Five players Archers could select No. 1 overall in 2026 College Draft

Following a 4-6 season plagued by injuries and unexpectedly poor offensive performances, the Utah Archers own the No. 1 overall pick in the College Draft for the third time in club history.

The 2026 College Draft is going to be a fascinating one. It will feature a class that will prompt a lot of questions leading into draft day.

Is Joey Spallina the top talent in the ilk of CJ Kirst and Brennan O’Neill from the past two years? Will someone else, like Silas Richmond or Eric Spanos, establish themselves as the clear 1:1? When will stud short-stick defensive midfielder Aidan Maguire go off the board? Are there goalies who could push for starting jobs? Which close defender will be taken first?

There’s also plenty of intrigue with the eight teams and the draft order. The Archers own the first overall pick – but will they when draft day rolls around? Could a team that was on the brink this past summer make a move that catapults them into the tier alongside the New York Atlas and Denver Outlaws?

All questions will be answered in time. For now, we’ll work with what we’ve got. Utah is on the clock with months to go. Here are five players they could take first overall:

Joey Spallina (Attack, Syracuse) 

Spallina is the biggest name in the 2026 draft class, deservedly so. He’s had an incredibly productive career at Syracuse, leading the Orange in points from the moment he stepped on the field at the JMA Wireless Dome. No. 22 has already etched his name into Syracuse lore, leading the Orange back to Championship Weekend for the first time in 12 years in 2025.

His projection to the PLL is a fascinating one. Spallina’s IQ is arguably his greatest trait. It’s rare that he makes the wrong play. He facilitates offense by keeping the ball humming, exploiting indecisive slides and hitting open teammates on their ear. He manipulates slides off the ball masterfully and has a good step-down shot from range that punishes defenders who fall victim to his constant movement.

The question for Spallina has always been regarding his ability to win a matchup on-ball. He doesn’t boast the blow-by-you speed of a Michael Sowers or a Connor Shellenberger, nor the overwhelming physicality and technique of O’Neill or Kirst.

Where he wins is in the margins, in the angles. That’s why he’s so effective at five-and-five. He leans on defenders and makes them wrong before using his bag of tricks as a shooter to score with little to no separation. That’s what he did against Princeton in the NCAA quarterfinals last spring, putting up four unassisted goals and four assists while repeatedly dodging and scoring with his strong right hand.

Look no further than Spallina’s college teammate, Owen Hiltz, for evidence that attackmen don’t need to be physically dominant to win matchups in the PLL. With the benefit of the two-man game and defenses that will be slow to go thanks to Spallina’s threat as a feeder, he’ll be able to continue to score for himself at the next level. He can do damage from X or on the high righty wing. His gravity off the ball also raises his floor out of the gate.

Is he the guy for the Archers at No. 1? Very possibly.

Utah’s offense was the worst in the league in 2025, scoring 9.8 points per game with not one player eclipsing 25 points on the season. The offense could not win matchups. Typical superstars Tom Schreiber, Grant Ament and Connor Fields battled injuries while producing at career-low rates.

This offseason, head coach and general manager Chris Bates has emphasized that “we’ve got to make sure the guys we have are winning matchups.”

“It could be our current guys playing better than they did this year,” Bates said. “Or, it’s looking elsewhere and finding an upgrade that can break down matchups and wreak a little havoc on a defense.”

In an absolute one-versus-one vacuum, Spallina is not going to be a terrifying individual matchup like Sowers, O’Neill or Kirst. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be the Archers’ pick, though.

Does he fit in Utah’s offensive scheme? That may be the deciding factor in whether he’s their guy at No. 1.

The Archers run a pairs offense that tends to operate on the wings and up top. They’ll invert with Ament behind or facilitate offense at X with the right personnel – like they often did with Sam King in his rookie season. But it’s not an offense that dodges down the alley, bangs the ball through X and keeps a defense rotating. Instead, Utah relies on having one more matchup-beater than a defense has plus-defenders.

Maybe the 2025 season will inspire a philosophical shift for the Archers and they’ll move to an offense that features more passing (Utah threw the fewest passes in the league in 2025) and is less reliant on unassisted goals. If Ament and Schreiber stay healthy, they would have the pieces to surround Spallina with an array of feeders and finishers who can maximize his skill set.

Perhaps Spallina thrives in the pairs offense and can fit in at righty attack and work in the two-man games on and off the ball in the sets Utah has won two championships with. Even without necessarily being the primary dodging option, he could open up the Archers offense and get it unstuck from the mud it was in throughout 2025.

