2022 MLS SuperDraft

2022 MLS SuperDraft
Sport	Soccer
Date	January 11, 2022
League	Major League Soccer
Teams	28

The 2022 MLS SuperDraft was the 23rd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season and has been conducted via conference calls since 2020.^[1] Previously, the SuperDraft had been held in conjunction with the annual January United Soccer Coaches convention.

Since 2021, the SuperDraft consists of three rounds. Teams that received fourth-round picks for this draft via past trades received compensatory picks instead.^[2] Of the 75 players selected in the SuperDraft, 28 were signed by MLS teams—most of them from the first round picks.^[3]

Format

The SuperDraft format has remained constant throughout its history and closely resembles that of the NFL Draft:

Any expansion teams receive the first picks. MLS has announced that Charlotte FC^[4] would begin play as an expansion team in 2022. Sacramento Republic and St. Louis City SC^[5] were about to debut that year, but MLS delayed St. Louis's start to 2023 instead, and the league's expansion to Sacramento was withheld indefinitely.
Non-playoff clubs receive the next picks in reverse order of prior season finish.
Teams that made the MLS Cup Playoffs are then ordered by which round of the playoffs they are eliminated.
The winners of the MLS Cup are given the last selection, and the losers the penultimate selection.

Player selection

Player key
*	Denotes player who has been selected for an MLS Best XI team
^	Member of 2022 Generation Adidas class
†	Player who was named to an MLS Best XI and Generation Adidas
Signed key
29	Denotes player who signed for a MLS team (Division I)
16	Denotes player who signed for a USL Championship team (Division II)
28	Denotes player who signed for a MLS Next Pro, USL League One or NISA team (Division III)
1	Denotes player who signed for a team outside the United States soccer league system
Positions key
GK	Goalkeeper	DF	Defender	MF	Midfielder	FW	Forward

Round 1

P	MLS team	Player	Pos.	College	Conference	Academy team	Other team	Signed
1	Charlotte FC	Ben Bender	MF	Maryland	Big Ten	Baltimore Armour	FC Baltimore Christos	Charlotte FC
2	FC Cincinnati	Roman Celentano	GK	Indiana	Big Ten	Sockers FC	N/A	FC Cincinnati
3	FC Dallas^{[R1 trade 1]}	Isaiah Parker	FW	Saint Louis	A-10	FC United	Chicago FC United	FC Dallas
4	Houston Dynamo	Thorleifur Úlfarsson	FW	Duke	ACC	Breiðablik	N/A	Houston Dynamo
5	Austin FC	Kipp Keller	DF	Saint Louis	A-10	Saint Louis FC	St. Louis Scott Gallagher	Austin FC
6	FC Dallas	Lucas Bartlett	DF	St. John's	Big East	Sporting Blue Valley	Kaw Valley FC	FC Dallas
7	New York Red Bulls^{[R1 trade 2]}	Matt Nocita	DF	Naval Academy	Patriot	Real So Cal	N/A	New York Red Bulls
8	San Jose Earthquakes	Ousseni Bouda	FW	Stanford	Pac-12	Black Rock FC	Black Rock FC	San Jose Earthquakes
9	Inter Miami CF	Ryan Sailor	DF	Washington	Pac-12	Real Colorado	Colorado Rapids U-23	Inter Miami CF
10	Nashville SC ^{[R1 trade 3]}	Ahmed Longmire	DF	UCLA	Pac-12	Las Vegas Sports Academy	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	Nashville SC
11	Chicago Fire FC ^{[R1 trade 4]}	Kendall Burks	DF	Washington	Pac-12	Washington Premier	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	Chicago Fire FC
12	Columbus Crew	Patrick Schulte	GK	Saint Louis	A-10	Saint Louis FC	St. Louis Scott Gallagher	Columbus Crew
13	San Jose Earthquakes^{[R1 trade 5]}	Oskar Ågren	DF	Clemson	ACC	LB07	N/A	San Jose Earthquakes
14	FC Cincinnati ^{[R1 trade 6]}	Ian Murphy	DF	Duke	ACC	FC Golden State	N/A	FC Cincinnati
15	CF Montréal^{[R1 trade 7]}	Jojea Kwizera	FW	Utah Valley	WAC	Forza West FC	Ogden City SC	CF Montréal
16	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Simon Becher	FW	Saint Louis	A-10	Oakwood SC	Ocean City Nor'easters	Whitecaps FC 2
17	Minnesota United FC	Tani Oluwaseyi	FW	St. John's	Big East	GPS Academy	Manhattan SC	Minnesota United FC
18	Orlando City SC	Jack Lynn	FW	Notre Dame	ACC	Saint Louis FC	St. Louis Scott Gallagher	Orlando City SC
19	Atlanta United FC	Erik Centeno	FW	Pacific	Big West	Sacramento Republic	N/A	Atlanta United FC
20	New York Red Bulls^{[R1 trade 8]}	O'Vonte Mullings	FW	Florida Gulf Coast	ASUN	FC Durham	Seattle Sounders FC U-23	New York Red Bulls II
21	LA Galaxy ^{[R1 trade 9]}	Farai Mutatu	FW	Michigan State	Big Ten	Crew Academy Wolves	Chicago FC United
22	Sporting Kansas City	Esai Easley	DF	Grand Canyon	WAC	De Anza Force	Portland Timbers U23	Sporting Kansas City II
23	Colorado Rapids	Mohamed Omar	MF	Notre Dame	ACC	Toronto FC	Chicago FC United	HFX Wanderers
24	New England Revolution	Jacob Jackson	GK	Loyola Marymount	WCC	Real Salt Lake	N/A	New England Revolution
25	Columbus Crew^{[R1 trade 10]}	Philip Quinton	DF	Notre Dame	ACC	FC Portland	Portland Timbers U23	Columbus Crew 2
26	Colorado Rapids ^{[R1 trade 11]}	Anthony Markanich	DF	Northern Illinois	MAC	Chicago Fire FC	Green Bay Voyageurs	Colorado Rapids
27	Portland Timbers	Justin Rasmussen	MF	Grand Canyon	WAC	Las Vegas Sports Academy	Portland Timbers U23	Portland Timbers
28	FC Dallas^{[R1 trade 12]}	Tsiki Ntsabeleng	FW	Oregon State	Pac-12	Kaizer Chiefs	Reading United	FC Dallas

