Orlando City SuperDraft 2026: Full of Picks

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 MLS Super Draft Time for Orlando City

Orlando City has been in their offseason for some time due to an early season exit this past year but don't fret-the offseason schedule is finally getting underway! Orlando City made their end-of-season roster decisions on November 17th and announced the re-signing of Wilder Cartagena and then re-signing of Robin Jansson. It's a great start, but there is more work to be done and not too much more time to get it done. So let's talk about the MLS SuperDraft that's coming up in about a week.

Offseason Schedule

MLS announced in early October the offseason calendar of roster-building events. I took the liberty of listing them here:
  • Wednesday, December 10-Saturday, December 13 -MLS College Showcase
    • This is the 6th edition of the MLS College Showcase, which will take place in Mesa, Arizona. It is a closed-door event for scouts and technical staffs.
  • Wednesday, December 10-Free Agency Opens (1pm ET)
    • Free Agency-eligible players are out-of-contract and option-declined players who are at least 24 years old and who have completed a minimum of four service years.
  • Thursday, December 11-Re Entry Process Stage 1 (1pm ET)
    • Eligible players include those who are at least 22 years old, have a minimum of one service year, and who are not eligible for Free Agency. 
    • This is conducted in reverse order of the 2025 season finish.
  • Thursday, December 11- End of Year Waivers Close (5 pm ET)
    • Eligible for selection are players who do not meet the minimum requirements for Re-Entry Process or Free Agency. 
  • Wednesday, December 17-Re Entry Process, Stage 2 (5pm ET)
    • Conducted in the same order as Stage 1 and consists of MLS players who were not selected in Stage 1. 
  • Thursday, December 18-2026 MLS SuperDraft (2pm ET)

MLS SuperDraft

The MLS SuperDraft starts its schedule off this coming week with the MLS College Showcase. This showcase has traveled all across the country over the past few years and sometimes would be streamed or reported on, but in the last few years it hasn't been the case. So the only information that fans will get will be internal reports (if people share) and then any college stats/footage. After the showcase, the following Thursday will be the draft day where the draft begins at 2pm but we don't know if it will be streamed this year. Last year it was streamed on MLS Season Pass, and MLS did have some clips and smaller shows around the picks.

MLS announced on December 9 the invitees to the 2025 MLS College Showcase. The league selected 45 of the top players in college. You can find the link here if you want to view the list. The players who are still in the NCAA tournament are absent from this group due to prior commitments. The full list of players who are eligible to be drafted will come out after the showcase ends, and I will do my best to update my picks if any of the players I selected are not eligible.

Review of the 2025 SuperDraft

Orlando City had four draft picks last year. Below are each of the picks and how they contributed to the team last year:
  • Round 1, Pick 27-Joran Gerbet-MF-Clemson
    • Joran Gerbet wasn't a flashy pick for Orlando City last year, but he was apart of a very good Clemson team the year prior. It took Gerbet a bit of time to get up to speed, but when he did he seemed to fit into the midfield well. The club definetly needed him with the loss of Wilder Cartagena in the preseason. He played in 22 matches totaling 1,117 minutes and notching 1 assist. He did end the season in a tough manner, tearing his ACL in his left knee.
      . 
  • Round 2, Pick 16-Titus Sandy Jr.-DF-Clemson
from Orlando City PR
    • Orlando City went back to the Clemson well and picked up Titus Sandy Jr., who played as an outside back and center back for Clemson. He picked up an injury before Orlando City had him in camp, which kept him out well through June. After showing his fitness in The Soccer Tournament (TST), the club signed him to OCB through 2026. He played 6 games, totaling 334 minutes, mostly playing at RB and a bit of RW. He even made the bench for the Vancouver game on 10/12 but didn't see any minutes.
  • Round 2, Pick 27-Collins Oduro-FW-Indiana
Photo by Trinity Mackenzie / The Indiana Daily Student
    • Later in the second round, Orlando City turned its eyes to attack, selecting the Ghanian Winger originally from the Right to Dream Academy-Collins Oduro, who played at Indiana University. Though Oduro was selected by the club, he chose to go back to Indiana to play his junior season. During his junior season, he has racked up 1,545 minutes (3rd highest on the team), 4 goals, and 6 assists. Orlando City holds his rights through the end of next year, so if the winger wants to come out after this year, he would go to Orlando unless they relinquish his rights. 
  • Round 3, Pick 27-Takahiro Fujita-DF-Marshall
      From Marshall Athletics
    • With their final pick in the draft, Orlando City selected Takahiro Fujita from Marshall. He was a defender that had praise throughout that season but had fallen due to his younger age. Like Oduro, Fujita went back to school to play one more year at Marshall. He got a late start to the season due to returning from injury, but he eventually got back with Marshall on September 19, where he logged a handful of minutes. For the season, he ended with 766 minutes, nabbing 3 goals and 1 assist in that time.

