2025-08-31, 05:47 PM - Word count:
We’re going to take a very early look at how the S23 Draft might shape up. I’m not expecting to be overly accurate on this, for a couple of reasons. First off, we’re approximately 1 week into the season, so no one who has created has had time to really fall off the updating horse, which could be a big factor in shaking up where people go. Second, we still might get some new players, who haven’t even created yet, but who might disrupt the current balance of draftees. Third, I have not considered player agency reputation, or lack thereof. Yes, it’s likely that GMs will be interested in prior player pedigree and might be hesitant to take a risk on the unknown quantity that comes with first generation users. Fourth, we have not yet hit the trade deadline, so it is entirely possible that some of the picks that I am currently listing will belong to different teams by the time the draft rolls around. Finally, we haven’t hit the end of the season, so the draft order isn’t set yet. To generate this draft order, I looked for some predictions that people had shared in Locker Rooms, and combined those into a rough draft order.
The main thing that I looked at to generate this list was what positions teams were losing, or had inactive on their rosters currently. I did not consider players’ secondary positions, nor the relative TPE of inactives or rosters as a whole. I also did not consider the option that a player would use a reroll to move to a position of need for the drafting team. These are other contributing factors to how this mock draft could be very inaccurate. But, if we accept these limitations, we’ll give it our best shot.
1: Liffeyside - Rean Schwarzer (GK) @Bowl0
Liffeyside needs experience and time to develop more than anything else. But the organization only has one active goal keeper, and it’s hard to pass up the opportunity to take a high earner at such an important position for the team’s health and success.
2. Xelaju - Mike Bassett (ST) @PengestMunch
Xelaju is similarly in a position where they’re not really missing much more than time to grow, but they do have some inactives that they’d probably like to replace. Mike Bassett looks like a good pick for one of their main areas of need, striker
3. Romana - Volkan Kızıltaş (LAM) @Estiarte
Romana needs a new LAM/LM, and Volkan looks like a player who will fill that need nicely. With two of the top 3 earners being LAMs, it’s hard to see Romana passing on this position of need, but it’s a coin flip as to which way they’ll go, between Volkan and Jiang You. My coin says Volkan, but that’s a pure guess.
4. Tenochtitlan - Jiang You (LAM) @loosSerine
Tenochtitlan also needs an LAM/LM, so they’ll be thrilled to scoop up whichever player Romana can’t take. Since my coin said Volkan was heading to Rome, it looks like Jiang is off to Tenochtitlan!
5. Catalunya - Lucas Peioxoto (LD) @Lpapi
With Catalunya needing to replace a few inactives, they’ll be happy to take one of the top 3 earners at 5th overall, shoring up their inactive LD/LWB inactive
6. Shanghai - Matt Oopsie Wrongsport Turk (RWB) @Matt Turk
Shanghai needs a new RWB/RD, and they’ve got two great options pretty high up the draft table right now. With Jay Cue Jr. and Matt Oopsie Wrongsport Turk, there’s no bad choice, so I’m going with MOWT just for the name.
7. Buenos Aires - Lucas James (LAM) @Meshable
Buenos Aires is actually in a fairly enviable position this year. They need a CDM pretty badly, but Nico Grimes is tied to their Organizational Manager, Aleris, so they will receive that assistance from a source outside of the draft itself. This leaves them able to address one of their other areas of greatest need: LAM/LM. Lucas James looks like he’s pretty much on the same level as Jiang You and Vokan Kızıltaş, so Buenos Aires will be more than happy to select him here.
8. Schwarzwalder - Kaspars Kalinins (CDM) @jacobcarson877
Black Forest desperately need to refill their CDM position, as they’re losing one to retirement, and the only other primary CDM in the organization is inactive. They’ll select the best CDM on the board and be grateful that they can still do that this late in the first round.
9. Tokyo - Freddy Adu (CAM) @Doc
Tokyo is currently sitting in a rough spot when it comes to the center of the field. In the organization as a whole, they have two inactive CAMs and 2 inactive CMs. The highest ranked player at either position is Freddy Adu, so they will take him and be relieved that they got their main target without needing to trade.
