC Riverside, Creighton, SMU, Bradley, UCSB (3 times), Denver, New Mexico (twice), California, Bakersfield, San Jose State, Stanford, San Diego State, Washington (twice), UCLA (twice) and Drake live. I was unable to see some teams live, I've only seen on tape (e.g., Michigan State, Ohio State, UAB, Hofstra, Iona). I've reviewed a lot of tape (including the South American U20 qualification tournament. The combine will supplement my prior observations and fill the gaps where needed. I've seen every domestic combine college play live with the vast majority in 2011 and a handful in 2010.
My rankings take into account the values of Generation Adidas, international status and general assessment of the skill and how each player might fit into a MLS team. Given the 3 expansion teams in the past 2 years and the roster increase, I've made slight grade inflation and I'm considering the players with a grade of C+ have increased chances of making a roster and some of the players with higher C rankings may be able to stick, as well.
In addition to ranking each player sequentially, I'm assigning a letter grade using the following scale:
A=Can't miss prospect. Should easily make the roster and may get time with the first team in 2012. By the end of the year, could be an impact player.
B=Likely to make the team. Could make roster, may take a year or more to get to the first team.
C=Probably not going to make the team. Has significant barriers to overcome. A very select few may eventually make it, but it would need to be a perfect storm (multiple injuries, playing out of their heads, fortuitous bounces, etc.).
D=Extremely unlikely to make a team.
F=No shot.
Within each grade, I've ranked each player.
# | Pos | Grade | Name | College | Combine? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Def | Connor Lade | St. John's | Homegrown | ||
1 | Def | A | Andrew Wenger | Duke | GA |
2 | Def | B+ | Matt Hedges | UNC | Combine |
3 | Def | B | Austin Berry | Louisville | Combine |
4 | Def | B- | Chris Estridge | Indiana | Combine |
5 | Def | B- | Tyler Polak | Creighton | GA-Combine |
6 | Def | B- | Tommy Meyer | Indiana | Combine |
7 | Def | C+ | Andrew Duran | Creighton | Combine |
8 | Def | C+ | Andrew Jean-Baptiste | Connecticut | GA-Combine |
9 | Def | C+ | Warren Creavalle | UCF | Combine |
10 | Def | C+ | Gienir Garcia | Intl-Combine | |
11 | Def | C | Jake Levin | Penn | |
12 | Def | C | Charles Rodriguez | Charlotte | Combine |
13 | Def | C | Mykell Bates | Santa Clara | Combine |
14 | Def | C | James Kiffe | UCSB | Combine |
15 | Def | C | RJ Allen | Monmouth | Combine |
16 | Def | C | Ray Gaddis | West Virginia | |
17 | Def | C | Alex Lee | Maryland | |
18 | Def | C | Hunter Jumper | UVA | Combine |
19 | Def | C- | Justin Chavez | Tulsa | Combine |
20 | Def | C- | Jamie Finch | Washington | |
21 | Def | C- | Chris Phillips | Liberty | |
22 | Def | C- | Derek Prinz | Hastings | |
23 | Def | C- | Nick Rich | VCU | |
24 | Def | C- | Aaron Maund | Notre Dame | Combine |
25 | Def | C- | David Tiemstra | OSU | |
26 | Def | C- | Roger Downes | Loyola-Marymount | |
27 | Def | C- | Mauricio Mora | Adelphi | |
28 | Def | C- | Benjamin Ubierna | Intl-Combine | |
29 | Def | D+ | Lance Patterson | UC Davis | |
30 | Def | D+ | David Datilus | Providence | |
31 | Def | D+ | Draymond Washington | George Mason | |
32 | Def | D+ | Stefan Antonijevic | Valparaiso | |
33 | Def | D+ | Isaac Cowles | Charlotte | |
34 | Def | D+ | Aubrey Perry | South Florida | Combine |
35 | Def | D+ | Kevin Venegas | Cal State Fullerton | |
36 | Def | D+ | Matt Drake | West Virginia | |
37 | Def | D+ | Nickardo Blake | Connecticut | Combine |
38 | Def | D+ | Colin Henry | Boston University | |
39 | Def | D+ | Mike Volk | UVA | |
40 | Def | D+ | Kevin Strunk | Lehigh | |
41 | Def | D+ | Kris Byrd | UNCG | |
42 | Def | D+ | Greg Monaco | UVA | |
43 | Def | D+ | Eric Zuehsow | George Mason | |