Orlando City Draft Picks

Orlando City has a fair amount of draft picks for this years SuperDraft. Though they have so many picks, they may not keep all of them (dealing them for GAM or packaging them to move up, or even passing later in the draft), but here is how the club looks going into the draft:
  • Round 1-Pick 5
    • Acquired from LA Galaxy-LA sent Orlando City $200k and their natural first-round pick for an international roster slot.
  • Round 1-Pick 9
  • Round 1-Pick 14
  • Round 1-Pick 20
  • Round 2-Pick 13
  • Round 3-Pick 14

Draft Prospects

There are tons of players who are eligible for this draft, so I think the best way to cover the prospects is by position group/class of player from the season. You will see below players that fit each group and players I think Orlando City should be looking at. 

College Player of the Year Candidates

Junior Diouf-FW-Grand Canyon: Junior Diouf had a party in his freshman season with Grand Canyon. In his first season, he scored 18 goals and 6 assists, playing in 21 games totaling 1,571 minutes. Diouf is a consensus top-3 pick (as long as he's offered a Generation Adidas deal), and there's a reason for that. He's a goal-scoring machine and has a knack for finding the net. He also had 7 game-winning goals this season to add to his resume. It's doubtful that he's there for Orlando at pick 5, but one could dream...

From Grand Canyon Athletics

Laurie Goddard-MF-Hofstra: Goddard and Hofstra weren't thought of much this year but ended up shocking the nation with their play throughout the season. Goddard came on heavy this year and ended up having 15 goals and 7 assists in 1,564 minutes. In his career with Hofstra, he had 24 goals and 12 assists. Before Hofstra, he was at Merrimack for 2 seasons, where he had an additional 11 goals and 5 assists. He also helped knock out the defending national champs, Vermont, during the second round of the tournament. He could be a nice attacking midfield add in the middle to late first round.

Lee Weissman/From Hofstra Athletics

Diego Hernandez-MF-Furman: Hernandez had a nice two years with Furman. He joined from the FC Dallas academy, one of the better academies in MLS, and was slow to make an impact. His first season ended with just 2 assists and no goals. However, he followed up this season, where he notched 10 goals and 9 assists. This season, Furman played him up higher and gave him the #10 shirt. He can play multiple spots in the midfield, but the "8" spot or the attacking midfield spots are more his game. If Orlando is looking for a later first round/early second round guy to fill the midfield with, Hernandez could be that guy.

Jeremy Fleming/From Furham Athletics

Daniel Lugo-FW-High Point: Lugo has had an interesting college career thus far. The St. Pete native played in the Tampa Bay United academy before joining UNC in 2023. Since he didn't see game action, he redshirted and played his redshirt freshman season at UNC, but only got 184 minutes. He decided to transfer and took his talents to High Point. High Point had a really good season, where they won the Big South conference and even made it to the Sweet Sixteen in the tournament before falling to Georgetown. Lugo had 14 goals and 5 assists in his redshirt sophomore season and even made the MAC Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List. Daniel Lugo is a bigger striker, coming in at 6' 2", 185lbs, who knows how to move. If Orlando is looking for a striker to backup the current group and likes the bigger striker (plus a bit of a homecoming), this could be their guy. Middle to end of the first round is where Lugo would probably fall. 

Peyton Williams/From High Point Athletics

Stephane Njike-FW-Maryland: Njike has made this list due to his speed and shifty play on the wing for Maryland this year. Before Maryland, he spent one season at LIU, where he had 6 goals and 5 assists. At Maryland, Njike continued his climb, posting 7 goals and 7 assists with about 1,250 minutes played. He's helped push the Terps to the Elite Eight. Though his stats aren't the most eye-popping on the page, his game pushes the team forward and he plays bigger than his size. Also, he has his patented backflips when he scores. If Orlando is looking to add more competition at the wing (more specifically at left wing), then Njike could be that guy. He's a late first-rounder/early second-rounder. 