Round 2

P	MLS team	Player	Pos.	College	Conference	Academy team	Other team	Signed
29	Charlotte FC	Kyle Holcomb	FW	Wake Forest	ACC	Pateadores FC	Orange County SC U23	Charleston Battery
30	FC Cincinnati	Nick Markanich	FW	Northern Illinois	MAC	Chicago Fire FC	Green Bay Voyageurs	FC Cincinnati
31	Toronto FC	Luka Gavran	GK	St. John's	Big East	GPS Academy	Manhattan SC	Toronto FC II
32	Houston Dynamo	Paulo Lima	MF	Providence	Big East	Sporting CP	Boston Bolts	Houston Dynamo 2
33	Chicago Fire FC	Charlie Ostrem	DF	Washington	Pac-12	Crossfire Premier	Crossfire Redmond	Chicago Fire FC II
34	New York City FC ^{[R2 trade 1]}	Kevin O'Toole	FW	Princeton	Ivy League	New York Red Bulls	New York Red Bulls U-23	New York City FC
35	Austin FC	Charlie Asensio	DF	Clemson	ACC	Atlanta United FC	N/A	Austin FC
36	D.C. United	Sofiane Djeffal	MF	Oregon State	Pac-12	FC Nantes	Portland Timbers U23s	D.C. United
37	Inter Miami CF	Lucas Meek	MF	Washington	Pac-12	Eastside FC	OSA Seattle FC	Inter Miami II
38	Nashville SC ^{[R2 trade 2]}	Will Meyer	GK	Akron	MAC	Cleveland Soccer Academy	Derby City Rovers	Nashville SC
39	Houston Dynamo	Arturo Ordoñez	DF	Pittsburgh	ACC	Gimnàstic	N/A	Pittsburgh Riverhounds
40	Columbus Crew	Jacob Erlandson	DF	Bowling Green	MAC	Ohio Galaxies	Flint City Bucks	Columbus Crew 2
41	D.C. United	Alex Nagy	MF	Vermont	America East	New England Revolution	Valeo FC	Loudoun United
42	LA Galaxy	Callum Johnson	MF	Clemson	ACC	New York Red Bulls	New York Red Bulls U-23	LA Galaxy II
43	Seattle Sounders FC	Achille Robin	DF	Washington	Pac-12	Les Herbiers VF	Chicago FC United	Tacoma Defiance
44	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Luis Felipe Fernandez-Salvador	MF	Clemson	ACC	Shattuck St. Mary's	N/A	Whitecaps FC 2
45	Colorado Rapids ^{[R2 trade 3]}	Roberto Molina	MF	UC Irvine	Big West	Barça Residency Academy	Las Vegas Lights	Las Vegas Lights
46	Orlando City SC	Nathan Dossantos	DF	Marshall	C-USA	Woodbridge Strikers	FC Florida U23	Pittsburgh Riverhounds
47	Atlanta United FC	Tristan Trager	FW	Air Force	WAC	Academy Strikers FC	N/A	Atlanta United 2
48	Inter Miami CF	Justin Ingram	MF	Loyola (MD)	Patriot	Indiana Fire	Flint City Bucks	Indy Eleven
49	Vancouver Whitecaps FC ^{[R2 trade 4]}	Giovanni Aguilar	MF	Cal State Northridge	Big West	Sacramento Republic	FC Golden State Force	Whitecaps FC 2
50	Sporting Kansas City	Brett St. Martin	DF	Maryland	Big Ten	Baltimore Celtic	N/A	Charleston Battery
51	Colorado Rapids	PASS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
52	New England Revolution	Ben Reveno	DF	UCLA	Pac-12	San Jose Earthquakes	N/A	New England Revolution II
53	Real Salt Lake	Pedro Fonseca	FW	Louisville	ACC	Fluminense	FC Golden State Force	Real Monarchs
54	Inter Miami CF ^{[R2 trade 5]}	Tyler Bagley	MF	Cornell	Ivy League	Irvine Strikers	Boston Bolts	Inter Miami II
55	Portland Timbers	Julian Bravo	DF	Santa Clara	WCC	FC Golden State	N/A	Portland Timbers 2
56	New York City FC	Kingsford Adjei	FW	Dayton	A-10	Right To Dream Academy	Des Moines Menace	South Georgia Tormenta

