MLS Draft 2015: How Did Orlando City Grade Out?

Orlando City SC has its first MLS SuperDraft in the books, completing yet another historic event in a year of historic events.

So, how did they do?

Overall, I’d have to give this draft an ‘A’ grade, with the caveat that we obviously have no idea how these players will develop. The club addressed three areas of need by selecting a striker, a center back and a wing player. Further, the players selected could have gone higher, with the exception of the No. 1 pick.

Here’s how the draft went:

The Lions kicked off the 2015 MLS SuperDraft by taking the player many considered the best in the entire draft pool, Cyle Larin. We told you a bit about him earlier, but the upshot is that the club has a potential future star at striker, which is never a bad thing in a sport where scoring the most goals is paramount to winning.

“I’d like to thank Phil Rawlins, Paul McDonough, Coach Adrian Heath, and the entire Orlando City organization for picking me first,” said Larin. “I really appreciate it, and I can’t wait to come in and work really hard.”

“Cyle ticks a lot of the boxes that you look for in a modern day striker,” said Head Coach Adrian Heath. “He has good size, he’s very athletic, and he can score a variety of goals. He has a little bit of everything, and ultimately it came down to the fact that goal-scorers are a hot commodity.”

There were likely many opportunities to trade down and collect additional picks, future picks, allocation cash, current MLS players, or all of the above. In the end, Orlando City’s front office decided that none of the offers were worth as much as what Larin could potentially become.

Orlando City continued its strong inaugural MLS SuperDraft by taking North Carolina defender Conor Donovan, a standout Generation Adidas prospect at center back.

He’s the second youngest player in the draft pool, coming out of college after his freshman season, and is currently playing for the U-20 USMNT in Jamaica in the CONCACAF Championships, where he is teammates with Lions right back Tyler Turner.

Donovan made 15 appearances for North Carolina State in his freshman season, scoring one goal and adding an assist. A Fuquay-Varina, NC, native, the 6-foot-2, 176-pound Donovan trained with both the U.S. U-18 and U-20 youth national teams, scoring three international goals in more than 30 caps.

He is no stranger to Florida, having attended the U-17 USMNT Residency Program in Bradenton.

The Lions will be able to bring Donovan along slowly, develop his game, and get him to bulk up a little. As a center back, he fills an area of need, even though he probably won’t be able to contribute immediately. You can never have enough good center backs, so this was a solid selection.

Just three picks later, City chose diminutive (5-foot-7, 130 pounds) winger Akeil Barrett from the University of Tulsa. The Kingston, Jamaica native played his freshman year at the University of Akron before transferring to Tulsa.

Barrett scored 22 collegiate goals and earned honors such as Conference USA All-Tournament Team (2012), NSCAA All-Midwest Region Third Team (2013), All-Conference USA Second Team (2013) and American Athletic Conference First Team (2014).

Orlando City may be an expansion team, but the Lions seemed to handle their first ever MLS SuperDraft like a well-established club.

They took the guy many believe to be the best player in the draft in forward Cyle Larin with the No. 1 pick, which makes sense. They added a defender many thought would go in the first round in center back Conor Donovan, a very young Generation Adidas prospect with tremendous upside. Orlando City finished the day by taking Jamaican winger Akeil Barrett.

The team addressed three areas of need and we feel they made good choices. Without knowing how these three players will develop, I don’t see how they could get anything but an A.

Here’s how the SuperDraft unfolded:

Round 1

Round 2