By: Victor Olorunfemi

With the dust settled from the 2025 MLS Draft, it is time to discuss the takeaways from the event. From the picks who landed in an ideal situation to the teams that excelled and faltered with their selections, here is my perspective on the MLS draft.

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Favorite Picks

Let's start with my favorite picks from the draft in alphabetical order.

Michael Adedokun (Ohio State) - No. 13, CF Montreal.

Consider me a HUGE Michael Adedokun fan. Not just an excellent player, the Dayton/Ohio State product is also a fantastic person and teammate. His explosive 1-v-1 qualities set college soccer ablaze as the National Player of the Year, a skillset that should translate to the next level. Especially for a CF Montreal team whose expected goals total was the third worst in the Eastern Conference.

Demian Alvarez (Seattle) - No. 58, Seattle Sounders

The Sounders may have landed the steal of the draft in Alvarez. Seattle University flew under the radar in the non-glamorous WAC conference, as did the league's DPOY, a prospect whose innate defense instincts shined anytime he took the pitch. Look no further than the NCAA tournament game where the 6 foot 3 center back made not one, but two, goal line clearances in an eventual penalty kick loss. Do not be surprised to see Alvarez embark on a long MLS career that includes a game or two for the national team.

Jason Bucknor (Michigan) - No. 20, LA Galaxy

Bucknor is the epitome of the modern player on and off the field. On the pitch, he's a supremely athletic and versatile prospect who can play several roles across the pitch, a perfect addition for a roster that just won the MLS Cup. Off the field, the Florida native is a social media sensation whose content amassed 40k followers on Instagram before the MLS draft took place. Combine those two worlds, and Bucknor is arguably the most intriguing prospect in the draft.

Logan Dorsey (Kentucky) - No. 55, Minnesota United

A late bloomer, Dorsey emerged as an excellent finisher his senior season, scoring 14 to surpass the 13 he compiled in the three previous seasons. That was in the Sun Belt, arguably the best conference in college soccer. Add that the Colorado native is an American citizen, and his domestic status makes him the perfect selection for Minnesota United.

Alex Harris (Cornell) - No. 4, Colorado Rapids

With the fourth pick, the Colorado Rapids may have landed the latest great college-to-pro forward in the mold of Duncan McGuire, Daryl Dyke, Cyle Larin, and Jordan Morris. The Cornell product does not have the absurd physical profile that those others had, but he has proven to be a generational prospect at every level, from scoring 76 in his senior high school season to registering 31 goals and 9 assists through 34 college games. And still only 20 by the time the MLS season starts, the Rapids could have their hands on the best young attacker in the league.

Alec Hughes (UMass) - No. 22, LAFC

LAFC had one draft pick, and they knocked it out of the park. With Hughes, LAFC landed a proven collegiate goalscorer whose one-percentile athletic profile will give him a chance to impact the next level. The 22-year-old Connecticut native is also an American citizen, giving the franchise an impactful player who will not count against international allocation.

Emil Jaaskelainen (Akron) - No. 7, St. Louis City SC

It is not hyperbole to say that Jaaskelainen is the greatest collegiate goalscorer of the 21st century. It could even be literal, considering that his 66 career goals for LIU and Akron are the most an NCAA DI player has scored since 2000. Most recently, we saw him lead the country with 22 goals in 18 games, falling one short of the 23 in 24 Duncan McGuire scored for Creighton in 2022. And as a bonus tidbit, Emil betrayed the family trade as his father, Jussi Jaaskelainen, is a Finland and English Premier League goalkeeping legend.

Hakim Karamoko (North Carolina State) - No. 10, DC United

Blessed with a physical and technical combo that should translate to the next level, Karamoko is a left-footed forward who can play across the front line. DC United took several unexpected swings in the draft, none with a higher upside than this one.

Max Murray (Vermont) - No. 17, NYCFC

A mouth-watering prospect that likely fell due to his age (23 in April), Murray is a towering 6-foot-5 center-back who is so technically proficient that he managed ten goals as an award-winning striker his sophomore season. Most recently, we saw the Maine native shine at center back for the historic national championship-winning Vermont team, displaying excellent anticipation, defensive awareness, and a physical dominance that will translate to the next level.