From Maryland Athletics

Andrew Samuels-GK-Princeton: Samuels is rated as one of the best keepers in the country and made Top Drawer Soccer's (TDS) final list for College Player of the Year. Samuels joined Princeton after spending time down in the San Jose Earthquakes academy for a few years. In his freshmen season, Samuels didn't play a single game for the Tigers. In his sophomore year, Samuels played 889 minutes, had 9 goals against, a goals against average of 0.91, with 35 saves. In his junior season, he stepped up his play a bit more. He played 1,704 minutes, had 7 goals against, a goals-against average of 0.37, with 61 saves. He ended the season ranked number two in the national for goals-against average, first in the country for save percentage, and second in the nation for shoutouts with 12. 

From Princeton Athletics

Palmer Ault, Donovan Phillip, Sergi Solans, and Zach Zengue were all on this list as well, but they were drafted last year or the year before, so they aren't eligible to be drafted.

Goalkeepers

We already talked about Samuels in the above section but there are a few more keepers to list below that the team could look at.


Kyle Durham-GK-UConn: Durham had a great second half to his season with UConn, putting in some pretty decent goalkeeping stats. He allowed 17 goals against, allowed an average of one goal per game, made 75 saves, and a save percentage of 81.5%. He started every game for UConn this past season amassing 1,890 minutes. He comes in at 6' 4" and keeps a really commanding presence in the box. He's a late first-round/early second-round keeper.

Logan Erb-GK-NC State: Erb has led one of the best teams in the nation between the pipes and is looking at being one of the best keepers in this draft. He was first in the nation in goals-against average at 0.364, 3rd in the nation in save percentage with 86.5%, 2nd in shutouts with 12, and notched 45 saves. Erb shows his skills pretty heavily and even had flashes of talent at San Diego State before transferring to NC State. Erb won't stay on the board for very long and is probably in the top 3 of goalkeepers in the draft. 

Dorian Drucks-GK-Cal State Northridge: Drucks isn't one of the big names in the goalkeeper group, but he does have some decent stats to back it up. The junior from Germany played for CBU for a season before joining Cal State. He played all 17 games for the club, where he was 23rd in the country for goals-against average at 0.765, 5th in the nation for save percentage at 85.1%, tied for 21st in shutouts with 8, and had 74 saves. If teams are waiting for a keeper Drucks is an option for the second round. 

Mitch Budler-GK-Akron: When talking about the top keepers in the draft, Budler is on many lists. Budler played all 4 years with Akron, being the main starter for their entire campaign. He's racked up over 6,000 minutes with the Zips during his career. In his senior season, he was 7th in the nation in goals-against average at 0.600, ranked 32nd in save percentage at 78.2%, was top in the nation for shutouts with 13, and had 43 saves. Budler is a top 3 keeper in this class and will most likely go in the top 10 as potentially one of the top keepers. 

Niklas Herceg-GK-Vermont: Herceg is the last goalkeeper in this group that I wanted to chat about. Niklas is a sophomore at Vermont who hails from Germany and has led one of the best schools in the nation between the sticks. The keeper is 19th in the nation in goals-against average at 0.744, 28th in save percentage at 78.6%, 6th in shutouts with 10, and had 55 saves. Though this season doesn't look as good as last season, the two seasons together paint a pretty solid picture. He's easily a top 10 keeper in the draft so Orlando would have to claim him early.

Defenders

So far, defenders have been left off the list so it's due time to mention some names here.

Luca Nikolai-DF-North Carolina: One of the best defenders in the draft is Luca Nikolai, who played this past season at North Carolina. In his first two seasons, he played at James Madison, where he racked up a slew of honors for all-conference and nationwide acclaim. The German defender mostly plays at right back but can play a bit a left back, showing off his versatility. This year, he had 3 goals and 7 assists, really showing off his offensive prowess as well. He played and started all 20 games for the Tar Heels this year. He will most likely go in the top 10.