The last two times Bates picked first overall, he chose the quintessential, highly productive X attackman on the board (Ament in 2020, Pat Spencer in 2019). Will he do it again? That, and whether Utah will stay at No. 1 overall, will be the query of the lacrosse world throughout the PLL offseason.

Aidan Maguire (SSDM, Duke) 

Should Bates and his staff look elsewhere, Maguire might be the absolute best prospect in the 2026 class.

This past spring, the Blue Devil became the first SSDM to win Midfielder of the Year in college lacrosse. He caused 26 turnovers, picked up 57 ground balls and scored 10 points (6G, 4A) in 18 games. His 1.44 caused turnovers per game was the highest mark among short sticks in 2025, with Ray Dearth the only other SSDM to average more than 1.0 per game.

Maguire stands 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds. He has a sturdy frame, but his absolute greatest trait is his speed and explosiveness. He plays like a ball-hawking cornerback who can trail receivers and then burst into position as the ball arrives. Maguire approaches matchups patiently and is rarely out of position as a result. He can face opponents flat-footed and rely on his explosiveness to match them once they make a move.

Paired with his speed is an array of checks that is unique for shorties. He can take risks with stick checks because he knows he can recover if they miss.

Don’t let his speed fool you: Maguire can take a shoulder to the chest and push back. He moves dodgers entirely off their line with slight shoves. He’ll be a defensive weapon at the next level who will be one of the best cover short sticks in the league the moment he steps on the field.

He’s also a playmaker in the middle of the field who has breakaway speed in transition and the two-handed stick skills to score for himself or hit open teammates.

Maguire is the full package at SSDM and is one of the most complete prospects ever at the position.

Yet the Archers already have one of the best SSDM rooms in the league. Beau Pederson (7.5%) led the league in shooting percentage allowed as the closest defender (among all players) in 2025. The player in second place? Piper Bond at 12.9%. Connor Maher – Utah’s third shortie – isn’t a weak link, just a bit closer to league average at 35th in the league and 17th among short sticks, allowing 25.9% shooting as the closest defender.

Maguire would give the Archers a third true shutdown short-stick defender who could provide a Ryan Terefenko-esque threat in transition. Do they need that, though? The Pederson-Bond-Maher trio is young and locked down for the foreseeable future. Combined, they own five rings. For a team that historically has drafted to its needs, SSDM is the least of its needs beyond goalie.

Then again, short stick is a position that separates good teams from great ones. Maguire may just be the talent worth forgetting about need. Imagining the Archers’ young defensive core with him is awfully enticing.

Will Schaller (Defense, Maryland)

Schaller, for my money, is the best close defender in this draft class. The 6-foot, 210-pound lefty is elite at maneuvering picks and plays very similarly to Ajax Zappitello with the foot speed to match the shiftiest attackmen, but also the strength to battle for leverage around goal line extended.

Schaller held Spallina to 0-for-4 shooting and one assist in the NCAA semifinals this past May. He’s a quintessential stopper who can own matchups.

He comes from a Maryland defense that practically refuses to switch picks. Joining the Archers and Tony Resch’s switch-heavy scheme would take an adjustment period. Meshing his effectiveness navigating picks with short sticks who can cover for him when he can’t could elevate his game.

Offense has been the pinpointed need for the Archers since they were locked into the No. 1 pick. Veteran close defenders Graeme Hossack and Warren Jeffrey are on expiring contracts, though. If one or both of them don’t return to the club in 2026, Utah could find itself with a hole to fill at close defense.

The Archers have drafted a pole in the first round the last two years: Mason Woodward and Brendan Lavelle. Those two give them a good young base of defenders. Schaller would give them someone responsible for handling the Sowers matchups moving forward.

One of the best benefits of drafting first overall is also drafting first in the second round at No. 9 overall. With how deep this defensive draft class is, it’s likely that at least one of Schaller, Will Donovan, Billy Dwan, Bobby van Buren or Alex Ross will be available when Utah is on the clock for a second time. If the Archers keep the first pick, the value play is probably to take the best offensive player and then, if Utah needs to add to its defense, see which defenders fall to No. 9.

Then again, the Archers have a tendency to take their guy, draft value be damned. That’s why they moved up to get Lavelle in 2025. Could they fall in love with Schaller, or another defensive prospect, and nab him first? At this point, it can’t be ruled out.

