It all starts here.
Or so the signs say surrounding the Los Angeles Convention Center, where on Friday 44 players will have their names called in the first two rounds of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft.
After 12 names have been called, Real Salt Lake will be on the clock with the 13th pick and while the draft gets tougher to predict the further down the list you go, RSL General Manager Craig Waibel has a good idea of who could be available and hopes to land one of a few players that he and the technical staff have focused their attention on in recent months.
“We certainly have our eye on a couple of guys and hope that they’re there when we get to 13,” Waibel said. “What we hope to see is the two or three names that we’ve had written down for the last four or five months. If we don’t, we check them off the list and that’s where the rest of our homework comes in.”
That homework has included attentive scouting over not just the 2016 college season, but previous years as well. The staff got an extended look at some of the top draft prospects this week at the 2017 MLS Combine and got even more extensive research when they had opportunities to interview several players throughout the day on Wednesday and Thursday. Although those interviews don’t carry the same weight as the play on the field, Waibel explained just how important the interview process can be when the pick comes up on the board.
“You try not to invest too much in the interviews, but they do play a massive role in the small separations. When you are debating between two players, the small things make the difference,” he said.
Waibel and Head Coach Jeff Cassar have varying expectations for the player RSL selects, depending on who is available with the pick and the staff hasn’t ruled out the possibility of trading the selection as well. With the advent of Real Monarchs in the USL, the options for growth potential become more prominent and the club has more lenience for patience with the players they choose.
“It’s a tricky one, it really is. You want somebody, obviously, who can help the first team right away,” Cassar said. “But if you’re not able to get that person with the pick, then it’s about finding somebody that in a year or two and then make the jump.”
Added Waibel, “This draft class has a few sleepers I think. There are a lot of kids with talent and I think more so than other years, it really depends on the environments and the teams that pick a lot of these guys that is going to determine how successful they are going to be.”
The 2017 MLS SuperDraft starts at 1 p.m. MT.
