The MLS SuperDraft is over. Now the real fun begins.
The draft is a notorious crapshoot, a sieve through which only a small portion of prospects pass successfully. And it only gets thornier in the latter rounds. Since the draft expanded back out to four rounds in 2014, 116 players were taken in three successive drafts in the third and fourth rounds. Of those, 96 have yet to play in MLS. Of the 18 percent who’ve seen the field, they average 88 career minutes in MLS.
There are success stories. Former Division III standout Richie Marquez was taken by the Philadelphia Union with the sixth pick in the third round in 2014.