Nikola Markovic-DF-NC State: One of the best center backs in the draft, Nikola Markovic has really shown out for NC State this past year and a half. While he only got 442 minutes in his freshmen season, he followed up in his sophomore season with 1,612 minutes while also getting 2 goals and 1 assist. It's unclear if he'll be draft-eligible since he spent some time in CF Montreal's academy. For this rising center back, he may be hoping he can be drafted. If he is draft-eligible, he could easily go at the top of the first round for any team looking for a commanding center back.

Giuliano Fravolini Whitchurch-DF-Princeton: The Tigers had a great defensive season this year, and part of that was due to Whitchurch’s excellent defensive play. He played all 4 years at Princeton, with his first two seasons having limited minutes. In 2024 and 2025, he became the regular starter as one of the center backs and never looked back. His play elevated his keepers, who also was mentioned earlier in this article. He had one goal in his entire college career, but don’t let that be a stain on his play. He does need to fill out a bit, but he has the proper size to do that. He’s a mid first-rounder to later in the first round.

Aidan Martin-DF-Cornell: The sophomore LAFC academy kid, at the Ivy League school, is one of the best fullbacks in the nation, and there’s a pretty sizable gap. He played on a Cornell team that played well in their division, and they had to go up against Princeton. In his two seasons, he racked up 3,428 minutes, 4 goals, and 8 assists. He’s a bit on the smaller side but his lack of size doesn’t affect his play at all. He’s a top 10 talent and won’t be there past pick 10. 

Jesus De Vicente-DF-Virginia: Jesus is a graduate student who has played a fair amount of college soccer, starting at UIC and then transferred to Virginia this past season. He mostly plays left back but has played both sides in his career. His numbers at left back are pretty crazy. He’s had 6 goals and 21 assists, with 7 assists coming from this this season. He loves to bomb forward and has the distribution skills to do it. He’s a bit on the older side, but he could be ready to go, as he’s had a lot of soccer under his belt. He is a definite bottom of the first round/early second round guy. 

Midfielders

This college class has a slew of decent midfielders and while some have been mentioned there are some other names that should be looked at.

Ransford Gyan-MF-Clemson: When it comes to midfielders in college, you have to talk about Gyan. He's arguably one of the best players in the country, as he made the midseason MAC Hermann watchlist. The sophomore has spent 2 seasons at Clemson and has been productive during both, with a team that has been very good the last few seasons. In his time, he has played 39 games, amassing 2,835 minutes and collecting 13 goals with 14 assists. He never has the largest numbers, but his game shows through the other stats, or if you use the eye test. He will be a top 3 player, and if he’s not, something is wrong cause he has that level of talent. Orlando City would be lucky to get this kid.

Edouard Nys-MF-UIC: Nys had a crazy season, and what made it even more nuts is that he wasn’t on anyone's watchlist to start the year, based on what I could see. He came from a smaller school, Northeast CC, for 2 years before transferring to UIC. In his one year with UIC, he had 18 games played and started. In that time, he had 16 goals and 5 assists, taking more than 99 shots. He didn’t hesitate to shoot, that’s for sure. He mostly played as an attacking midfielder but also could play as a box-to-box midfielder if needed.  Due to his large rise and concerns of competition, he’s been projected at mid-first round to mid-second round. 

Richie Aman-MF-Washington: Aman has been a mainstay at Washington since his freshman year and has collected a slew of accolades throughout his collegiate career, such as Top 100 Freshman, Big Ten Midfielder of the Year, All-Big Ten First Team, and Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List, to name a few. He’s played at least 17 games each season, getting more time each year, amassing 4,827 minutes. He had 8 goals and 20 assists, with his distribution being his top skill. He’s a playmaker through and through, making some teams look silly over his four years. Aman is arguably a top 5 talent, and there will be a team who snatches him up.

Julien Le Bourdoulous-MF-UNC Greensboro: Julien had a back-and-forth college career and is ending his college time with a bit of a down year. He started as a junior in US college after coming over from France with the KC Roos, where he got a small amount of playing time junior year but exploded in his senior year, when he bagged 1 goal and 12 assists. Though the Roos didn’t play tough competition, he did show out for the good teams that they did play. He’s decided to play one more year at UNC Greensboro as a graduate player and only had 2 goals and 2 assists in his final season. He’s certainly a playmaker through and through but to add to it he’s quick. When you watch his tape you see how he can beat his opponent. He’s going to need a little bit of work but seeing how he’ll be 24 at the start of the season you have to wonder how much learning he can do. He’s a second-round talent, around the middle of the second round.