44 | Def | D+ | Jack Cleverly | Fairfield | |
45 | Def | D+ | Jack Pearson | Dayton | |
46 | Def | D+ | Mark Barone | Michigan State | |
47 | Def | D | Shawn Singh | UCLA | Combine |
48 | Def | D | Chad Vandergriffe | SLU | |
49 | Def | D | Patrick Sigler | Cal Poly | Combine |
50 | Def | D | Diogo de Almeida | SMU | Combine |
51 | Def | D | Daniel Steres | San Diego State | |
52 | Def | D | Ryan Kawulok | Portland | |
53 | Def | D | Cyprian Hedrick | Coastal Carolina | |
54 | Def | D | Andrew Powell | Bucknell | |
55 | Def | D | Gerard Barbero | Missouri St | |
56 | Def | D | Francis Otira | Northern Illinois | |
57 | Def | D- | Anthony Vazquez | Monmouth | |
58 | Def | D- | Tom Brandt | Penn | |
59 | Def | D- | Wes Feighner | Cal Poly | |
60 | Def | D- | Sam Brooks | Kentucky | |
61 | Def | D- | Tobias Hottner | Jacksonville | |
62 | Def | D- | Peter O'Neill | Northwestern | |
63 | Def | D- | Ryan Wilhelm | SIUE | |
64 | Def | D- | Andrew Henshaw | Massachusetts | |
65 | Def | D- | Ronnie Shaban | Columbia | |
66 | Def | D- | Ben Slingerland | Georgetown | |
67 | Def | D- | Greg Macnamara | Davidson | |
68 | Def | D- | Evan Coleman | Brown | |
69 | Def | D | Mark Fetrow | PSU | |
70 | Def | D- | Kyle McTurk | Stony Brook | |
71 | Def | D- | Daniel Larenius | Adelphi | |
72 | Def | D- | Tim Pontius | UCSB | |
73 | Def | D- | Brice Carr | George Washington | |
74 | Def | D- | Yogi Snider | IUPUI | |
75 | Def | D- | Blaine Gonsalves | Tulsa | |
76 | Def | D- | Jarrett Robbins | Evansville | |
77 | Def | F+ | Darren O'Connor | Delaware | |
78 | Def | F+ | Brad Walker | Kentucky | |
79 | Def | F+ | Cameron Walters | Cal Poly | |
80 | Def | F+ | Kevin Garcia | Villanova | |
81 | Def | F+ | Rory O'Day | Sacramento St | |
82 | Def | F+ | Shane Johnson | Longwood | |
83 | Def | F+ | Nicholas Hamilton | Cal State Northridge | |
84 | Def | F+ | Nick Pappas | Dartmouth | |
85 | Def | F+ | John Raley | Providence | |
86 | Def | F+ | Greg Klazura | Notre Dame | |
87 | Def | F+ | Patrick Chin | Boston College | |
88 | Def | F+ | Tyler Krumpe | Loyola-Marymount | |
89 | Def | F+ | Aaron Henkle | Evansville | |
90 | Def | F+ | Dan Korenyi | La Salle | |
91 | Def | F+ | Uzi Tayou | West Virginia | |
92 | Def | F+ | Tommy Webb | Old Dominion | |
93 | Def | F+ | Mike Burke | George Washington | |
94 | Def | F+ | Jason Gannon | James Madison | |
95 | Def | F+ | Danny Cates | South Carolina | |
96 | Def | F+ | Joe Baker | Seton Hall | |
97 | Def | F+ | Jherrett Maroney | Hartwick | |
98 | Def | F+ | Nick Viaggio | Siena | |
99 | Def | F+ | Wei Ming-Wong | Valparaiso | |
100 | Def | F+ | Ian Kalis | SMU | |
101 | Def | F | Christian Nogueira | Monmouth | |
102 | Def | F | Ibu Otegbeye | Georgetown | |
103 | Def | F | Austen King | Elon | |
104 | Def | F | Serigne Sylla | Stony Brook | |
105 | Def | F | Thomas Vania | Missouri St | |
106 | Def | F | James Shupp | Virginia Tech | |
107 | Def | F | Andrew O'Brien | Central Arkansas | |
108 | Def | F | Nik Conklin | Long Island | |
109 | Def | F | Nick Dundon | La Salle | |
110 | Def | F | David Key | Massachusetts | |
111 | Def | F | Adam Still | SMU | |
112 | Def | F | Ryan Duffy | Appalachian State | |
113 | Def | F | Kevin Orozco | San Francisco | |
114 | Def | F | Mike Picinich | Eastern Illinois | |
115 | Def | F | David Buckenheimer | Missouri St | |
116 | Def | F | Aldo Toma | St Francis (NY) | |
117 | Def | F | Andy Hackbarth | Yale | |
118 | Def | F | Chris Widdy | CS-Bakersfield | |
119 | Def | F | Christopher Peacos | Georgia State | |
120 | Def | F | Kooten Johnson | Western Illinois | |
121 | Def | F | Eric Wilson | Air Force | |
122 | Def | F | Ayao Sossou | VMI | |
123 | Def | F | Gemechu Abraham | San Diego State | |
124 | Def | F | Raphael Martinez | IPFW | |
125 | Def | F | Nicholas Chase | FIU | |
126 | Def | F | RB Asenime | Centenary | |
127 | Def | F | Demaci Roussos | Seattle |
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