When the 2017 MLS SuperDraft kicks off on Friday it will mark the ninth such event in the Seattle Sounders’ history. As usual, the Sounders don’t start out in a particularly advantageous position. Since making the No. 1 pick in 2009, courtesy of their status as the sole expansion team, the Sounders have never held a pick inside the top third of the first round and have only had one pick inside the top half (when they picked Damion Lowe No. 8 in 2014).
As one might expect in a draft that rarely yields starters outside the Top 5 selections, the Sounders’ record is hardly exemplary.