Jamie Amaro-MF-Bryant: Amaro is such a fascinating player and one that MLS teams will be looking at in the draft. From Spain, Jamie has spent a few years in various Spanish youth academy setups, getting tons of minutes. He took his first year of eligibility in Spain before coming to Bryant as a sophomore. Though he’s only 5’ 7” and 160 lbs, he plays like his schools mascot, a bulldog. He played in all 22 games for Bryant this year, starting 18 of them, while collecting 10 goals and 7 assists. Many list him as a guy who could play any of the midfield spots, but I would say the closer he gets to the opponent's net, the better. Attacking midfielder or box-to-box would fit his skill set the best. With his pedigree and great year last year, he’s looking to go in top part of round 1, most likely in the top 10.

Clarence Awoudor-MF/FW-UCF: Alright, so I added an extra player here because this last guy is a draft crush of mine, and it partly has to do with the fact that he’s right down the road from Orlando City over at UCF. Awoudor had a sensational senior season with the Knights and helped them get to the second round of the NCAA tournament because of it-many would argue he was their best player this year. The Frenchman started his college career at Oregon State, where he only got into 13 games but still had a handful of goals and assists (5g/2a). He then transferred to UCF in his sophomore season and found more playing time, going 4g/4a in his Sophomore year and 3g/7a in his junior season. This past season, though, is one to remember. He played in and started all 21 games the knights played and had 7 goals and 15 assists. His distribution was sensational, and his vision was top-notch. Over his college career, he had 5,147 minutes and had a total of 17g/28a. He’s mocked to the middle/end of the first round but could go a bit higher if teams like his tape like I did. 

Forwards

There were a fair amount of Forwards mentioned earlier in this post but there are a few more to note.

Nicholas Simmonds-FW-Virginia: Simmonds is a player who has caught a lot of eyes during his time at Virginia, and there is a reason for it. He’s a big guy and he knows how to play with his size, coming in at 6’ 4” and over 200lbs. In his first year at Virginia, he had 10 goals and 5 assists, scoring on 20% of his shots. He also had 3 game-winning goal this season. Since he’s a freshman, he’d have to sign a Generation Adidas deal, but there’s no doubt there are a handful of teams that would love to grab him. He’s a top 5 talent and won’t last long in the draft.

Enzo Dovlo-FW-UNC Greensboro: Enzo has spent all three years at UNC Greensboro and has played a few different positions on the pitch. He started out as a fullback, but as his coaches saw more spark from him, he worked his way up the field. In total during his college career, he’s had 15 goals/13 assists totally 4,362 minutes. Most of those contributions came in this past season, where he went 10g/8a. At the next level, I think he could be a winger, attacking midfielder, or striker. He’s projected to go in the top part of the first round.

Marius Stenner-FW-Delaware: Stenner is similar to Dovlo, where he’s played a bunch of different spots, but his best spots are up top. The sophomore had a productive two years, totaling 2,442 minutes and notching 20 goals with 14 assists. He was all over the field for Delaware, and it shows. He's probably best at one of the wing spots, but he could certainly play striker if that’s where you wanted him; second striker is probably the best fit. Due to his Danish pedigree and great play, he easily will go in the top part of the first round. 

Ricky Louis-FW-Georgia Southern: Louis is a Florida native and has spent both of his two years at Georgia Southern, making the most of his opportunities. He’s a tall striker at 6’2” but moves smoothly while in possession. He’s also quick, since he ran track in high school. In his 2,500 minutes, he’s scored 12 goals and 6 assists with his best season coming last year where he was 8g/3a. He’s a bit raw still and needs to learn how to use his skills to put together dominating performances. Based on his athleticism alone, he’ll go in the first round most likely in the top half. 

Ulfur Bjornsson-FW-Duke: Ulfur had a back-and-forth junior season, picking up an injury midseason but pushing to make it back by the end of year. Even though he got injured, he had a solid season with 5g/4a in about 1,200 minutes. Over his college career, he had 28 goals/11 assists in three seasons with about 4,000 minutes. That’s a pretty great hit rate and shows that he’d probably go top 5 if it weren’t for the injury. If his injury isn’t serious, any team would be silly to not pick the Icelandic striker.