Round 3

P	MLS team	Player	Pos.	College	Conference	Academy team	Other team	Signed
57	Charlotte FC	George Marks	GK	Clemson	ACC	North Carolina FC	North Carolina FC U23	Charlotte FC
58	FC Cincinnati	PASS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
59	Toronto FC	Reshaun Walkes	FW	UT Rio Grande Valley	WAC	Toronto FC	Des Moines Menace	Toronto FC II
60	LA Galaxy ^{[R3 trade 1]}	Chandler Vaughn	DF	Saint Louis	A-10	D.C. United	Kaw Valley FC	LA Galaxy II
61	Austin FC	Michael Knapp	MF	Montclair State	NJAC	New York Red Bulls	New York Red Bulls II	New York Red Bulls II
62	FC Dallas	Alec Smir	GK	North Carolina	ACC	NC Fusion	Ocean City Nor'easters	Minnesota United 2
63	Chicago Fire FC	Carlo Ritaccio	DF	Akron	MAC	BW Gottschee	Long Island Rough Riders	Chicago Fire FC II
64	San Jose Earthquakes	John Martin	MF	Clemson	ACC	CESA	Greenville FC
65	Inter Miami CF	PASS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
66	FC Dallas ^{[R3 trade 2]}	Chase Niece	DF	Saint Louis	A-10	St. Louis Scott Gallagher	St. Louis Scott Gallagher	North Texas SC
67	CF Montréal	Ivy Brisma	FW	NC State	ACC	Philadelphia Union	Wake FC
68	Columbus Crew	Chris Donovan	FW	Drexel	CAA	N/A	West Chester United	Philadelphia Union II
69	D.C. United	Skage Simonsen	MF	SMU	American	Brann	Lokomotiv Oslo	Loudoun United
70	LA Galaxy	PASS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
71	New York Red Bulls	Giannis Nikopolidis	GK	Georgetown	Big East	Olympiacos	N/A	New York Red Bulls II
72	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Théo Collomb	FW	UNC Greensboro	SoCon	Clermont	N/A	Whitecaps FC 2
73	New York Red Bulls ^{[R3 trade 3]}	Seth Kuhn	MF	Penn State	Big Ten	Philadelphia Union	Reading United
74	Orlando City SC	Nick Taylor	FW	UCF	American	Dallas Texans	Albuquerque Sol	Orlando City B
75	Atlanta United FC	Daniel Bloyou	FW	Penn State	Big Ten	Philadelphia Union	Philadelphia Lone Star	FC Tucson
76	Seattle Sounders FC	Hal Uderitz	MF	Seattle	WAC	Crossfire Premier	Crossfire Redmond	Tacoma Defiance
77	Nashville SC	PASS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
78	Sporting Kansas City	PASS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
79	Colorado Rapids	PASS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
80	New England Revolution	PASS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
81	Real Salt Lake	Jasper Löffelsend	DF	Pittsburgh	ACC	TV Herkenrath 09	N/A	Real Salt Lake
82	Philadelphia Union	PASS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
83	Portland Timbers	Sivert Haugli	DF	Virginia Tech	ACC	Bærum	Des Moines Menace	Portland Timbers 2
84	New York City FC	El Mahdi Youssoufi	FW	St. Francis Brooklyn	NEC	FUS Rabat	Toledo Villa	New York City FC II

