Ranking of '01 and Later Prospects

I'd like to know what everyone thinks.

How would you rank players from '01 on? Use whatever criteria you'd like and include whoever you'd like. Stick to the parameters of '01 and on. What would your top 10, 15, 20 (or pick a number) look like?

 

Here would be my 30 man short-list.

'01: de la Fuente, Booth, Araujo, Akanyirige, Llanez, Stojanovic, Roberts, Tessman, Otasowie
'02: Las, Scally, Bello, Gray, Judge, Alejandre, Hernandez-Foster, Atencio, Saldana, Reyna, Ocampo-Chavez
'03: Nyeman, Cuevas, Pepi, Gomez, Hall, Sarver, Freeman
'04: Rotundo, Toure, Craig

I'll make a top 20. I'll split my explanations into groups of 5.

1. Nyeman
2. de la Fuente
3. Las
4. Scally
5. Booth

Nyeman is first and I see a huge gap between him and everyone else. Positionally plays a very important position, game to game impact is the highest on the list, very few weaknesses, many strengths. I think de la Fuente is likely to have a very good career, but I don't know if I see the potential to play for one of the best clubs in the world. He's just a little too predictable in his chance creation, and not quite athletic enough for that to not matter. Also plays on the side instead of centrally, so less important position. Considering age, current ability, style of play, probably the surest thing "good" player.

Las is a great keeper prospect. I could see an argument that he's higher than de la Fuente talent-wise (and close to Nyeman), but way more unpredictable position and development path because of his position. Scally has a very high floor because of his all-around great athleticism and defensive IQ. He's probably #2 among "sure thing", but he plays on the side, and I'm not sure the potential is there (due to his touch and average offensive creativity) to be a great RB. He might have higher potential as a #6 or CB. Something to watch for. Booth caries risk. Bayern development path (they don't use their academy) and he's been out of contract for a long time now. Talent-wise, he's right there with the guys above him. Only weakness is athleticism, but he mitigates it with a very high soccer IQ.

6. Araujo
7. Akanyirige
8. Ocampo-Chavez
9. Bello
10. Rotundo

The only question with Araujo is his height. Otherwise, he'd be #2 on this list. If he doesn't grow 2-3 inches, he might have to move to the #6. I think he has potential there, but we haven't seen him play it yet. He's not a RB, and its wasting his game to put him there. Akanyirige will be good. I don't have many questions about his game. San Jose is a terrible development environment though. Ocampo-Chavez might have the biggest stock gain among all these players this year. His size isn't going to keep him from playing CF, but it won't be a strength. Thats the only real question I'd have about his game.

Bello plays on the side and has a terrible development environment. I think there are some minor questions about his defensive game. Positioning is a problem as is turnovers. Not going to keep him from playing the position well, but I don't know if he'll be more than slightly above average defensively. Rotundo's game is harder to predict because of his age. I feel like #9 is where there's a big break between most of the older players, so its probably where the best '04 fits into the equation. We'll see how his athleticism develops. From what i see, he plays like Carleton, but is a little less flashy and probably a little less impactful.

11. Llanez
12. Reyna
13. Atencio
14. Cuevas
15. Stojanovic

I don't think Llanez has particularly high upside because he's so predictable and somewhat selfish in his approach, but he's a decent player already. One of the current best players on this list. He'll be a good player. I think Reyna is similar to Llanez in the sense that he doesn't have huge upside, but he's likely to be a good player. Reyna isn't as presently good, but I think he has too many tools to not figure it out to some extent. I don't see any major weaknesses, just needs to put forth some better performances and figure out where on the field he'll play.

I like what I see from Atencio. Big, good defensively, very good feet and passing range. Athleticism is the main question here, IMO. I think he's somewhat comparable to a player like Durkin, but not as impactful or physical. Cuevas has a good combination of polish and upside at RB. He's shown good performances against older players, as well. Development environment will be a question, and he also plays on the side, so not as important of a position. Stojanovic doesn't have big upside as he's not the most skilled or athletic, but he works hard, has good size and scores goals in a variety of ways. Under the radar player. Development environment is a question.

