Looking back at the MLS draft

I did a mock draft for SI.com earlier in the week.

And I’m not really sure that I like mock drafts.

But supporters enjoy reading them for the speculation aspect, and if the boss man says “Do a mock draft,” my prudent response is “Sure thing! How many words would you like it to be?”

One problem as you canvas coaches, GMs and press officers is that you never really know who is dealing in true information and who might be doling out disinformation. You try your best and just hope people are being honest with you, but the math says not everyone will be. It doesn’t behoove clubs picking early to tip their hand. They might lose leverage in a trade, for instance. Or some team could gain leverage by hinting – whether truthfully or otherwise – that they are looking to add that very forward, midfielder or defender their rival is looking at.

Bottom line, I correctly named 7 of the top 10 players selected (although not many went in the exact spot I had predicted.) Not bad, I suppose. Then again, they were more or less the same names everyone else was picking to go early in the draft.

Here is a full team-by-team assessment so that you may see how your hometown (or regional) club fared Thursday.

Training camps begin springing to life later this month, as the shortest off-season in American sports comes to a close.