UPDATED: 1/13/2011

UPDATED: 1/2/2011

After watching 100 live college soccer games this year, supplemented by another 52 games on tape, composed of 118 different college teams, here is my assessment of the seniors, international invitees and Generation Adidas underclassman. My rankings take into account the values of GA, international status and general assessment of the skill and how each player might fit into a MLS team.

Players that I haven’t seen are generally ranked lower than players that I have seen. I’m from the East coast – so it’s easier for me to see teams in the East. However, I’ve seen UCI, Sacramento State, SMU, Bradley, Cal-Northridge, Cal, San Diego, Tulsa and Drake live. I was unable to see some teams live, I’ve only seen on tape (e.g., Notre Dame, SIUE, Michigan, South Carolina, UCSB). The combine will supplement my prior observations and fill the gaps where needed.

Washington, Cal-Bakersfield and SD State are three teams that I regret not being able to see.

In addition to ranking each player sequentially, I’m assigning a letter grade using the following scale:

A=Can’t miss prospect. Should easily make the roster and may get time with the first team in 2010. By the end of the year, could be an impact player.

B=Likely to make the team. Could make roster, may take a year or more to get to the first team.

C=Probably not going to make the team. Has significant barriers to overcome. A very select few may eventually make it, but it would need to be a perfect storm (multiple injuries, playing out of their heads, fortuitous bounces, etc.).

D=Extremely unlikely to make a team.

F=No shot.

Within each grade, I’ve ranked each player.

This is a work-in-progress. I will be tweaking the rankings through the combine and I as review tape.

Below, I’ve broken out my rankings for goal keepers. I’ll follow this with rankings of defenders, midfielders, forwards and over-all. Enjoy!

Much like the rest of this draft, the goal keepers with realistic MLS expectations are pretty thin.

# Pos Grade Name College Combine?
1 GK B Zac MacMath Maryland GA
2 GK C+ Josh Ford Connecticut Combine
3 GK C+ Clint Irwin Elon
4 GK C+ Joe Willis Denver Combine
5 GK C+ Zach Johnson West Virginia
6 GK C Austin Guerrero Portland
7 GK C Alex Riggs Mo State
8 GK C Jeff Attinella South Florida Combine
9 GK C Jimmy Maurer South Carolina Combine
10 GK C Diego Restrepo UVA
11 GK C Bryan Meredith Monmouth Combine
12 GK C Fabian Knopfler Butler
13 GK C Andrew McAdams William & Mary
14 GK C- Evan Newton Old Dominion
15 GK C- Paul Grandstrand Brown
16 GK D+ Avery Steinlage Michigan State
17 GK D+ Colin O’Donnell New Hampshire
18 GK D Sam Hayden UCSB
19 GK D Sean Lynch Princeton
20 GK D Matt Williams Cincinnati
21 GK D Matthew Brutto Georgetown
22 GK D Brad Byrns San Diego State
23 GK D Michael Lavric Northern Kentucky
24 GK D Brock Duckworth UNC Wilmington
25 GK D- Jeremy Vuolo Syracuse
26 GK D- Mathew Smith FGCU
27 GK D- Thorne Holder Adelphi
28 GK F Akira Fitzgerald Wake Forest
29 GK F Ken Cooper UMKC
30 GK F Jonathan Lester San Jose State
31 GK F Ben Berg Penn
32 GK F Chris Dodd Houston Baptist
33 GK F Ryan Schwarz Valparaiso
34 GK F Sean Molony E Illinois
35 GK F Andrew Pianko Lafayette
36 GK F Rennie Walker Centenary
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