Donovan Sessoms (Sacramento State) - No. 61, San Diego FC

An unexpected pick for many, Sessoms did his work away from the limelight at Sacramento State. The film does not lie, and it reveals that the speedy, two-footed 21-year-old forward is the perfect prospect for any team basing its offensive tactics around exploiting transition moments.

Ronan Wynne (Denver) - No. 53, Atlanta United

Wynne faces an uphill battle to make the Atlanta roster as an international player, but he has every opportunity due to his elevated soccer IQ and versatility across the midfield and backline. The New Zealand native was a two-time Summit League DPOY who recently captained Denver to the national semi-final.

Winners

Chicago Fire

Fresh off one of the worst seasons in club history, the Fire entered the draft with needs in multiple positions. Selecting Dean Boltz with the third pick gives the franchise an exciting prospect to rally around, whereas second-round pick Travis Smith Jr. was one of the best young defenders in college soccer. Sprinkle in Geni Kanyane, an accomplished South African youth international who can excel at left-back, and you could argue this team went 3 for 3.

Colorado Rapids

Their decision to double down with aggressive trades landed five first-round picks and nine overall in what could go down as one of the best drafts in MLS history. The Rapids mastered the balance between experienced college stars with high floors and young prospects with high ceilings. The undoubted highlight is fourth overall pick Alex Harris, an absurdly prolific striker who scored 31 goals in just 34 games for Cornell. Then you have others like Charlie Harper, a two-footed center-back who started 40 consecutive matches at North Carolina, and Sydney Wathuta, a versatile athletic creator who just helped Vermont to the national title as a 20-year-old sophomore.

Orlando City

Speaking of prospects who can immediately contribute, Orlando City landed a steal in Joran Gerbet. The 23-year-old French holding midfielder will require an international slot but brings nearly 7,000 minutes played across four seasons at Oregon State and Clemson while displaying a Busquets-level intelligence for the game. Third-round pick Takahiro Fujita is another intriguing prospect, a 20-year-old former Japanese youth international displaying the size, athleticism, and ball-playing qualities needed for the modern center-back.

Real Salt Lake

While there were some puzzling overlaps in who was selected, Real Salt Lake did well acquiring eight draft picks on the night. I would not have drafted two goalkeepers or three potential center-backs, but signing eight prospects increases the odds of hitting on one, which is a massive W.

San Jose Earthquakes

Finishing as the worst of the 29 MLS teams meant the Earthquakes had to lean towards immediate impact makers as opposed to long-term prospects, and the front office got the message. Max Floriani, Nick Roberts, and Nick Fernandez all notched over 4,000 collegiate minutes as highly decorated stars. Do not be surprised to see all three features for the squad in 2025.

Losers

Here are the losers from draft day.

Austin FC - Austin FC has had a rough couple of seasons, missing the Western Conference playoffs twice with a 12th and 10th place finish. One would assume a team like that would leave no stone unturned to acquire talent, yet the club utilized just two draft picks, one of which was on a player who struggled to stay healthy through his collegiate career.

Inter Miami - After benefitting from Yannick Bright, a 2024 MLS draft pick who grew into a midfield starter, many assumed Inter Miami would double down on the process to land cheap hard-working talent for their highly expensive roster. Instead, the Western Division champions traded away their first-round pick before selecting two players that make little sense. Drafting another high-caliber athlete with a dominant physical profile like Bright would have been the perfect complement to world-class but aging stars like Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Sergio Busquets. Instead, Inter Miami drafted a creative midfielder in Bailey Sparks, a role they have plenty of stars in, and Michael Appiah, a physically gifted but inconsistent player who lost his starting role at Florida International before the end of the college soccer season.

New York Red Bulls - Fresh off a trip to the MLS Cup final, the New York Red Bulls are clearly doing something correctly. However, something does feel shortsighted about trading away all your draft picks when two of the starting back three from your historic season came from college soccer.

Philadelphia Union - As I previously wrote, the Union have one of the best academy setups on the planet, so they get a rare pass for punting on the draft. Still, the franchise must be considered a draft-day loser since they did not select anyone.

MLS Draft Fans - One of the more disappointing outcomes of the 2024 season was the MLS providing zero coverage for the draft. I guess the writing was on the wall when they stopped hosting an in-person draft a few years ago, but still, it would have been nice to at least have a studio team discuss the selections. This is yet another example of how little care the league has for the process.