MLSsoccer.com: “Hoping your team picks a late-round gem? Here are some examples from MLS history”
Article excerpt:
Every team picking in the first round of the 2016 SuperDraft will go in hoping to find the next Cyle Larin. Once you get past the first and second rounds, finding those kinds of players becomes more and more difficult.
But it’s not impossible.
Over the 20-year history of MLS, several late-round picks have become superstars for the team that drafted them.
Keep in mind that there have been many players picked in the later rounds that have gone on to have incredible professional careers. You can count Nick Rimando, Michael Bradley and Geoff Cameron among the many names that could be mentioned in this space.
Here, we will try to stick to players who had an immense, longstanding impact on the team that drafted them, however late that may have been.
- C.J. Brown – Chicago Fire (1998 Supplemental Draft/Round 1/Pick 1; No. 37 overall)
- Davy Arnaud – Sporting Kansas City (2002 SuperDraft/Round 5/Pick 1; No. 50 overall)
- Brian Ching – San Jose Earthquakes (2003 Supplemental Draft/Round 1/Pick 1; No. 61 overall)
- Chris Wondolowski – San Jose Earthquakes (2005 Supplemental Draft/Round 4/Pick 5; No. 89 overall)
- Sean Johnson – Chicago Fire (2010 SuperDraft/Round 4/Pick 3; No. 51 overall)