Silas Richmond (Attack, Albany) 

Part of the intrigue of this draft class is the dropoff of established offensive talents after Spallina. Spanos and Matt Collison are probably the next two most proven options on offense, each boasting the size and big-game pedigree that will make them early selections next spring. Both could be options for the Archers at No. 1.

If Utah takes Richmond first overall, it won’t necessarily be because of his first three years at UAlbany. It would be a result of a breakout senior year that catapulted him to the top of their draft board.

The 6-foot-4 Richmond fits the dazzling, highlight-waiting-to-happen mold of attackman that typically comes through Scott Marr’s Great Dane program. Utah already has one of those guys on the lefty wing in Fields. Why not double down on the other side?

Richmond is a lanky, creative dodger on the righty wing who uses contact to bounce off defenders and create space in a phone booth. He majors in backhand and behind-the-back shots that increase his angle. Containing him in a one-versus-one matchup is practically impossible because, thanks to his large frame and absolutely silly lineup of finishes, Richmond can exploit any sliver of room he finds.

He’s also got a cannon of a step-down shot with an underhand release that has shades of Mac O’Keefe’s.

Richmond shoots the ball so well off-platform with the core strength to fire off his back foot or while fading away from the cage. He’s crafty off the ball and can work on the crease as well as he can on the ball.

He’s steadily improved as a feeder in his three-year college career, jumping from 0.4 assists per game as a freshman to 1.5 per game as a sophomore to 2.4 per contest as a junior in 2025. He can dissect a defense if his matchup doesn’t get to his hands behind the cage. If he continues to grow as a feeder off the dodge, he’ll be in the conversation to go first overall.

The knock on Richmond is the competition he’s faced at UAlbany and in the America East. He’s not as battle-tested as Spallina, Spanos or Collison. But he has played and succeeded against higher-level competition, as well. He put up eight points in two games against national champion Cornell in 2025. He’s scored 43 career points in 13 games (3.3 points per game) against ACC and Ivy League competition while shooting 35.3% in those matchups.

For Richmond to prove himself as the guy for Utah at No. 1, he’ll need to continue to be productive against high-level competition. Yet Utah hasn’t been afraid to spend picks on players from non-powerhouses. Woodward came from Marquette. Brett Dobson hails from St. Bonaventure. Mike Sisselberger is a Lehigh product. Late-round picks Jon Robbins (Bellarmine), Cam Wyers (Loyola Maryland), Colby Barsz (Towson) and Mitchell Dunham (Richmond) have come from smaller programs.

Richmond may not be the safest bet right now, but he could be the best one come draft day.

Mikey Weisshaar (Attack/Midfield, Towson)

Mikey Weisshaar is another player from a smaller school who will be among the top offensive prospects in 2026.

Imagine if Sowers could play like O’Neill. That’s Weisshaar’s style. No, he’s not on the level of those two players or their pedigree coming out of college. But that’s how the 5-foot-9 lefty operates. Weisshaar is a pure goal-scorer with 90 goals in his last two seasons to go with 43 assists.

Weisshaar has the quickest step in this draft class. He is ridiculously explosive and has a hammer of a shot that pairs beautifully with his ability to get separation in the blink of an eye. He’s a killer on the lefty wing who can confound defenders in the two-man game because of his change of direction. Fail to get through the pick or switch it perfectly? He’ll blow by you up top and can a shot on the run. Overcommit to getting through the pick and he’ll reject it and find space underneath before you can change direction.

The Towson Tiger has starred at both midfield and attack in his time in the black and gold, displaying the positional versatility that the Archers love in their offensive personnel.

Inside Lacrosse mocked Weisshaar to Utah in its first mock draft. He would give the club a shot of speed that it sorely lacked in 2025. Adding him to a group of lefties in Fields, O’Keefe, Dyson Williams and (if he re-signs with the Archers) Ryan Ambler would add a new dynamic on the lefty wing that defenses would have to adjust their game plans to.

Like Richmond, Weisshaar hasn’t played through the grind of an ACC, Big Ten or Ivy League season. He’s scored 26 points in nine games (2.9 points per game) against those conferences and shot 30.3% in those contests. If he’s more productive at attack against those teams in his senior year, he could scrape his way to the very top of draft boards.

There’s no consensus answer to who Utah will take first overall, or if it’ll even hold onto the pick. That’s where the fun is, though.