It’s draft week. Which means you can expect a whole lot of coverage from AWK as we prepare to roll full steam into the 2011 season. That begins now with extensive coverage of the 2011 WPS Draft from the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore on Friday with live on-site coverage from Jenna and real-time analysis of the picks from yours truly.

What follows is my rankings regardless of position of this year’s prospects. Keep in mind, this list is NOT gospel on who has and has not declared themselves available for this year’s draft. There’s always the possibility something bizarre may happen, like Jessica McDonald’s unexpected entry or Philly drafting a front-office employee. We’re trying to get our hands on a final list later this week, at which point this may be revised.

Also. This should NOT be considered a mock draft. Rather just look on it as how I rank the players at this time. I’ll be doing a mock draft later in the week taking team need into account.

Let the debate begin…

1 – Alex Morgan – F – Cal
2 – Lauren Fowlkes – D/M – Notre Dame

(I love Fowlkes’ versatility. I think she’ll find a home at center-back in the pros but could easily see her as a center midfielder or thrown up front as a burly target forward for a team’s Plan B.)

3 – Christen Press – F – Stanford

(Excuse me why I duck and cover as Stanford fans throw tomatoes at me. I think Press could work out in the end, but she’s got a little too much Bachmann in her for my tastes. Lots of dribbling, sometimes struggles to get her teammates involved. Definitely needs to fall into the right situation.)

4 – Sinead Farrelly – M – Virginia
5 – Amanda DaCosta – M – Florida State

(Has anyone had as quietly brilliant a college career as DaCosta? Keep in mind she was missing a big time strike force to feed for 2010.)

6 – Lauren Barnes – D – UCLA

(I get the feeling Barnes may be this year’s player who drops a bit because her team underperformed her senior year who then comes back and reminds us why we rated her so highly in the first place.)

7 – Elli Reed – D – Portland
8 – Meghan Klingenberg – D/M – North Carolina

(I don’t think I’ve second guessed myself on any player as much as I have with Klingenberg. This ranking is probably more downside than anything, I think her talent range for the draft is probably 3-8. Her two major issues are her size and the fact that her best position may be as a 4-4-2 left midfielder, even though we’re gradually evolving into a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 world. If she’s drafted into one of those systems, it may be back to left-back with her, which she’s more than capable of doing. Great intangibles, with a never ending motor and good leadership skills.)

9 – Sophie Schmidt – M – Portland

(A hell of a test case. I’d bump her up four or five notches if not for the pesky fact that she takes up an international slot and that she will be missing a chunk of 2011 for the Women’s World Cup. Probably not for teams without great depth in reserve to offset international losses.)

10 – Rose Augustin – M/F – Notre Dame

(I’d be nervous if I was picking Augustin. Probably a bit too much in between an attacking midfielder and a forward for my taste. If she can shake the tweener tag and is used right by the right staff, she might thrive.)

11 – Keelin Winters – D/M – Portland

(I get the feeling Winters might make a lot of people look stupid in a few years. All things considered, outside of the top two, I’d probably bet on Winters to be the biggest success out of this class long-term. A coach has to figure out where to play her though. She’s not going to dazzle a stopwatch, which makes the full-back experiment this past U23 camp that much more puzzling. Probably fit for the center of midfield, but can she hold her own against bigger athletes?)

12 – Kylie Wright – M – UCLA
13 – Ashlee Elliott – M/F/D – Florida

(I see Elliott as a WPS player. I don’t see her as a center-back. Playing beside the outstanding Kat Williamson this past year covered up a lot of deficiencies involving anticipation and decision making. People forget she’s a convert after playing all over the place her first years in college and was dropped into defense more out of team necessity than anything else. I’d use her as a midfield destroyer and Plan B up front late in games. Knee injury is a worry.)

14 – Jessica Tsao – D – Portland
15 – Meghan Lenczyk – F – Virginia

(Has never really done it for me. Should be much, much better than she is but has the skills to excel if the light ever comes on.)

16 – Hannah Cerrone – D – Boston College

(One of my favorites in the draft. A pitbull in defense, willing to chop you down without thinking twice. Type of player that’s hard for coaches to cut.)

17 – Jackie Carron – D – Michigan
18 – Megan Jesolva – D/M – Cal

(Hey, the other Cal standout’s pretty good too. Could be a late bloomer with good coaching, already a threat down the flanks.)

19 – Kristin Arnold – GK – Texas A&M;

(Mark my words, somebody’s going to blink under pressure and reach for Arnold. Injury prone and inconsistent, I think she may have already hit her ceiling. Still the best keeper in this class by a mile, but might be just a good backup in the pros.)

20 – Alysha Bonnick – F – Missouri

(Not much nuance, just pace and power. A perfect remedy for teams needing someone to come in to run at tired legs.)

21 – Courtney Wetzel – D – Oregon State
22 – Omolyn Davis – F – George Mason

(Davis is a tank that can dribble. In an age where the target forward is becoming a lost art, the Jamaican All-American has a chance to stick in the WPS if a coach figures out how to use her correctly. I saw her in person at the W-League Playoffs playing for the Freedom Futures. She’s the real deal folks.)