10. Romana (via Hollywood) - Kaspar Talkvik (GK) @Froste39
Romana needs a new goal keeper. Since they didn’t take one at third overall, they’ll use their pick from Hollywood to address that need.
11. Sao Paolo - Juanito Perez (LD) @Sandiacalada
Sao Paolo don’t have any players slated to retire, nor do they have any inactives. Instead, they can enter this draft with an eye to preparing to address their areas of need caused by aging players. One of their oldest players slots into LWB/LD, so they’ll take Juanito Perez to be ready to reload when Father Time comes calling for Kirkpatrick and Cotswold.
12. Reykjavik - Tumelo Letsie - GK @AW13
Reykjavik is in a similar boat to Sao Paolo, with no pressing needs from retirement or inactivity. Thus, they’ll try to plan ahead and address the fact that they only have one goal keeper in the organization, and he’s one of their oldest players.
13. Liffeyside (compensatory pick) - Sky Scraper (CD) @SFresh3
Liffeyside will take advantage of their compensatory pick, using it to address their need at CD with the highest rated CD, Sky Scraper.
14. Xelaju (compensatory pick) - Seth McNeil (RAM) @CamGoldenGun
Xelaju would have really liked to address the fact that they needed a CD, but they’ll snag the highest rated RAM, in Seth McNeil, as a consolation prize. Not a bad use of the compensatory pick by any means.
15. Liffeyside - Mihalia Marius (ST) @Skenoj
Liffeyside uses their third pick in the top fifteen, getting an offensive prospect in Mihalia Marius.
16. Xelaju - Will Chamblee (LD) @Will0104
Xelaju will use their second round pick to take a flier on Will Chamblee. Although Chamblee is an LD, he’s got experience down the middle of the pitch, and they’ll hope that Chamblee is willing to move back to CD for them, at least for the time being.
17. Romana - Ross Downing (CDM) @saxoross
Romana needs to address the fact that they’ve got an inactive CDM, and they’ll turn to Ross Downing to fill that hole.
18. Tenochtitlan - Johnny Crying (GK) @LarryTheMVP
Tenochtitlan doesn’t like that their Minors goal keeper is inactive, so Johnny Crying will get the call at 18, and all four goal keepers will be off the board. This might cause Black Forst and Hollywood to question their life choices, especially Hollywood, who couldn’t even pick a single player because they traded away their first round pick.
19. Catalunya - Arsène N’Goussou (CAM) @Pandar
Catalunya has an inactive CAM, so they’ll use their second round pick on N’Goussou, who they hope will help them lock down the middle of their attack in the future.
20. Shanghai - Zizou Lopta II (ST) @Otaznik
Shanghai needs a new Striker, since their minors ST is inactive, and their majors ST is getting older. They’ll hope that Lopta II can be the guy to fill that role.
21. Buenos Aires - Gideon Norel (CDM) @Zedakay
Buenos Aires needs to address a gap at CD. Norel has experience there, and might also give Buenos Aires the option to move Grimes back to CD, if Norel would fit better at the CDM position.
22. Schwarzwalder - Rip Van Winkle (RWB) @astrablossom
Schwarzwalder could really use an RWB, and Rip Van Winkle is a highly rated RWB who is somehow still on the board. They’ll just have to hope he doesn’t take any naps in the Black Forest.
23. Tokyo - Nico Lam (CM) @Zucker
Tokyo needs a CM, and they’ll be surprised to check the draft board and see that the top rated CM is still there. They’ll call Nico Lam’s name and be quite pleased with their luck.
24. Hollywood - Robbie Schuurmans (RAM) @Katth
Hollywood had to wait a long time to make this pick, and while they still absolutely need to address RAM, they probably would’ve liked to have more flexibility in their overall selection. Still, Schuurmans is a stellar player, and Hollywood won’t feel disappointed for long, as he’ll quickly show his class.
