When San Jose Earthquakes rookie midfielder Fatai Alashe scored the first MLS goal in Avaya Stadium’s history Sunday against the Chicago Fire, it also highlighted what has been a fast start for the 2015 SuperDraft first-round class.
Eight first-round picks have already seen action this season, as opposed to five through the first three weeks of games last season.
No. 1 overall pick Cyle Larin, No. 2 Khiry Shelton, Alashe (No. 4), Matt Polster (No. 7), Axel Sjöberg (No. 14), Cristian Roldan (No. 16), Michael Aguilar (No. 17) and Amadou Dia (No. 20) have all appeared in games this season.
And a handful of them have seen significant action.
Alashe has played in all three Quakes matches, starting two and logging 189 minutes. Polster, the Chicago Fire defender, has also played in three games and started two, logging 176 minutes of action.
Sjöberg, a defender, has started and gone the full 90 minutes in both of the Colorado Rapids games. Dia started the first two games of the season in Sporting Kansas City’s defense but didn’t see action over the weekend.
Roldan saw brief action in both of the Seattle Sounders games, but he scored a goal in the Sounders 2 4-2 win over Sacramento Republic in USL action over the weekend.
It’s worth noting at this point, though, that two of the most influential rookies last season – Rookie of the Year winner Tesho Akindele and D.C. United defender Steve Birnbaum – didn’t see significant action until about midseason.
Akindele didn’t see the field for FC Dallas until April 12, his team’s sixth game, and didn’t score until May 21. He went on to net seven goals and record three assists. Birnbaum didn’t see action until his first start on June 7. He then started United’s final 21 games playing an integral role in central defense, turning that success into his first senior US national team call-up in January.
So the best rookie from this year’s class may still be biding his time. But one thing is clear: this year's rookie class is off to a strong start.