Orlando City Projected Picks

Now that the top prospects for each position group have been discussed, who should Orlando City go after? I’m taking into account the current rumors (Luis Otávio, Nacho Gomez, Tiago, also Williams, Schlegel, and Thorhallson leaving) when I make these selections, so keep that in mind. I’ll also include any sources and who they predict Orlando City will take, to provide as much feedback about each pick as I can.

Round 1 Pick 5-Richie Aman(Washington)-MF (if there)/Edouard Nys (UIC)-MF: There's a little bit of hoping here, but I think Aman could fall to 5 for Orlando City, and if he does, they should snatch him here. He played all 4 years at Washington and can play a very good "8" or "10" depending on how you use him. He notched 8 goals and 22 assists in his 4 years at Washington, with the Huskies being one of the best teams in the nation the last few years. The other guy I have here (Nys) will be there, and I think he's another great choice. His small-school experience may scare some people off-he played for Northeast Community College for two years- but his stats are nuts. In two years there, he had 48 goals and 49 assists before transferring to UIC. At UIC, he had 16 goals and 5 assists totaling over 90 shots.  He plays bigger than his school and I think he is well worth the pick at 5, even if some people think he's a bit of a reach. Other choice here that I'd consider are one of the three keepers that are at the top of this class: Andrew Samuels, Logan Erb, or Mitch Budler. Draft Utopia has Orlando City taking Mitch Budler-makes sense and was my backup to the two midfielders I chose.


Round 1 Pick 9-Aidan Martin (Cornell)-DF: I take the best left back in the country here, and it wasn't hard for me to choose him at all. His play speaks for itself, and some of his stats do as well, where he racked up 4g/8a in just two seasons with Cornell. He doesn't miss games either, and he's started every game he's played in. The Ivy League has produced some really quality soccer players over the last few years, and Martin is another one on that list. Orlando City finally solves some concern at left back by selecting Martin. Other choices here are the keepers again, depending on who's left in that group previously mentioned. Draft Utopia has Orlando City taking Jamie Amaro-Amaro would be a nice higher end 8/6 pick but I went defense instead since it's more of need and I went MF with the first pick.


Round 1 Pick 14-Ulfur Bjornsson (Duke)-FW (if there)/Daniel Lugo (High Point)-FW/Clarence Awoudor (UCF)-MF/FW: I think it's time for Orlando City to go out and get their striker that they like to grab in the SuperDraft, and my first choice in this section is the mammoth striker from Duke, Ulfor Bjornsson. Even with the injury, he is worth it and knows how to score. He totaled 28 goals in 3 seasons with Duke while also racking up 11 assists. If the health checks out and he's still on the board, then he's the slam dunk you take here (literally, he's big). My backup guy here is Daniel Lugo from High Point University. He hails from a smaller school, but he had a heck of a season with 14 goals and 5 assists. He's 6'2" but plays bigger, and it would be a bit of a homecoming for him, seeing as he's from St. Pete. The last alternate I have here-who is my local draft crush-is Clarence Awoudor from UCF. It's a bit high to take him in this spot but he'll be gone by the time Orlando City select again. If the Lions move back then he's a no-brainer since he's in Orlando already and had a stellar season at UCF. I also like his versatility, playing as either a 10, a winger, or a striker. He knows how to connect passes and put the ball in the net. Draft Utopia has Orlando City taking Ricky Louis-I don't mind this pick either; if they go forward, he's just a different type (speedster) than what I had.



Round 1 Pick 20-Andrew Samuels (Princeton)-GK: Orlando City finally grabs a goalkeeper to bolster the goalkeepers' union. My favorite keeper is Andrew Samuels from Princeton, but I think between Mitch Budler, Logan Erb, and Andrew Samuels, you can't go wrong. I just think for most people Budler and Erb are one then two, so Samuels could definitely be there. Samuels joined Princeton in 2023 but didn't play a single minute. In 2024, Samuels finally got a run of 10 games totaling 889 minutes. He had a goals-against average of 0.91 and a save percentage of .795 with two shutouts in his first season. In his junior season, he turned it on. He played 19 games totaling 1,704 minutes. He had a goals-against average of .37 and a save percentage of .897 with 12 shutouts. He looked like one of the best keepers in the nation, and he was. If Samuels is here, Orlando jumps on this pick and love every second of it. Draft Utopia has Orlando City Pablo Pozos-I understand that value grab here but I think Orlando goes defense/goalkeeper if they haven’t. I think they would rather take Clarence Awoudor.