25. Liffeyside (via Sao Paolo) - Dwayne Pruney (LAM) @Nike
Liffeyside will have made full use of their four picks across the first two rounds. They’ve addressed all of their holes, so now they’ll have the luxury of getting to take the best player available
26. Buenos Aires (via Reykjavik) - Danny Michati (LWB) @Probot
Buenos Aires is going to consider this to be a very successful daft indeed. By picking Michati, they’ll have addressed all of their primary areas of need with players who are top tier caliber. Michati fills the weaker left back region for Buenos Aires.
Given how early in the season this is, this is probably laughably wrong. Also, no offense is intended to those people who I didn't shout out! Maybe I’ll try to update this when we get closer to the draft itself? We’ll see how that goes.
The main thing that I looked at to generate this list was what positions teams were losing, or had inactive on their rosters currently. I did not consider players’ secondary positions, nor the relative TPE of inactives or rosters as a whole. I also did not consider the option that a player would use a reroll to move to a position of need for the drafting team. These are other contributing factors to how this mock draft could be very inaccurate. But, if we accept these limitations, we’ll give it our best shot.
1: Liffeyside - Rean Schwarzer (GK) @Bowl0
Liffeyside needs experience and time to develop more than anything else. But the organization only has one active goal keeper, and it’s hard to pass up the opportunity to take a high earner at such an important position for the team’s health and success.
2. Xelaju - Mike Bassett (ST) @PengestMunch
Xelaju is similarly in a position where they’re not really missing much more than time to grow, but they do have some inactives that they’d probably like to replace. Mike Bassett looks like a good pick for one of their main areas of need, striker
3. Romana - Volkan Kızıltaş (LAM) @Estiarte
Romana needs a new LAM/LM, and Volkan looks like a player who will fill that need nicely. With two of the top 3 earners being LAMs, it’s hard to see Romana passing on this position of need, but it’s a coin flip as to which way they’ll go, between Volkan and Jiang You. My coin says Volkan, but that’s a pure guess.
4. Tenochtitlan - Jiang You (LAM) @loosSerine
Tenochtitlan also needs an LAM/LM, so they’ll be thrilled to scoop up whichever player Romana can’t take. Since my coin said Volkan was heading to Rome, it looks like Jiang is off to Tenochtitlan!
5. Catalunya - Lucas Peioxoto (LD) @Lpapi
With Catalunya needing to replace a few inactives, they’ll be happy to take one of the top 3 earners at 5th overall, shoring up their inactive LD/LWB inactive
6. Shanghai - Matt Oopsie Wrongsport Turk (RWB) @Matt Turk
Shanghai needs a new RWB/RD, and they’ve got two great options pretty high up the draft table right now. With Jay Cue Jr. and Matt Oopsie Wrongsport Turk, there’s no bad choice, so I’m going with MOWT just for the name.
7. Buenos Aires - Lucas James (LAM) @Meshable
Buenos Aires is actually in a fairly enviable position this year. They need a CDM pretty badly, but Nico Grimes is tied to their Organizational Manager, Aleris, so they will receive that assistance from a source outside of the draft itself. This leaves them able to address one of their other areas of greatest need: LAM/LM. Lucas James looks like he’s pretty much on the same level as Jiang You and Vokan Kızıltaş, so Buenos Aires will be more than happy to select him here.
8. Schwarzwalder - Kaspars Kalinins (CDM) @jacobcarson877
Black Forest desperately need to refill their CDM position, as they’re losing one to retirement, and the only other primary CDM in the organization is inactive. They’ll select the best CDM on the board and be grateful that they can still do that this late in the first round.
9. Tokyo - Freddy Adu (CAM) @Doc
Tokyo is currently sitting in a rough spot when it comes to the center of the field. In the organization as a whole, they have two inactive CAMs and 2 inactive CMs. The highest ranked player at either position is Freddy Adu, so they will take him and be relieved that they got their main target without needing to trade.
10. Romana (via Hollywood) - Kaspar Talkvik (GK) @Froste39
Romana needs a new goal keeper. Since they didn’t take one at third overall, they’ll use their pick from Hollywood to address that need.
11. Sao Paolo - Juanito Perez (LD) @Sandiacalada
Sao Paolo don’t have any players slated to retire, nor do they have any inactives. Instead, they can enter this draft with an eye to preparing to address their areas of need caused by aging players. One of their oldest players slots into LWB/LD, so they’ll take Juanito Perez to be ready to reload when Father Time comes calling for Kirkpatrick and Cotswold.
