SB Nation Soccer held its second annual live MLS Mock SuperDraft Sunday night, with the results being published online Monday. The first round was a flurry of action, despite blog managers not being allowed to trade picks, or players, during the mock event. Drafting for the Philadelphia Union, I selected Enzo Martinez, Aaron Maund and Hunter Jumper with the Union's three picks in the two rounds of the mock SuperDraft.
My original plan was to select the highest rated defender (center back or left back) available at the 13th overall draft pick. That plan seemed to have high hopes when many of my colleagues decided to draft offensive players in the beginning of the mock draft, but it quickly fizzled out as top center back prospect Matt Hedges and top left back options Chris Estridge and Tyler Polak were drafted by the 11th pick. Back up center back target Austin Berry was taken by Toronto FC blog Waking the Red.
With my plan destroyed, I decided to select central attacking midfielder Martinez with the Union's first round pick. He has played on the outside, but is suited to play centrally as a creative player in MLS. Martinez would be a suitable choice for the Union if either Roger Torres or Freddy Adu was not to return to Philadelphia for the 2012 MLS season. The 21-year-old's Generation Adidas status doesn't hurt, given the Union's salary cap situation in the future.
By the time the Union's first second round pick came around, my strategy had shifted multiple times. My plan was to take Hunter Jumper, probably the third or fourth best left back in this year's SuperDraft, with the 32nd overall pick, but the moves prior to my turn to choose changed my tactics.
Former USMNT youth international Aaron Maund fell to 32 and I couldn't resist taking the high reward, mild risk center back prospect. As I detailed in my write up for SB Nation Soccer, Maund is questionable with the ball at his feet, but given the fact that he would spend time learning from Danny Califf and Carlos Valdes while bidding his time should quell any fears that Union fans have about his problems. Maund is over six feet tall and has very good speed for a center back, two thinks that cannot be taught.
The next pick I made was Jumper, who I believe to have the best name in the draft this year. He's rated highly, something that at least one expert I've talked to disagrees with, at a position that could be strengthened in multiple ways to the Union's favor. For more on this situation, read my explanation of the selection on SB Nation Soccer.