The biggest surprise in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft may have been the simple lack of surprises. During the build up to the draft, all the chatter was about how picks were going to be trading hands like crazy. Most seemed to expect at least three. It turned out, there was not a single draft-day trade of 2012 picks.
Aside from the New York Red Bulls sending their 2013 first-round pick to the Portland Timbers in exchange for Kenny Cooper, there was a remarkable lack of movement. It's hard to say what caused that, but it could very well be that the teams looking to trade down were looking for too much and the teams looking to trade up weren't all that enamored with what was available.
The first two picks of the draft went essentially according to plan, as well. Andrew Wenger going No. 1 may have been a minor upset, but no one expected him to fall beyond No. 2. Wenger would seem to be a solid fit with the Montreal Impact at either center back or midfielder. The reverse could be said for No. 2 pick Darren Mattocks, who the Vancouver Whitecaps are most likely expecting to replace Camilo Sanvezzo. It does create an interesting situation with last year's No. 1 pick Omar Salgado, who vocally chaffed at his lack of playing time during his rookie year.
None of this is to suggest everything went exactly according to plan. Chandler Hoffman, around whom the hype train had really started to build steam, fell all the way to No. 13 where he was grabbed by the Philadelphia Union. Hoffman could be fighting it out for minutes with the likes of former No. 1 overall pick Danny Mwanga.
Also stumbling down the draft order were fellow Generation Adidas class members Enzo Martinez and Tyler Polak. Martinez ended up in a situation that might end up being a great move for him longterm, as Real Salt Lake snapped him up with the No. 17 pick.
Polak was the final GA player to go off the board, as the Creighton defender went No. 22 to the New England Revolution. Polak fell so far, in fact, that he wasn't even the first Creighton defender to be taken, as teammate Andrew Duran claimed that honor when the Seattle Sounders took him with the No. 15 pick. He was actually the third Blue Jay taken on the day, with Ethan Finlay going to the Columbus Crew at No. 10.
In another mild upset, no school ended up producing more SuperDraft picks this year than Creighton's four. Only Louisville had as many. North Carolina produced three and some of the traditional powers like Akron (1), Maryland (1) and UCLA (2) had abnormally quiet years on this front.
The other notable absence from the SuperDraft was the names of international players. Despite guys like Jason Banton, Giener Garcia and Kohei Yamada getting a fair amount of press during the combine, none of them were picked.
First Round
| 1 | Montreal Impact | *Andrew Wenger | Defender | Duke University |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | *Darren Mattocks | Forward | University of Akron |
| 3 | New England Revolution | *Kelyn Rowe | Midfielder | UCLA |
| 4 | Toronto FC | Luis Silva | Midfielder | UC Santa Barbara |
| 5 | Chivas USA | Casey Townsend | Forward | University of Maryland |
| 6 | San Jose Earthquakes | *Sam Garza | Forward | UC Santa Barbara |
| 7 | D.C. United | Nick DeLeon | Midfielder | University of Louisville |
| 8 | Portland Timbers | *Andrew Jean-Baptiste | Defender | University Of Connecticut |
| 9 | Chicago Fire | Austin Berry | Defender | University of Louisville |
| 10 | Columbus Crew | Ethan Finlay | Forward | Creighton University |
| 11 | FC Dallas | Matt Hedges | Defender | University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill |
| 12 | Toronto FC | Aaron Maund | Defender | University of Notre Dame |
| 13 | Philadelphia Union | *Chandler Hoffman | Forward | UCLA |
| 14 | Colorado Rapids | Tony Cascio | Midfielder | University Of Connecticut |
| 15 | Seattle Sounders FC | Andrew Duran | Defender | Creighton University |
| 16 | Sporting Kansas City | *Dom Dwyer | Forward | University of South Florida |
| 17 | Real Salt Lake | *Enzo Martinez | Midfielder | University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill |
| 18 | Houston Dynamo | Colin Rolfe | Forward | University of Louisville |
| 19 | Los Angeles Galaxy | Tommy Meyer | Defender | Indiana University |
Second Round
| 20 | Montreal Impact | Callum Mallace | Midfielder | Marquette University |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Chris Estridge | Defender | Indiana University |
| 22 | New England Revolution | *Tyler Polak | Defender | Creighton University |
| 23 | Chicago Fire | Luckymore Mkosana | Forward | Dartmouth College |
| 24 | Real Salt Lake | Diogo de Almeida | Defender | Southern Methodist University |
| 25 | San Jose Earthquakes | Jacob Hustedt | Midfielder | University of Washington |
| 26 | Columbus Crew | Aubrey Perry | Defender | University of South Florida |
| 27 | Portland Timbers | Brendan King | Midfielder | University of Notre Dame |
| 28 | Chicago Fire | Hunter Jumper | Defender | University of Virginia |
| 29 | Columbus Crew | Kevan George | Midfielder | University of Central Florida |
| 30 | Sporting Kansas City | Cyprian Hedrik | Midfielder | Coastal Carolina University |
| 31 | New York Red Bulls | Ryan Meara | Goalkeeper | Fordham University |
| 32 | Philadelphia Union | Greg Jordan | Midfielder | Creighton University |
| 33 | San Jose Earthquakes | Chris Blais | Goalkeeper | University of South Florida |
| 34 | Seattle Sounders FC | Babayele Sodade | Forward | University of Alabama Birmingham |
| 35 | Philadelphia Union | Raymon Gaddis | Defender | West Virginia University |
| 36 | Real Salt Lake | Sebastian Velasquez | Midfielder | Spartanburg Methodist College |
| 37 | Houston Dynamo | Warren Creavalle | Midfielder | University of Central Florida |
| 38 | Los Angeles Galaxy | Kenny Walker | Midfielder | University of Louisville |
* indicates Generation Adidas