The 2016 MLS SuperDraft was the seventeenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2016 convention was held in Baltimore, Maryland. The first two rounds of the 2016 SuperDraft were held on January 14, 2016. Rounds three and four were held via conference call on January 19, 2016.

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. 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

* Denotes player who has been selected for an MLS Best XI team

Round 1 Any player marked with a * is part of the Generation Adidas program.

Pick # MLS team Player Position College Other 1 Chicago Fire Jack Harrison* Midfielder Wake Forest 2 Philadelphia Union Joshua Yaro* Defender Georgetown Baltimore Bohemians 3 Philadelphia Union Keegan Rosenberry Defender Georgetown Reading United AC 4 Chicago Fire Brandon Vincent Defender Stanford Portland Timbers U23s 5 Real Salt Lake Omar Holness* Midfielder North Carolina Portland Timbers U23s 6 Philadelphia Union Fabian Herbers* Midfielder Creighton 7 Orlando City SC Richie Laryea* Midfielder Akron 8 San Jose Earthquakes Andrew Tarbell* Goalkeeper Clemson New Orleans Jesters 9 Toronto FC Tsubasa Endoh Forward Maryland 10 New England Revolution Jordan McCrary Defender North Carolina Carolina Dynamo 11 D.C. United Julian Büscher* Midfielder Syracuse K-W United FC 12 Chicago Fire Jonathan Campbell Defender North Carolina Seattle Sounders U-23 13 Orlando City SC Hadji Barry Forward UCF Orlando City U-23 14 Montreal Impact Kyle Fisher Defender Clemson Portland Timbers U23s 15 Colorado Rapids Emmanuel Appiah Midfielder Cincinnati GPS Portland Phoenix 16 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Cole Seiler Defender Georgetown Baltimore Bohemians 17 FC Dallas Ryan Herman Goalkeeper Washington Seattle Sounders U-23 18 New York Red Bulls Justin Bilyeu Defender SIU Edwardsville FC Tucson 19 Columbus Crew SC Rodrigo Saravia Midfielder Florida Gulf Coast 20 Portland Timbers Ben Polk Forward Syracuse K-W United FC

Round 1 trades

Round 2 Pick # MLS team Player Position College Other 21 Columbus Crew SC Chase Minter Midfielder Cal Poly Ventura County Fusion 22 Chicago Fire Alex Morrell Forward North Florida 23 Philadelphia Union Taylor Washington Defender George Mason D.C. United U-23 24 Montreal Impact Michael Salazar Forward UC Riverside OC Blues U-23 25 Real Salt Lake Max Lachowecki Defender Notre Dame 26 Houston Dynamo Ivan Magalhães Defender Maryland 27 Seattle Sounders FC Tony Alfaro Defender Cal State Dominguez Hills Ventura County Fusion 28 San Jose Earthquakes Patrick Hodan Midfielder Notre Dame 29 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Christopher Hellmann Forward Lynn Des Moines Menace 30 New England Revolution Michael Gamble Forward Wake Forest Baltimore Bohemians 31 Columbus Crew SC Kyle Parker Forward Charlotte 32 D.C. United Paul Clowes Midfielder Clemson Orlando City U-23 33 FC Dallas Timo Pitter Midfielder Creighton 34 Montreal Impact Eric Verso Midfielder Stanford 35 Seattle Sounders FC Zach Mathers Midfielder Duke OC Blues U-23 36 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Thomas Sanner Forward Princeton Reading United AC 37 Colorado Rapids Dennis Castillo Defender VCU Portland Timbers U23s 38 New York Red Bulls Zach Carroll Defender Michigan State Michigan Bucks 39 Montreal Impact Keegan Smith Forward San Diego Temecula FC 40 Portland Timbers Neco Brett Forward Robert Morris Reading United AC 41 Columbus Crew SC Marshall Hollingsworth Midfielder Wheaton

