Nashville SC Selects Two Players In 2022 MLS SuperDraft

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Nashville SC General Manager Mike Jacobs at the 2022 MLS SuperDraft. Photo: Courtesy of the MLS

Nashville SC traded up to the No. 10 spot in the first round of Tuesday’s MLS SuperDraft on Jan. 11. The team selected defender Ahmed Longmire and goalkeeper Will Meyer in the second round.

The club originally had the 26th overall pick but traded it along with $125,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) to the Colorado Rapids for the 10th pick. The Rapids will receive an extra $50,000 in GAM if Longmire meets certain performance-based metrics.

“I think very quickly it felt like the best center back on the board that we were looking at was Longmire,” said NSC General Manager Mike Jacobs in a press conference. “For us, whether we played with three center backs or two center backs, we know that in a World Cup year that Walker [Zimmerman] would be away quite a bit. For us to be able to strengthen our depth with not only a person who was the best player on the board but one that would fit our group the best was really important.”

Longmire, a senior at UCLA, played in eight games for the Bruins in 2021, registering 607 minutes. During the 2020 season, Longmire played in 12 games and registered 1,121 minutes, the most on the team, and was named to the All-Pac 12 Second Team.

“For us, we’ve kind of joked that we’re going to keep drafting goalkeepers until we find the heir apparent for Joe [Willis] at some point,” said Jacobs in regards to the team now having three goalkeepers.

Meyer, who was selected at the 10th pick in the second round, appeared in 27 matches for Akron with eight clean sheets, including a stretch of three consecutive shutouts in 2021.

NSC passed on its 77th pick, concluding the draft for Nashville which ended in the club gaining two key defensive playmakers.

Steven Boero
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