23 – Vendula Strnadova – M – Memphis

(Smooth. That’s how I’d describe Strnadova’s game. Could excel given a bigger stage to perform on.)

24 – Lisa Kevorkian – F – Boston University

(This might be a moot point considering she transferred to BU for grad school.)

25 – Kacey Richards – D – UConn
26 – Tiffany Yovino – M/F – Hofstra

(Hey, how many players in this draft can claim they’ve had their numbers retired? Yovino can. She’s probably going to be forced out wide because of her total lack of size [she'd be one of, if not the shortest players in the league], but don’t doubt her. She’s made a career out of proving naysayers wrong.)

27 – Rachel Givan – D – North Carolina

(Injury issues torpedoing her stock. Transition from defender in a three-back system to a defender in a four-back system isn’t always seamless either.)

28 – Rachel Shipley – M – Texas A&M;

(The Aggies don’t exactly have the best track record with molding pro players.)

29 – Brittney Steinbruch – F – Miami (FL)

(Head case and a half. Looked set for superstardom after her freshman year with the Canes…and then wasn’t. But has also done a decent job at international youth level as well. Certainly worth a roll of the dice late.)

30 – Katie Bethke – F/M – Minnesota
31 – Tanya Taylor – F – UC Irvine

(Either a very late bloomer or a mirage. Hell of a senior season, not much in her first three seasons.)

32 – Kerri Butler – GK – West Virginia
33 – Gina DeMaio – M – Rutgers

(Injury flag [knee])

34 – Molly Rouse – M – Minnesota
35 – Danielle Toney – F – Penn State

(Another in the “You Should Probably Be Better Than You Really Are” file. Getting outplayed by freshman teammates isn’t the message to send to WPS coaches. Maddeningly inconsistent but has the tools to turn into something.)

36 – Erica Campanelli – D – Texas
37 – Jen Stoltenberg – F – Oregon
38 – Alyssa Mautz – M – Texas A&M;
39 – Elise Fugowski – M – UConn
40 – Kylie Kallman – D – Minnesota
41 – Lindsay Bullock – M – Long Beach State
42 – Whitney Palmer – F – Oklahoma
43 – Ashley Berra – F – Memphis
44 – Aubree Southwick – GK – San Diego State
45 – Friederike Engel – D – American

(How exactly does a German with a U19 European Championship winner’s medal end up at American? May be one of the best Patriot League players ever. Certainly worth the risk to bring into camp at any rate.)

46 – Myriam Bouchard – D – VCU

(Was captain of the 2008 Canadian U20 team. Seriously, how do some of these players fall through the cracks like this?)

47 – Kelly Dyer – GK – Texas A&M;

(A backup you might ask? Most backups can’t save penalties like Dyer can. Most backups do make some of the horrendous errors Dyer made in 2010 though. She’s shown she can play at a very high level, as evidenced by her All-Big XII honor in 2008. She just needs someone to coax that skill back out of her. High risk, high reward.)

48 – Whitney Hooper – F – Texas A&M;
49 – Marky Boyce – F – Charleston Southern

(Put up some crazy, video game numbers the past two seasons at the lower levels of D1. Curiosity demands to see if she can do it at a higher level.)

50 – Janice Cayman – F – Florida State

(Belgian international. If she can’t cut it in WPS, she’ll make some money in Europe.)

51 – Jennie Clark – D – Minnesota
52 – Jackie Zinke – M – San Diego
53 – Salma Tarik – F – Hofstra
54 – Molly Kinsella – F – Vanderbilt

(Deserved much, much better for her soccer career. A player with a top-class workrate who was just beaten down by the outright mediocrity of her teammates.)

55 – Teresa Rynier – M – James Madison
56 – Ashley Berra – F – Memphis
57 – Brittiny Rhoades – D – South Carolina
58 – Liz Secue – D – Purdue
59 – Shay Mannino – GK – Central Michigan
60 – Sammy Towne – D – Auburn
61 – Jerica DeWolfe – M – Dayton

(Good player, great name.)

Why Not… (Players on the WPS Top 30 List, but not mine)

-Kendra Chandhoke (Portland) – A walking injury bug. Has missed massive chunks out of two of the last three seasons due to injury. Might be worth a camp invite, but a draft pick?

-Katie Fraine (Florida) – A helpful analogy: Kristin Luckenbill : US National Team :: Katie Fraine : US U23 Team

-Ali Hawkins (North Carolina) – Has stated in the past she has no interest in a pro career. If she can be persuaded to change her mind, she’s in the 6-10 range.

-Alex Lostetter (Army) – If cadets can’t get out of their service contract for the NFL Draft, they aren’t getting out of it for the WPS Draft.

-Nikki Weiss (Notre Dame) – Showed improvement, but it’s not hard to look good on a national title winning team. Don’t think she’s professional caliber.

Send to Facebook

Tweet This Post

View Original Post at allwhitekit.wordpress.com | View jennaawk's Full Profile

• Filed Under:  
• Soccer, Sports, WPS

This post is related to an event on our Calendar:

• 2011 WPS Draft (Live Webcast on Jan 14 at 1pm ET)