The last day of the 2018 adidas MLS Player Combine is in the books, and here are a few guys whose stock went up in the last day of competition. On the whole, most players maintained or improved their status, although the expected top picks never really shined.
Here are my stock up/stock down reports from previousdays of the combine, and keep an eye out for my draft class depth charts to see the talent pool at each position.
Stock Up
Cory Brown — Spent most of his college career playing as a slightly undersized left center back. He shined in that position at the combine, showing that his athleticism and and soccer IQ can outweigh his height. He played at left back Wednesday and he while doesn’t have the 1v1 skill to break the game open, his passing off the winger opened up dangerous chances for his team.
Graham Smith — A center midfielder for the first three years of college, Smith transitioned to center back his senior year. He proved he could play there over the three days of the combine at the next level as well. He played in a back three for a team that didn’t have enough defenders and kept everything organized. His passing out of the back was clean, and he sometimes broke lines to start the attack as well.
Brandon Bye in action at the MLS Combine | USA Today Images
Lucas Stauffer/Brandon Bye — I have put both these players on this list before and while they both made some mistakes (Bye gave up 2 PKs this week) I felt they had the brightest combines. Stauffer performed at his natural right back spot in a four- and three-man backline, as well as at left back and holding midfield. Bye (pictured above), an attacking player in college, was fantastic at right back and played some right center back as well.
Mamadou Guirassy — The nation's leading scorer this year in college has played hard all week. A natural No. 9, he has hustled out on the wings and set up teammates with his layoff play from forward. On Wednesday, he dragged his team from down 2-0 in the second half back to a 2-2 tie. His first touch is effective, he is strong, and makes great runs. A flicked-on header after a powerful near post run made it 2-1 and he should have made it 2-2 but a teammate in an offside position interfered. Being a game-changer off the bench is a great attribute for a young striker to have, and his American citizenship means more teams will be willing to give him a close look in Friday's draft.
Stock down
Oliver Shannon — The Englishman out of Clemson was one of highest-rated defensive midfielders coming into the week. But he struggled all week with his passing, misplaying easy passes on the ground. A lot of people are still showing interest but he’ll need to get more quality on both sides of the ball.
Ken Krolicki (right) in action at the MLS Combine | USA Today Images
Ken Krolicki— Another highly rated defensive midfielder, Krolicki (pictured above, in black) never controlled the game from that No. 6 role this week. He had good stretches in games but coaches need to see consistency in that position.
Jon Gallagher — The senior out of Notre Dame is already signed to an MLS contract, which means there is at least one team strongly interested. Throughout the combine he tried to be dangerous by aggressively running into open spaces but the final product was never there.