Round 2 trades

Round 3

Pick # MLS team Player Position College Other 42 LA Galaxy Josh Turnley Defender Georgetown D.C. United U-23 43 Colorado Rapids Chris Froschauer Goalkeeper Ohio State Dayton Dutch Lions 44 Philadelphia Union Mitchell Lurie Defender Rutgers Ocean City Nor'easters 45 FC Dallas Colin Bonner Forward UNCW D.C. United U-23 46 Real Salt Lake Amass Amankona Midfielder Dayton Charlotte Eagles 47 Houston Dynamo T. J. Casner Forward Clemson 48 Orlando City SC Antonio Matarazzo Midfielder Columbia New York Red Bulls U-23 49 San Jose Earthquakes Kip Colvey Defender Cal Poly Ventura County Fusion 50 Vancouver Whitecaps FC James Moberg Midfielder Washington Portland Timbers U23s 51 New England Revolution Femi Hollinger-Janzen Forward Indiana 52 Sporting Kansas City Ryan James Midfielder Bowling Green TFC Academy 53 LA Galaxy PASS 54 Seattle Sounders FC Emir Alihodžić Midfielder Nebraska-Omaha Mississippi Brilla 55 Montreal Impact Brendan Hines-Ike Defender South Florida Ocean City Nor'easters 56 Colorado Rapids Javan Torre Defender UCLA Ventura County Fusion 57 Chicago Fire Vincent Keller Defender Creighton 58 Colorado Rapids Bradley Kamdem Defender UNLV Calgary Foothills FC 59 Toronto FC Mitchell Taintor Midfielder Rutgers Real Boston Rams 60 Columbus Crew SC Vince Cicciarelli Forward Saint Louis Des Moines Menace 61 Portland Timbers Wade Hamilton Goalkeeper Cal Poly Lane United FC

Round 3 trades

Round 4

Pick # MLS team Player Position College Other 62 Chicago Fire Vincent Mitchell Midfielder Butler Des Moines Menace 63 Colorado Rapids John Manga Forward Cincinnati Ocean City Nor'easters 64 Philadelphia Union Cole Missimo Midfielder Northwestern 65 Real Salt Lake Connor Sparrow Goalkeeper Creighton IMG Academy Bradenton 66 Real Salt Lake PASS 67 D.C. United Liam Doyle Defender Ohio State 68 Orlando City SC Tobenna Uzo Forward Coastal Carolina 69 San Jose Earthquakes Tyler Thompson Midfielder Stanford Burlingame Dragons FC 70 Toronto FC Darius Madison Forward UMBC Reading United AC 71 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Josh Heard Midfielder Washington Puget Sound Gunners FC 72 Sporting Kansas City Faik Hajderovic Midfielder Saint Louis 73 LA Galaxy PASS 74 D.C. United PASS 75 Montreal Impact PASS 76 Seattle Sounders FC Michael Nelson Defender Old Dominion 77 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Tyler David Defender Saint Louis 78 FC Dallas Jacob Speed Defender SMU Des Moines Menace 79 D.C. United PASS 80 Toronto FC Brian James Midfielder Penn State 81 Portland Timbers Trevor Morley Defender CSU Northridge FC Tucson

Round 4 trades

Other 2016 SuperDraft Trade Notes On June 6, 2013, Vancouver Whitecaps FC acquired a conditional selection in the 2016 SuperDraft and a second-round selection in the 2015 SuperDraft from D.C. United in exchange for defender Alain Rochat. The conditions to trigger the 2016 SuperDraft pick were not met. On January 6, 2015, Colorado Rapids received goalkeeper Zac MacMath on loan for the 2015 season from Philadelphia Union. The loan deal included a provision that Philadelphia would acquire a first-round selection in the 2016 SuperDraft from Colorado should Colorado execute a permanent transfer for MacMath at the end of the 2015 season. On November 5, 2015, Colorado announced it would not exercise the transfer option on MacMath.

Notable undrafted players Homegrown players

Original MLS teamPlayerPositionCollegeConferenceNotesChicago FireJoey CalistriForwardNorthwesternBig TenChicago FireDrew ConnerMidfielderWisconsinBig TenFC DallasAaron GuillenDefenderFlorida Gulf CoastAtlantic SunNew York Red BullsAlex MuylMidfielderGeorgetownBig EastNew York Red BullsDerrick EtienneMidfielderVirginiaACCNew York Red BullsBrandon AllenForwardGeorgetownBig EastSeattle Sounders FCJordan MorrisForwardStanfordPac-12

Other notable players

Player Pos Affiliation Played in MLS Notes Matt Turner GK Fairfield 2016–2022; 2025– 52 caps with U.S. national team; 2021 MLS All-Star MVP

Summary Selections by college athletic conference ConferenceRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Total NCAA Division I conferences ACC852015 America East00011 The American20125 Atlantic 1002226 Atlantic Sun1100 2 Big East4122 9 Big Ten1242 9 Big South0001 1 Big West0221 5 Conference USA01012 Ivy0110 2 MAC10102 Missouri Valley10001 Northeast0100 1 Pac-1221227 Summit00101 WAC00101 West Coast01001 Non-Division I conferencesCCAA01001CCIW01001Sunshine State01001 OtherPass00156

Schools with multiple draft selections SelectionsSchools4Clemson, Creighton, Georgetown, North Carolina, Saint Louis, Washington3Cal Poly, Stanford2Cincinnati, Maryland, Ohio State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Wake Forest

Selections by position

PositionRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4TotalGoalkeeper20215Defender866525Midfielder776626Forward385319Pass00156

References