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10 Man Ride: Film Study on Entry Draft Prospects

By Joe Keegan

PLL Analyst

Mar 18, 2021

CLEAR! The ride is on. We’re one week out from the Entry Draft – and closing the loop on the PLL-MLL merger. Over 240+ players are in the pool already.

Let’s highlight 10 of them today (in no particular order!) and another 10 next week. We’ll dive into all eight clubs’ needs next week, too. For now – some film on a few of my favorites.

1. Daniel Bucaro, A, Denver Outlaws

There are a lot of left-handed scorers in this pool. Almost every team already has a left-handed scorer. Lefties who can play X or run out of the box are more intriguing than pure finishers – Bucaro can do both.

The Georgetown product burst onto the scene with the Outlaws, burying unassisted goals from every angle. He’s a patient pick-and-roll operator. Some players try to sprint off the picker’s shoulder; despite his speed, Bucaro prefers to slow-play those picks into hang-up situations (shoutout to Jamie Munro for researching and coining the hang-up two-man game).

Bucaro occupies multiple sets of eyes at all times. In pick-and-rolls, that leads to slip opportunities for teammates.

Read more about Bucaro here.

2. Zach Goodrich, SSDM, Boston Cannons

Zach Goodrich is the proverbial fifth pole on a defense. Dude covered the top attackman for 60 minutes in the Final Four as a sophomore at Towson.

Goodrich unlocks a lot of defensive options. He’s one less matchup you have to worry about sliding to. He can switch picks onto opposing attackmen. And he can turn them away from the cage when left on an island.

Read more about Goodrich here.

3. Mikie Schlosser, M, Denver Outlaws

Even though he’s an alley dodger, I must admit I’m addicted to Mikie Schlosser’s game.

He knows his runs rev the offense’s engine. Schlosser coughs the ball up after the slide commits – and every pass is available to him. He can push it through X for a ball reversal (or for the immediate redirect to Chris Aslanian trailing in Schlosser’s wake).

But he can also sling pull passes across his body while running full speed.

Schlosser shot 41.7% off the dodge in 2018. We’ve only tracked five better seasons since 2015: Lyle Thompson (53.8% in ’15), Chris Cloutier (48.3% in ’18), Josh Byrne (45.7% in ’17), Jordan Wolf (43.3% in ’17), and Will Manny (42.3% in ’18).

For more on Mikie Schlosser, read Kyle Devitte’s profile.

4. Warren Jeffrey, D, Chesapeake Bayhawks 

The Moose from Mimico is a mean on-ball defender. Roll the tape, and the matchups are one behemoth after another.

Randy Staats in the 2019 semifinals. John Grant Jr. in the 2020 MLL Championship. Those postup brutes are proxies for Zed Williams and Matt Rambo – two guys that seven clubs are desperately searching for answers to.

Jeffrey won’t match feet with the Grant Aments of the world, but he’ll be a heads-up help defender on those days. If he can hold GLE against super-sized attackmen, then he can help a team against the back-to-back champion Whipsnakes.

“Rangy” used to be the blanket adjective for the ideal defenseman. It’s not anymore. Crowding opponents along the perimeter is nice; anchoring down at the island is a priority. Jeffrey has proven he can do that.

Read more about Warren Jeffrey.

5. Sean Sconone, G, Connecticut Hammerheads

The 2019 MLL Goalie of the Year has some of the quickest hands of any goalie.

Clean saves are key. Fast break shooting percentage is significantly higher after clean saves (33.8%) than after messy saves (27.2%).

Sconone snags shots from any distance and any placement without letting them hit the ground. This is ridiculous.

For more on the former UMass goalie, read Kyle Devitte’s profile.

6. Bryce Wasserman, A, Boston Cannons 

Wasserman can run by anyone. The 2020 MLL MVP spends most of his time at X. I’d bet on him running midfield in the PLL as an invert threat. Think John Crawley or Brad Smith.

If Wasserman draws a short-stick, he could operate big-little pick-and-roll sets. He sees the field well; this skip to the weakside 2-on-1 is high-level.

Read more about the Monmouth grad here.

7. Max Adler, FO, Denver Outlaws

Projecting faceoff success from MLL or NCAA to PLL is difficult. The rules are different, favoring post-clamp scrappers over knee-down technicians. Wings are more critical. The opponents are the best of the best.

Adler was the best in MLL. He’s had success against and trains with several PLL starters. A few teams need a faceoff specialist after Cannons LC head coach Sean Quirk plucked three (3) in the Expansion Draft. Do the Redwoods trade back into the first round for Adler? Does Chaos take him if he falls to them, or roll the dice on the collegiate class?

For more on Adler, read Kyle Devitte’s feature.

8. Matt Abbott, M, Chesapeake Bayhawks

9-time All-Star.

4-time MLL Champion.

Matt Abbott is the Forrest Gump of lacrosse.

He can do everything on the lacrosse field. He ranks 15th all-time with 405 groundballs (1st among all non-faceoff short-sticks). Any team looking for a veteran winner would be wise to add Abbott.

9. Randy Staats, A, Boston Cannons

Staats is one of the savviest pickers in pro lacrosse. He always seems to either (a) plow the on-ball defender or (b) slip unscathed with a switch and a mismatch. This slip (and behind-the-back assist opportunity!) is beautiful.

Most deceptive shooters live on the crease; Staats dips his shoulder on 8-10 yard stepdowns, bringing goalies to their knees as he stings top shelf.

In the right offense, Staats will be a major addition. Does he go to the Archers LC to play in Josh Currier’s role? To Chrome LC to reunite with Jordan MacIntosh, Jordan Wolf, and company? To Chaos LC to play with his brother, Audi? Or to Cannons LC?

10. Ryan Lee, A, Denver Outlaws 

Ryan Lee scores lots of goals, and he rarely scores goals while standing on his feet. Everything is a dive – even several yards away from the crease.

He’s an off-ball, right-handed playmaker. Lee’s game differs from Staats’, but the teams eyeing the two should stay the same. Imagine a Jordan MacIntosh-Ryan Lee two-man game? That’s RIT grad Ryan Conwell’s dream.

Thanks for reading!

Spread the word, submit any questions you want to see answered in this space to me on Twitter (@joekeegs), and I’ll talk to you next week!

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