One of oddities of American soccer is that the original pipeline of amateur talent entering the professional ranks was unaffiliated youngsters who then passed through amateur NCAA programs before being subject to a draft. It’s normal for other American sports, but completely different than the rest of the world where professional academies develop players from the youth level and typically retain their rights directly. That pathway now exists in the US as well, but the old system is still going strong.
It’s not necessarily the richest talent pipeline, but it’s incredibly valuable – you acquire the talent for free, usually with very modest salaries, mostly not taking up international slots, and some with favorable cap treatment (like Generation Adidas). So it’s important for roster building even if it’s not routinely spitting out all-stars.
To put it mildly, the San Jose Earthquakes have not always made the best roster-building decisions. John Doyle was a dreadful GM, and focused primarily on the domestic market. The Jesse Fioranelli era was not quite as bad, but still had a bunch of huge mistakes, and focused almost entirely on the foreign market. So turns out the problem wasn’t where they were looking.
But one interesting thing about the Quakes is that at least for the last decade or so, the same person, Chris Leitch, has been heavily involved in drafting decisions and other amateur-related acquisitions. And an important secondary credit goes to the Reno 1868 staff, notably coach Ian Russell, who is still with the Quakes as Head Scout, and who had significant sway particularly in later-round signings who were destined for Reno.
As such, evaluating the team’s draft track record since 2017 is not just an academic exercise – it actually tells us something about the staff that’s working at the club today, and therefore ideally a bit about the future as well. So let’s get to it:
First Round Picks
The Quakes, unfortunately, have mostly drafted quite high since 2017 due to terrible records. But through various quirks of bad luck, they’ve mostly not drafted at the very top of the draft, just twice earning a top-5 pick. In the modern MLS SuperDraft, there are certainly a handful of impact players each year, but the odds get exponentially slimmer every 5 or so picks down the order you go.
In the “unambiguous success” bucket, we have Jackson Yueill. In later years, when fans were evaluating him against the standard of star player, many found him a bit lacking. But don’t let that cloud your ability to see the bigger picture: with the 6th pick in the draft, the Quakes selected someone who made an incredible 210 MLS appearances for the club, flashed enough potential to earn a significant run with the US national team, and eventually was named club captain. That’s a humungous success for any draft pick, period. And while his development stalled, I think people forget how he was viewed particularly in Matías Almeyda’s first season, when most of us assumed he’d be poached by a European club sooner rather than later. A strong starter who ran central midfield for 8 years and was an exemplary club servant – that’s an unambiguous success.
I’m tempted, too, to put Daniel Munie in the “unambiguous success” category, since I think very highly of how he’s performed so far, and he looks like a proper starting CB in the league, which is about all you can ask for from a 10th overall pick. It’s perhaps a bit too early to declare victory, but I think this one looks quite good. You could easily imagine him with the club for years, especially since his savvy and IQ should age well.
In the “solid MLS players” bucket, we have an unexpectedly robust group. Paul Marie, drafted 12th overall, has made 140 league appearances for the club and scored 7 goals (seemingly all spectacular). He’s not currently in favor, but that’s a serious contribution. Tanner Beason wasn’t everyone’s favorite, but 110 league appearances from a 12th pick is nothing to sneeze at. Ousseni Bouda hasn’t contributed quite as much as those two, yet, but having just turned 25, he’s already made 60 appearances, and Bruce Arena appears to trust him as a part of the attacking rotation. I’d put my money on him continuing to add to his tally of 5 league goals. It’s far too early to say with this year’s first round picks, Reid Roberts and Max Floriani, but both have already made contributions to the first team, and look to be at worst MLS rotational players.
In the “bust” bucket, it’s suprisingly small for a 9-year sample. Thomas Williamson never made an MLS impression, but as the 12th pick in the dreadful 2021 COVID draft, there wasn’t actually anybody available who would have been much better. Oskar Agren had no more than a cup of coffee in the league (3 starts), but he’s now starting in the Swedish Allsvenskan, so it’s hard to be too disappointed in your talent ID from the 13th pick. The only real regret is Siad Haji, drafted 2nd overall in 2019, who managed just 160 MLS minutes. He had tantalizing vision and technical ability, but his game never really progressed or rounded out, and he therefore is the one pick that was a true “miss,” especially considering Tajon Buchanan went several picks later.
Verdict: Strong, consistent work providing the first team with MLS players, but no true home runs.