Round 2 Pick 13-Abdel Talabi (Bryant)-DF: I like what I've seen and read about Talabi, and he played on a really hard-nosed Bryant defense. He's played 5 years for the Bryant Bulldogs, and outside of his freshman season, he's played almost all the games for them. Even as a center back, he racked up 6 goals and 2 assists, with his best season being this year where he had 3 goals. He would slide into a center back role and really push the current group with his athleticism. He also has great character and embraces a team mentality. If he doesn't spend time with the first team, he'd be a great add for OCB. Draft Utopia has Orlando City taking Julian Le Bourdoulous-I chose a midfielder who I think fits Orlando's style a bit better than Julian.



Round 3 Pick 14-Jack Jasinski (Princeton)-DF: To finish out Orlando City's draft, the Lions go to bolster their defense a bit more and think about the future. Here I have Orlando taking defender Jack Jasinski from Princeton, a right back who played on a very good Princeton defense (he also joins his fellow Princeton teammate, Andrew Samuels, who the Lions took earlier). Jasinski spent all four years at Princeton and played 68 games for the Tigers. He amassed 5,529 minutes over his four years and helped seal more than 20 shutouts for his team. He also had some skills going forward, as he had 4 goals and 22 assists in his college career. Jack is a similar size to Alex Freeman and can get forward in a similar manner, so it's best for Orlando City to start succession planning for Freeman's eventual departure. Draft Utopia has Orlando City taking Palmer Bank-I also went defense but went the other side of the defense due to Orlando selecting a left back earlier in the draft. 


The last thing I would offer as an option is for Orlando City to give up some GAM or bundle picks (which don't tend to happen in MLS SuperDrafts) to move up to the top 3. That way they get an option to potentially get one of Junior Diouf or Ransford Gyan who I think could make an impact on your team almost right away. It really depends on how the club values those players. They may also want to grab a guy on a GA deal, since that helps save clubs money but still gets a good player. 

Conclusion

The MLS SuperDraft can be a bit of a crapshoot when it comes to knowing which players will be eligible, who signs a GA deal, and how teams value players, but one thing we do know is: Orlando City knows how to find value in the draft. I'll be watching all this week to see who's worth watching and who Orlando City might target but one thing is for sure: we know there will be a handful of young guys who will come in and contribute.

I also want to shout out TopDrawerSoccer (Travis Clark) for their rankings and information. I want to give a shoutout to Draft Utopia (Chris Ransom), who posted the very first mock drafts this offseason and helped point me in the right direction to find information about these players. All headshots used in this article are from the particular players athletic department; thank you to those departments of having those media resources.


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 A New Central Midfielder on His Way? If you’ve been able to look at the transfer rumors over the last few days/weeks (there have been a lot of them) you may have seen the name Luis Otávio pop up. My point with this article is to introduce you to the player, go over some stats, and to talk about where he fits in. Transfer Rumor Before covering the player, let’s chat about the rumors first. On November 3rd, there was a rumor  saying that Orlando City sent a scout to Brazil to closely monitor Luis Otávio. When the club went down there the player didn’t play with the first team but it was rumored that Orlando City scouts stayed a bit longer to watch him practice and play in a scrimmage. The next day, there was a report that came out from Brazil that talked about Internacional, Luis Otávio's current club, saying that it was not only going through a relegation battle but was also coming on financial hard times. Due to the issues with their finances, the club was looking at certai...
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Signing James Rodriguez or Richarlison Makes Sense (Kind of)

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Stars Aligning in Orlando? With Orlando City moving into the middle of their offseason (even though we have yet to get official roster decisions) there has been a flurry of rumors flying around, with most of them focused on some big stars across the globe. I don't mean to exclude Luis Otávio from Internacional, who has also been linked heavily to Orlando City (and don't worry I will be breaking him down shortly), but there appears to be a strategy-by the club or outside sources-for the Lions to get a big star to bolster their ranks.  I, for one, don't necessarily think that Orlando City needs to jump on a star right away. To me, it's all about whether or not it makes sense for the team to go in that direction with play on the field, being the first priority, and then star power as the second. But let's play out an exercise with both of the big stars connected to Orlando City to see if: Do either of them make sense for Orlando City at this time? Would there be...
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