16. Freeman
17. Tessman
18. Gray
19. Gomez
20. Saldana

Freeman has a good combination of upside and current ability. Not many weaknesses. Club form has been somewhat iffy, but not a huge concern. I don't think Tessman's play comparatively to his peers matches the others on this list, but I think he's shown big improvements in the last year, and has the potential to show the same in the upcoming years. I initially thought he was just a roving #8 with size, athleticism and not a lot else, but I've seen some nice displays of skill and passing. He has all the tools. Now just needs to have them all match up.

Gray's size at CB is somewhat of a question, and I don't think he has a great touch, but he brings the ball out of the back well due to his mobility and is a reasonably good defensive player. Gomez has a good combination of tools at LB. He's also. performed well in the games I've watched. Game is reminiscent of D. Acosta. Development environment will be a question, and he's also a LB, so not a very important position. Saldana plays a very quiet game. There is no high upside here, IMO. He doesn't make many plays on either end of the game, but he's a glue guy #8. He'll help his team win games. His development environment is definitely a question though.

Cuts: Roberts, Otasowie, Hernandez-Foster, Alejandre, Judge, Hall, Pepi, Sarver, Toure, Craig

I like Roberts talent, but I often feel like he underperforms. Development environment is obviously also a big question. Otasowie looks like a pretty raw CM with athleticism and some tools. Good performances work in his favor. Only seen him play briefly. Hernandez-Foster wouldn't have been on this list prior to a couple of weeks ago. Really impressive at the LigaMX tournament. I've seen him play CB, but I think he's more of a LB. He has decent skill, some athleticism and defensive ability. Development environment is definitely a big question. There are two main questions surrounding Alejandre. Positional questions (height is a problem at CB) and not in a pro environment right now. He's a very good performer and I like his ability (mobile, good passer, smart defensive player). Worth mentioning, even if there are areas of concern.

Judge is just about the opposite of his CB partner with the U-17's. Very few questions, but I consider him to be a very boring prospect. Tools are about average across the board, and very quiet performances. His floor is relatively high though for a player of his age. Hall had an excellent playoffs. I wasn't very impressed with what I saw of him at the GA Cup, but he looked to have rounded out his game a few months later. He's from the Jaylin Lindsey, Chris Gloster mold of full-back. Will bring that type of profile. Upside is somewhat limited and he's a full-back. Pepi is very good right now, and plays a very important position, but I question his upside (doesn't make plays for himself or teammates, needs service), and then his development environment is also very questionable.

I've only seen Sarver play briefly. Excellent speed and very aggressive taking on defenders. Good goal-scoring record. I don't yet have a good idea about his skill, passing or soccer IQ. Toure is another I've only seen briefly, and neither game he played well, so I haven't seen the "hype" yet. He's obviously very young and he's a great athlete comparatively to most his age, so the typical questions for those types of players will emerge. I don't know yet how valid they are. I think he's in a very good environment to develop though at NYRB. There seems to be a consensus Rotundo and Toure are the two best 04's. I don't think its clear, but I think Craig is the third best. A lot of different tools (physical, technical, tactical), positional versatility, and I've been impressed with his play against older players. Philly is also maybe the best current environment in the USA to develop in.

 

I should try to update this. I’ll do this by birth-year.

Does anyone want to chime in with their own list?

‘01: 1. Julian Araujo 2. Taylor Booth 3. Konrad de la Fuente 4. Ulysses Llanez 5. Tanner Tessman 6. Ian Hoffmann 7. Jacob Akanyirige 8. Marcelo Palomino 9. Cameron Duke 10. Cole Bassett

‘02: 1. Damian Las 2. Gio Reyna 3. Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez 4. Kobe Hernández-Foster 5. Joe Scally 6. George Bello 7. Josh Atencio 8. Tayvon Gray 9. Seth Wilson 10. Mario Penagos

‘03: 1. Moses Nyeman 2. Jonathan Gomez 3. Elton Chifamba 4. Danny Leyva 5. Ricardo Pepi 6. Mauricio Cuevas 7. Casey Walls 8. Chris Garcia 9. Sam Sarver 10. Kevin Paredes

‘04: 1. Evan Rotundo 2. Brandan Craig 3. Dantouma Toure 4. Antonio Leone 5. Quinn Sullivan 6. Justin Reynolds 7. Fede Oliva 8. Kenan Hot 9. Luis Lima 10. Takashi Sasaki

 

I forgot to include Leo Torres for '04. I'd put him at #6, and push everyone back one spot.