The Vancouver Whitecaps have selected four players in the 2026 MLS Superdraft. It used to be that these articles were largely vibes based but thanks to increased data coverage of NCAA and excellent work by American Soccer Analysis’ Paul Harvey, we have tons of information on these guys. So, let’s see what the ‘Caps got.

Zach Ramsey/CM/17th Overall

The Whitecaps acquired this pick this morning in a trade with Austin F.C which saw Jayden Nelson going back the other way (the Whitecaps also got 1.2 million in GAM). The ‘Caps went off the board a bit, selecting 20-year-old Zach Ramsey. Ramsey isn’t even mentioned in Harvey’s draft preview and, as you can see in the graphic below, he wasn’t necessarily rated that highly by Harvey’s model (though long time college soccer writer Travis Clark did rate him higher).

Each of these categories represents a group of stats averaged together. We can see that Ramsey pops in the areas of “creation” and “finishing” but not really anywhere else. When we get a bit more granular we can get a clearer picture of why this is.

Firstly, looking at “Control” and “Progression” we see some potential red flags. Ramsey doesn’t play very many passes in general and his completion rate is very low. He does do some ball progression through carrying but very little thorough passing.

Moving on to “Offensive 1v1s” and “creation” we see more positives. Ramsey has a ton of xA and entries into the penalty box. This stands in stark contrast to his lack of ball progression in deeper areas.

Ramsey also really pops in the “finishing” category. He takes a solid number of shots, and they are mostly from dangerous areas. He also has a really high ratio of passes received to shots and box touches. Basically, if Ramsey is receiving the ball he’s creating a dangerous shot with it or immediately turning it over. He doesn’t have a lot of defensive actions to speak of.

All of this paints a picture of a player who is doing a lot of damage in the final 3rd but not having very much influence on the game in other ways. He is, of course, still very young, so there is a lot of runway for the rest of his game to fill out, but you do have to wonder how this kind of profile is going to translate to the pro level. Ramsey has remaining NCAA eligibility so he may not join the ‘Caps or WFC2 directly next season.

Daniel Lugo/CF/29th Overall

With their natural first round selection the Whitecaps selected striker Daniel Lugo, who has a long list of classically American College Achievements. “Big South Offensive Player of the Year”; is there a Small South? But we want to figure out if this guy might be anything so let’s go back to the numbers.

Some positives right off the bat, Lugo is excellent at ball progression for a striker with strong but sub-elite end product. If you want a bit of a measuring stick* his 0.7 xG+xA/90 is quite a bit worse than Simon Becher (0.88) but quite a bit more than Levonte Johnson (0.56).

Lugo has a lot of positives in the control and progression categories. He has a lot of progression through both carrying and passing for a striker. He’s also relatively ball secure for a striker, a position where you are naturally going to be attempting passes that are hard to execute. The fact that he has so many passes to the final 3rd suggests that he is somebody who is going to be dropping deeper to get on the ball. If he is on WFC2 next season that could be the basis of a nice partnership with Cyprian Kachwele, a player who is always looking to stretch the opposition defensive line.

Lugo also plays a lot of passes into the box, though relatively few crosses. So, we can infer that he is somebody who is going to maintain a more central position. 0.19 xA is also really impressive. It doesn’t look like he does that much 1v1 dribbling.

Lugo has high shot volume with fairly average shot quality. I am guessing this is a combination of a lot of headed shots (he pops a bit in aerial duels) and dropping deeper meaning he is less frequently in the ultra-high xG areas you see somebody like Brian White in.

All in all, Lugo looks like a strong connecting forward with an outside shot at being an MLS player. For the second to last pick in the first round, that’s about all you can ask for.

*I wrote this assuming Lugo was a senior, there’s limited information about these guys online, but apparently he was also born in 2005. This makes him 2 years younger than Becher was and 3 years younger than Johnson was when they were drafted. This makes his production a lot more impressive. Of course, his age also means there’s a strong possibility he spends more time in college rather than jumping straight to WFC2.

Yeider Zuluaga/W/59th Overall

Once you get past the first round in the MLS draft you cannot expect that much. However, the Whitecaps have found some value here in recent years. Nikola Djordjevic was recently signed to a first team deal after an excellent MLSNP season and Nicolas Fleuriau Château (who was actually picked in the 3rd round) did play games for the first team, even if he didn’t really work out in the end. Enter Yeider Zuluaga, he’s represented by a professional model agency, and he does a lot of dribbling.

Zuluaga pops in ball progression and 1v1s but everything else is some flavour of meh. 0.4 xG+xA stands out as being not particularly good for a primarily attacking player in NCAA.

In the more granular stats, things start off positively for Zuluaga. He loses the ball a lot, but that comes with the territory for this kind of player. His ball progression, though, is exceptional. Whether he was running with the ball or passing it, Zuluaga was one of the best in his position at moving the ball closer to the opposition goal.

Unsurprisingly, considering how much running with the ball he does, Zuluaga is also quite good at 1v1s. 0.15 xA is good but not exceptional. A high number of penalty box entries is also an encouraging sign.

When we look at “finishing” we start to see why Zuluaga is available this late. 0.09 xG per shot is not great. It suggests he is just yeeting the ball on goal at the first opportunity. Defensively he is quite active which suggests a nice dovetailing with Vancouver’s often stated values of hard work and grit.

The Whitecaps were fantastic at turning this sort of guy, obviously skilled but limited end product, into stone-cold killers last season. Maybe they can pull that trick off again at the WFC2 level. If not, oh well, it was only a second round pick.

Connor Lofy/CM/89th Overall

With the second to last pick in the draft the Whitecaps selected Connor Lofy, a teammate of their first selection. Lofy is a pretty traditional ball-winning midfielder. Lofy is also only 20, and could potentially return to his college team.

Lofy is off the charts in “reactive defending” which is an amalgamation of stats like interceptions and clearances. There’s also a bit of chance creation going on.

Lofy plays a high percentage of forward passes, which is nice. But he doesn’t play that many passes overall, suggesting he is not very involved in his team’s build-up. But he is relatively young so if he goes back to college he might take a more central role.

0.12 xA is pretty solid for a largely defensive player. He also wins a pretty good percentage of his 1v1s.

You’re obviously not drafting Lofy because you expect him to score a lot of goals. He makes a ton of interceptions and does some other decent ball-winning. Expectations are not high for a pick that low. It’s probably better to use this pick on a younger player who might develop after another year or two in college than some guy who’s 23.

(Image: University of Washington)