Compensatory picks

P	MLS team	Player	Pos.	College	Conference	Academy team	Other team	Signed
85	Chicago Fire FC ^{[Trade 1]}	Yanis Leerman	DF	UCF	American	Troyes	N/A	Loudoun United
86	Vancouver Whitecaps FC ^{[Trade 2]}	Vitor Dias	MF	Marshall	C-USA	São Paulo	N/A	St. Louis City SC 2
87	FC Dallas ^{[Trade 3]}	Holland Rula	DF	Wake Forest	ACC	FC Dallas	N/A
88	Atlanta United FC ^{[Trade 4]}	Tola Showunmi	FW	New Hampshire	America East	Cheshunt	N/A	Pittsburgh Riverhounds
89	San Jose Earthquakes ^{[Trade 5]}	PASS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Notable undrafted players

Homegrown players

Original MLS team	Player	Position	College	Conference	Ref.
Atlanta United FC	Justin Garces	GK	UCLA	Pac-12	^[24]
Columbus Crew	Jake Morris	DF	Campbell	Big South
Columbus Crew	Sean Zawadzki	MF	Georgetown	Big East
New York Red Bulls	Zach Ryan	MF	Stanford	Pac-12	^[25]
Seattle Sounders FC	Dylan Teves	MF	Washington	Pac-12

Eligible players who signed outside of MLS in 2021

This is a list of eligible players who signed in leagues outside of MLS prior to the SuperDraft, but were still draft eligible.

Player	Position	College	Conference	Team	League	Notes	Ref.
Haji Abdikadir	MF	Louisville	ACC	San Diego Loyal	USL Championship	Traded to Colorado Springs Switchbacks	^[26]
Giovanni Aguilar	MF	CSUN	Big West	Sacramento Republic	USL Championship	Drafted by Vancouver Whitecaps FC and subsequently transferred to Whitecaps FC 2	^[27]^[28]
Frank Daroma	MF	Cal Sate Bernardino	CCAA	Las Vegas Lights	USL Championship	Undrafted	^[29]
Michael Knapp	MF	Montclair	NJAC	New York Red Bulls II	USL Championship	Drafted by Austin FC	^[30]
Roberto Molina	MF	UC Irvine	Big West	Las Vegas Lights	USL Championship	Drafted by Colorado Rapids	^[31]

Summary

Selections by college athletic conference

Conference	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Comp.	Total
NCAA Division I conferences
ACC	6	6	6	1	19
America East	0	1	0	1	2
American	0	0	2	1	3
ASUN	1	0	0	0	1
A-10	4	1	2	0	7
Big East	2	2	1	0	5
Big Ten	3	1	2	0	6
Big West	1	2	0	0	3
CAA	0	0	1	0	1
Conference USA	0	1	0	1	2
Ivy	0	2	0	0	2
Mid-American	1	3	1	0	5
NEC	0	0	1	0	1
Pac-12	5	5	0	0	10
Patriot	1	1	0	0	2
SoCon	0	0	1	0	1
WAC	3	1	2	0	6
WCC	1	1	1	0	3
NCAA Division III conference
NJAC	0	0	1	0	1
Passes
Pass	0	1	8	1	10

Schools with multiple draft selections

Selections	Schools
6	Clemson, Saint Louis
5	Washington
3	Note Dame, St. John's
2	Akron, Duke, Grand Canyon, Marshall, Maryland, NIU, Oregon State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, UCF, UCLA, Wake Forest