Although common across North American sports, the idea of drafting players is a completely alien concept to many football followers. With teams having academies designed to develop their superstars, either to be used by the team or sold for profit in the future, most clubs prefer to look internally for their young prodigies rather than at university athletes.

With teams like Philadelphia regularly trading away all their picks to focus on their academy players, many see the MLS SuperDraft as a dying tradition. However, there are some talented prospects at that level, and the draft has offered the opportunity for a plethora of stars to combine football and education before signing their first professional contract.

Players like Whitecaps and USMNT pair Brian White and Tristan Blackmon, as well as Canada’s Tajon Buchanan, have all come through that path, and after being selected they have risen the ranks and become household names.

Scouting talent in the draft is difficult, and the Whitecaps have not always enjoyed success in that department. This meant that when Vancouver selected Tate Johnson, a left back from the University of North Carolina, with the 15^th overall pick of the 2025 draft, there were general low expectations of the immediate contributions from the young defender.

After promising performances in preseason showed his potential, Johnson was thrust into the spotlight on only the third match of the MLS season when an injury to Sam Adekugbe saw him make his league debut against Canadian rivals CF Montreal. The American has not looked back, and after making a name for himself by scoring in that game, he has racked up 39 appearances across all competitions in his rookie season to quickly become a fan favourite at BC Place.

The Third Sub spoke to the 20-year-old to find out his perspective after such a stellar campaign.

The conversation started by talking about the Superdraft, as the topic has become controversial throughout MLS circles in recent years. However, rather than comparing his route to the top with that of other players, Johnson expressed that his pathway was just different and that the end destination was all that mattered.

“Obviously, everyone’s pathway is a little different, but I went to college for a year and then after the season was able to get offered a Generation Adidas contract from the league.”

“So I went into the draft and was lucky enough to get drafted by Vancouver. I’m really fortunate to end up here, obviously, with such great staff, a great group of guys, great organisation, great fans.”

“Just super grateful to be in Vancouver, and it’s been a pretty exciting first season!”

With Adekugbe missing the vast majority of 2025, Tate has featured heavily in his absence. No Whitecaps draft pick has played in more matches in his debut season than Tate, while only Tim Parker and Jake Nerwinski have surpassed him for league minutes in their inaugural campaign.

Few would have anticipated this ahead of the season, but Johnson has adopted the next man up mentality that is prominent around the club, allowing him to take it all in his stride and capitalise on the chances given to him.

“Yeah, coming in, I’ve just tried to control what I can control. Obviously, different things are going to happen throughout the year and the lineup’s going to change.”

“So just trying to stay focused and just being ready when my name was called. I think that was important for me. And then just trying to make the most of my opportunities when I was given.”

Tate’s standout moment of the season came when Vancouver welcomed Inter Miami to town for the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup semi-final.

With the Herons’ squad boasting legends like Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suárez and 8-time Ballon D’Or winner Lionel Messi, many expected the inexperienced Johnson to be overawed by the occasion, providing an opportunity for Miami to give themselves the advantage in the tie.

However, Tate showed quality beyond his years to ensure that Vancouver remained solid, and thanks to his defensive efforts, Vancouver were able to completely shut down Messi. His performance provided the foundations for a 2-0 win on the night, allowing them to go on to win 5-1 on aggregate to book a place in the final.

Just mentioning the game brings a massive grin to Tate’s face, and just from his reaction alone, the moment is clearly one of the proudest of his short career to date.

“Yeah, playing in a tournament at home with a packed stadium against one of the best players of all time is kind of the thing you dream about as a kid.”

“So to be able to play in a game like that and come away with a good result, and then be able to go finish the job away at Miami. Yeah, I mean, it was a good feeling. It was a good team effort. So I think that was a big point in our season, gave us a lot of momentum going forward.”

If Johnson continues to play like this, then he will be sure to have plenty of exciting moments to look forward to throughout his career.

He has already lifted the Canadian Championship, securing a return to the Champions Cup, and after missing out on finishing top of the Western Conference the team will be desperate to go through the playoffs and lift a first ever MLS Cup title.

They will commence their quest for the trophy on Sunday 26^th October when they take on FC Dallas in the first match of the Best-of-3 series in the first round.

(Image: Mark Zhuang)