12. Reykjavik - Tumelo Letsie - GK @AW13
Reykjavik is in a similar boat to Sao Paolo, with no pressing needs from retirement or inactivity. Thus, they’ll try to plan ahead and address the fact that they only have one goal keeper in the organization, and he’s one of their oldest players.
13. Liffeyside (compensatory pick) - Sky Scraper (CD) @SFresh3
Liffeyside will take advantage of their compensatory pick, using it to address their need at CD with the highest rated CD, Sky Scraper.
14. Xelaju (compensatory pick) - Seth McNeil (RAM) @CamGoldenGun
Xelaju would have really liked to address the fact that they needed a CD, but they’ll snag the highest rated RAM, in Seth McNeil, as a consolation prize. Not a bad use of the compensatory pick by any means.
15. Liffeyside - Mihalia Marius (ST) @Skenoj
Liffeyside uses their third pick in the top fifteen, getting an offensive prospect in Mihalia Marius.
16. Xelaju - Will Chamblee (LD) @Will0104
Xelaju will use their second round pick to take a flier on Will Chamblee. Although Chamblee is an LD, he’s got experience down the middle of the pitch, and they’ll hope that Chamblee is willing to move back to CD for them, at least for the time being.
17. Romana - Ross Downing (CDM) @saxoross
Romana needs to address the fact that they’ve got an inactive CDM, and they’ll turn to Ross Downing to fill that hole.
18. Tenochtitlan - Johnny Crying (GK) @LarryTheMVP
Tenochtitlan doesn’t like that their Minors goal keeper is inactive, so Johnny Crying will get the call at 18, and all four goal keepers will be off the board. This might cause Black Forst and Hollywood to question their life choices, especially Hollywood, who couldn’t even pick a single player because they traded away their first round pick.
19. Catalunya - Arsène N’Goussou (CAM) @Pandar
Catalunya has an inactive CAM, so they’ll use their second round pick on N’Goussou, who they hope will help them lock down the middle of their attack in the future.
20. Shanghai - Zizou Lopta II (ST) @Otaznik
Shanghai needs a new Striker, since their minors ST is inactive, and their majors ST is getting older. They’ll hope that Lopta II can be the guy to fill that role.
21. Buenos Aires - Gideon Norel (CDM) @Zedakay
Buenos Aires needs to address a gap at CD. Norel has experience there, and might also give Buenos Aires the option to move Grimes back to CD, if Norel would fit better at the CDM position.
22. Schwarzwalder - Rip Van Winkle (RWB) @astrablossom
Schwarzwalder could really use an RWB, and Rip Van Winkle is a highly rated RWB who is somehow still on the board. They’ll just have to hope he doesn’t take any naps in the Black Forest.
23. Tokyo - Nico Lam (CM) @Zucker
Tokyo needs a CM, and they’ll be surprised to check the draft board and see that the top rated CM is still there. They’ll call Nico Lam’s name and be quite pleased with their luck.
24. Hollywood - Robbie Schuurmans (RAM) @Katth
Hollywood had to wait a long time to make this pick, and while they still absolutely need to address RAM, they probably would’ve liked to have more flexibility in their overall selection. Still, Schuurmans is a stellar player, and Hollywood won’t feel disappointed for long, as he’ll quickly show his class.
25. Liffeyside (via Sao Paolo) - Dwayne Pruney (LAM) @Nike
Liffeyside will have made full use of their four picks across the first two rounds. They’ve addressed all of their holes, so now they’ll have the luxury of getting to take the best player available
26. Buenos Aires (via Reykjavik) - Danny Michati (LWB) @Probot
Buenos Aires is going to consider this to be a very successful daft indeed. By picking Michati, they’ll have addressed all of their primary areas of need with players who are top tier caliber. Michati fills the weaker left back region for Buenos Aires.
Given how early in the season this is, this is probably laughably wrong. Also, no offense is intended to those people who I didn't shout out! Maybe I’ll try to update this when we get closer to the draft itself? We’ll see how that goes.
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