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+---- Thread: About Ekon (Part 9) + a mock draft (/showthread.php?tid=9128)
About Ekon (Part 9) + a mock draft - rrf_1 - 2026-03-24
24 Mar 2026
Now that the Academy season has ended, the Victoria Falls Eagles have immediately turned our attention to the SSL draft. Although it is a very quick mental pivot that hardly gives us any time to celebrate our Academy title and accomplishments, we are all excited because getting drafted to a professional organization is the reason we came to the Academy, after all. The excitement among the Eagles is especially high because many of us including midfielder Vyacheslav Shevchenko, striker Armero Staple, striker Vivi Nefertari, and forward Phil Space all have strong first rounder potential in the draft. Defensive midfielder Jonny Jones, forward Von Nguyen, and goalkeeper Joseph Daniel Kakou each have high potential as well, which will surely get scouts excited should they still be available when the second round comes around.
As a way to get us thinking productively about the draft while we wait to hear the results, our social media team has been asking the players:
Quote:What qualities are you looking for in a professional organization?
This is a great question and one that I have thought deeply about throughout my Academy season. Overall, I am really open-minded about the draft, and I look forward to building a career with any of the SSL organizations. Wherever I get drafted, I will be thrilled to contribute to the team because my managers believed enough in my potential to select me.
The biggest desire I have is to join a locker room that supports each other, where it feels like there is a good sense of team amongst the players and the managers. I hope that my teammates are invested in improving their skills and in helping each other reach their professional aspirations. At the end of my career, my biggest goal is to be known as player that was great in some way, however that looks, so playing within a supportive organization where my teammates helped me reach my potential would be incredible. I will definitely try to be a positive contributor to the team spirit in return.
I also hope to join an organization that has a vision for continually improving and remaining competitive within the SSL. I can appreciate that all teams are at different phases of winning, rebuilding, or somewhere in between, so I don’t have a particular desire in that regard. I would, however, like to see that my team is realistic about setting goals, whatever those goals might happen to be, and has a strategy to achieve those goals, even if it takes creative moves or tactics to do so. I am all on board to go on any kind journey with my club, as long as we commit to it and pivot when we need to. Challenges are just as fun as successes!
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As a bonus to the dedicated followers of my Academy journey, I wanted to take this opportunity to mock the draft’s first 9 picks. I was especially intrigued to learn that these picks were divided among just four organizations: Tokyo/Cairo, Romana/London, Buenos Aires/Athênai, and Schwarzwälder/Montréal. With the top picks so concentrated, I was interested in studying why these organizations hoarded draft picks and guessing the specific targets they have early in the draft.
The approach I took for this mock draft was to assume that organizations use top draft picks to bolster their core of young high-earning star talent. By this, I mean that organizations are trying to build a diverse foundation of players that are active and earning TPE at a rate above their peers, and that they use early draft picks to fill the gaps in the core they already have rostered. With this strategy in mind, I analyzed the roster of each organization and identified the players from the last 5 seasons (S20 through S24) that have a total TPE at least 80% of their class leader – this is their "young core" – and I assumed that the areas of highest need for the organization are gaps in this core. In other words, this is where a top S25 prospect will make the biggest impact. When listing the young high-earning core for each organization below, I also identify player positions as their primary position only.
Tokyo S.C. / Cairo City
S20 CDM Ronflex (1352 TPE)
S21 RWB Daniel Herrera (1220 TPE)
S23 ST No Face (946 TPE)
S23 RAM Billy Bobby (895 TPE)
S24 CDM Bodhi Grizz (644 TPE)
After a shocking trade for first overall, Tokyo/Cairo now holds the coveted picks 1 and 2 of the draft. This organization has a great set of young forwards, a small pipeline of talent at defensive midfield, and a solid wing back to round out the core, but there are still big needs on the defense. The center back room could especially use added strength, and a second wing back would balance the outside defense nicely. Tokyo is more than pleased to find that the top two TPE earners of the class would accomplish both of these goals, even if not a perfect fit. Greer and Ayo are both defensively-aligned and will complement the ascendant attackers perfectly.
1. CDM Juliette Greer (440 TPE)
2. LD Ekon Ayo (436 TPE)
A.C. Romana / Inter London
S20 ST/CAM Predrag Dobrić (1608 TPE)
S20 CM/CDM Ryan Van Eyndhoven (1559 TPE)
S21 ST Black Leg Sanji (1293 TPE)
S21 LAM/RAM Jesper Sjöman (1199 TPE)
S23 LWB Caroni Riveras (1001 TPE)
Romana holds picks 3, 7, and 8 in the draft. The core of their team offers a ton of versatility for the formation, primarily building off a duo of strikers, a center midfielder, an outside midfielder, and a wing back. Like Tokyo, Romana could use an upgrade at the center back position, or at a minimum a central defensive midfielder to strengthen the back line. With pick 3, they find Mendes to be a great option for adding midfield personnel, and later in the draft they fill their center back need with the top earner at this position in Zilla. Shocked that the top goal scorer in the Academy is still on the board at pick 8, they also select Staple to fill a deep funnel of attackers.
3. CDM João Mendes (427 TPE)
7. CD Mecha Zilla (400 TPE)
8. ST Armero Staple (416 TPE)
CA Buenos Aires / Athênai F.C.
S20 CAM/RAM Giacomo Santori (1384 TPE)
S21 CAM Roy Rivers (1341 TPE)
S23 CD Sky Scraper (855 TPE)
S23 CDM/CD Nico Grimes (848 TPE)
The CABA organization enters the S25 draft with consecutive picks at 4 and 5. Their young core of high earners is a central hub of 4 midfielders and center backs. In general, this roster could benefit from some additional star talent with a stronger alignment to playing in the wings. With pick 4, they find that the best fit left on the draft board that fills their biggest need is attacker Space. The organization also decides it is worthwhile to lock down a goalkeeper of the future, which is becoming a more urgent need with each passing season, so they select Hernández at pick 5.
4. LAM Phil Space (410 TPE)
5. GK Domingo Hernández (420 TPE)
Schwarzwälder FV / Montréal United
S20 LAM/CAM Cade Power (1590 TPE)
S20 CDM/CD Matias Xavier (1524 TPE)
S21 CM/CDM Tom Mæddisen (1308 TPE)
S22 CAM/LWB Tlacaelel Tepoztli (1088 TPE)
S22 CD Siddhartha Kilgannon (1060 TPE)
S23 ST Hans Grudnar (907 TPE)
S24 CD Austin Morley (639 TPE)
The last of the big 4 in this season’s first round is Schwarzwälder at picks 6 and 9. This club has a lot of young talent that is earning well so far, so they find themselves with the fewest gaps to fill. They have a lot of strength particularly at center back and have a variety of other talent that can flex between various roles, so for the most part they have the privilege of picking the best available players, with a slight lean toward the midfield and outside defense, if available. With their picks, they draft a pair of solid midfielders in Shevchenko and Demarco that can stabilize the interior in the next era.
6. CM Vyacheslav Shevchenko (420 TPE)
9. CM Sharko Demarco (403 TPE)
Really looking forward to seeing the draft results and being welcomed into a new club!