Author’s note – Kyle Devitte’s first mock draft is just that, a first attempt.  This is his way of starting the process of getting the MLL coaches to start thinking about the upcoming draft.  Unlike previous year’s, when I covered the MLL Draft live from LaxCon in late January, MLL has decided to move the draft to Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, enabling the teams to get another full season of watching the college kids before making their selections.  This makes sense on a lot of levels to the league, mostly in that a season-ending injury does not cost a team a high pick, and to see if previous season performances are carried through their senior year. The Launch fans should be pretty excited about this year’s draft.  They hold EIGHT of the top 29 picks in this draft and should be able to really add to the talent pool of the organization.  Those picks include #1, #4, #8, #10, #25, #27, #28 and #29 overall! As we get closer to May 28th I’m sure Kyle will do another mock draft and we will excerpt it and post the link!

  Excerpt:   It’s mid-April, so you know what that means — welcome to the first MLL mock draft of the 2017 college season. We’re not sure when the draft will be this year (it will be “around” Memorial Day weekend according to multiple sources) but it was not held in January like years past, so don’t feel like you missed anything. (I mean, I missed it like a drowning man misses air, but whatever). Seeing as how the draft is well over a month away (probably), why do a mock draft now? Well, the MLL season starts in 10 9 days **airhorn, bomb drop**, so why not bring up a pivotal change in the MLL narrative to get you all lathered up? Why not tickle your underarms with the excitement of possibility? Exactly.

Round One

1. Florida | Dylan Molloy, A, Brown Very few NCAA attackmen are ready to take on No. 1 defensemen in the MLL. Dylan Molloy is an exception that proves a rule. He’s physical, unselfish and prolific. If the Launch want to mint a new star after the departure of the Thompsons, Molloy makes the most sense — he’s a flop-sweat-inducing matchup night terror. 2. Boston | Sergio Perkovic, M, Notre Dame The Cannons’ midfield is a dying vampire in a wasteland of diseased rats right now. They need fresh blood and they need it as soon as possible. The Motor City Hitman needs to be more Bret than Owen Hart in Boston, so he will get a chance to claim glory in an offense that is desperate to recover from huge offseason losses. 3. Charlotte | Connor Cannizzaro, A, Denver One presupposes that the new regime will value scoring punch over d-middies at the No. 3 spot, so this pick makes sense. Trading Dylan Donahue to the Blaze in the offseason means that there is an opening down low to fill and Cannizzaro would be a great fit with Ryan Brown and Joey Sankey. 4. Florida | Larken Kemp, LSM, Brown This is where we get murky. Florida is wildly unpredictable in this draft because they need bodies at every position. They could easily grab another offensive player here, but adding a pole that can run a break and has Ratliffian potential to break out as a transition threat is also viable. 5. Chesapeake | Matt Rambo, A, Maryland This pick doesn’t make a ton of sense considering how badly the Bayhawks need midfielders, but I don’t see where else Rambo would go. There aren’t a lot of teams with open attack slots — Boston, Charlotte and Florida are the short list — and Rambo’s skillset is perfect as a power dodger, but he’s not going to get the service he gets at College Park in the pros. 6. Atlanta | Sergio Salcido, M, Syracuse Talk about players that benefit from the draft switch. Salcido wouldn’t have been on the short list of top 10 midfielders in January, but here he is all grownsed up, roasting defenders like they’re chopped up vegetables wrapped in aluminum foil. Atlanta is Syracuse South and they need scorers, undersized or not. 7. Ohio | Nick Fields, D, Johns Hopkins A team that has a majestic offense, but has a defense that has trouble sustaining leads (Too soon? Too soon.) The Machine are always looking for physical and intimidating defenders for their backline. Fields has the potential to be a lock down defender in the right system at the next level and would solve a lot of problems on the ball for the Ohio D. 8. Florida | Garrett Epple, D, Notre Dame Again, Florida needs guys at every position, so this could come down to a best-player available situation instead of a “let’s round this team out” decision. Epple is fundamentally solid, has great feet and would slot in well next to Tucker Durkin. Then again, I’ve written that same thing about every single Notre Dame defenseman that has ever come into the MLL and there aren’t many of them still pulling on pro jerseys. 9. Denver | Nick Mariano, A/M, Syracuse The rich get richer. Denver needs longpoles due to the retirement of Mike Skudin and Max Schmidt after winning the 2016 MLL Championship. However, BJ O’Hara and Tony Seaman love a great deal and can’t pass up a player like Mariano who would get all sorts of opportunities with the Outlaws should he so desire.   See the rest HERE