Late Rounds (2nd and beyond)
Jon Bell, Danny Musovski, Jack Skahan, and Beau Leroux were all on the field at the same time the other day in Seattle. What unites them? They were all drafted by the San Jose Earthquakes after the first round. It’s hard to overstate how improbable that is – over any 5 year time period, there are usually a small handful of late round picks who make the league, but such a density of them from one club is absolutely nuts.
Let’s start with Leroux – he’s a local kid for San Jose, and he looks destined for stardom already. He’s just 21, but his FBRef page is littered with green, with exceptional ball progression, defensive activity, and goal threat. His most statistically similar player is NYCFC’s Keaton Parks, who was developed in Europe, makes big money, and earned caps for the national team. Leroux getting picked late in the draft, then contributing so early, is a true home run.
But that’s not the end of those who contributed to San Jose. Jack Skahan has never been a star in black and blue, but he’s been a very useful player as a super-sub (particularly in 2024) and made 61 MLS appearances for the club. For any other team, that would be the once-in-a-decade success story from a late round.
And don’t forget Nick Fernandez, who was drafted in the second round this year but has already seen MLS time. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from him so far, but of course it’s far too early to know whether he’ll surpass the likes of Kevin Partida (another late round pick who made a handful of MLS appearances for the club) in career contribution.
Remarkably, that isn’t the end of the list of MLS contributors. Unfortunately, the others contributed for other MLS teams. Danny Musovski, who scored a brace against the team who drafted him, is the most devastating. He’s already in his 7th MLS season, and scored 25 goals with 12 assists, which translates to a goal about every 180 minutes of game time, which is the benchmark for a decent striker. He may not be a true line-leading starter, but he’s been an extremely effective super-sub, and anyone who can score (and assist) at that rate is valuable in the league. Finding that in the second round is remarkable. Unfortunately, the Quakes let him get away for nothing, deciding to sign Andy Ríos (seriously!) instead.
Most Quakes fans reading this blog are familiar with Musovski, of course. But the one you might forget is Jon Bell, drafted in the 2nd round in 2020, who is starting for the Seattle Sounders week-in, week-out as we speak. He has 57 MLS appearances already, primarily in 4 seasons with New England and Seattle. He’s also a left-footed center back, which is a valuable commodity, and remains on a quite low salary at 27. Oh, and he plays for the Jamaican national team. The Quakes let him get away immediately after drafting him by declining to sign him. So huge credit for the amateur scouting, but demerit to the general manager (Jesse Fioranelli) for letting him get away.
There were a handful of nice USL players in here as well, like Lindo Mfeka, which is a credit to the scouts, even though it didn’t ultimately help the first team.
Verdict: Stunning, and likely the best in the league. I don’t think any other club stacks up to this track record.
Other Amateurs
Technically, there are other means for an amateur to join an MLS team, notably the waiver system, and in a prior era, promotion from a second team.
Amazingly, the Quakes have a standout pulled through this back door: Benji Kikanovic, a local kid who they acquired through the waivers system. In his first two years with the club, he managed 10 goals in just 2000 minutes, a very strong return for a winger, and flashed such huge potential that AEK Athens (under Almeyda) offered $1.5 million for him. Obviously, turning down that offer was a mistake, and after injury setbacks and stalled development ever since, we look back with even more regret. But he’s still fashioned himself into a useful MLS player, now as a right wing back, and has made 100 appearances for the club. Again, a really successful return for any amateur, let alone a waiver pick.
Unfortunately, one of the other talented amateurs they identified for the club, Max Arfsten, managed to slip through their fingers. The club signed him to their second team, he was a clear star as a striker, and since he was eligible for the draft, San Jose didn’t have control of his future. He was drafted by Columbus, where he’s become an influential player as a fullback, and has already made 10 appearances for the national team at just 24 years old.
And for the record, while academy kids are technically amateurs, I consider them a fairly separate exercise given geographic restrictions and the exclusive right to offer homegrown contracts – although believe me, I think about Diego Luna, Fidel Barajas, and Drake Callender a lot.
Verdict: Even mechanisms outside the draft exhibit strength in amateur scouting.
Conclusion
The amateur draft (and other routes) are not the only way to get talent in the club. In fact, they’re probably one of the least impactful ways to do so. But they still matter and the Quakes have done a really good job in recent years, through staff that are still involved.
So give them credit for that. Now they just have to continue sorting out everything else.
