By Ridge Mahoney
Senior Editor, Soccer America

The good news is the 2007 MLS SuperDraft is being televised live on ESPN2 for the first time (noon ET). The bad news is, despite the high-gloss treatment, it's not nearly as sexy as its NFL and NBA counterparts and never will be.

With myriad methods to acquire players, several teams well-stocked with allocation cash, and a newly minted Designated Player chip with which to raise or call, few MLS coaches will be rubbing their hands in anticipation of a draft-day blockbuster. A major name or two will be traded and doubtless a few draftees will find their way into the starting lineups, but the draft is about role players and depth and versatility, not game-breakers and dazzle and stardom.

So sayeth the conventional wisdom, yet there's a Rookie of the Year usually plucked in mid-January, and every so often, like in 2003 (Damani Ralph) and again last year (Jonathan Bornstein), it's a guy who can not just play a nuts-and-bolts role, but really charge up his team. And at least a few later-round picks will move right in and perhaps, a la Chris Rolfe (third round 2005), get called to the national team.

So by position, here's a look at, in the parlance of coaches, ''what's out there.'' These are compiled prior to confirmation from MLS that they have all signed contracts and will be available in the draft.

FORWARDS: Supposedly, losing Charlie Davies of Boston College to Swedish club Hammarby dulls the draft's luster at this position. Good player, yes, but he went to Hammarby, not Tottenham Hotspur or Hertha Berlin or Helsingborg or even Recreativo Huelva..

This draft is well-stocked with solid, honest scorers who can play regularly for perhaps half the teams in the league. A few may be tried in midfield, as was Colorado's Jacob Peterson, who scored four goals playing wide after leading the nation in goals for Indiana.

Ryan Guy (University of San Diego) and Robbie Findlay (Oregon State), are highly rated. Findlay, a powerful, athletic, marauding forward, blasted an impressive goal at the combine and showed some adaptability by playing as a midfielder, both centrally and on the flank.

Guy took a lot of stick during the season from Coach Seamus McFadden for blowing chances, but he displayed his elusiveness at the combine when he slipped through several defenders to score.

Canadian Jeff Gonsalves (Rhode Island) and New Zealander Jarrod Smith (West Virginia) both showed enough at the combine and during their college careers to be well-regarded. Teams with a lot of picks in the first two phases, like Colorado and Los Angeles, could swap their picks to teams wanting these players but not risking their own first-round slots.

Gonsalves pulled out of the combine with a case of mononucleosis and, since Toronto holds the first pick, is an obvious No. 1 possibility, although Mo Johnston has only that one pick in the first two rounds, having traded his second-round pick to FC Dallas in the Ronnie O'Brien deal. Smith was slowed by a hamstring injury at the combine but he's a tough competitor with a nice touch.

For both creative and finishing ability, see Fort Lewis forward John Cunliffe, Akron forward/midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic, and Cincinnati striker Omar Cummings. For speed, see Randi Patterson (UNC-Greensboro) and Dane Richards (Clemson). For this year's version of Freddy Adu, only better, see 15-year-old Abdus Ibrahim.

MIDFIELD. This position is spiced by the presence of several Generation adidas players. Nico Colaluca (Virginia) is first-round material, although his status as a U.S. U-20 international likely to play in the world championships this summer will limit his MLS time as a rookie. But with a mix of international play and a steady diet of MLS games, he should really blossom in 2008.

Midfielder Bryan Arguez turns 18 the day after the draft and has excellent skills. Under-20 teammate Anthony Wallace (South Florida) is the more experienced of the two and both are candidates to anchor the midfield for Coach Thomas Rongen's team.

Maurice Edu (Maryland) has an impressive physique, loves to dribble, and as a GA, few teams will pass on him. Josh Tedula (Indiana) is the kind of solid, dependable player who knows the game and knows how to win.

Greg Dalby (Notre Dame) is another worthy of going early; he could also be tried in central defense, as he was at the combine. At 6-feet and about 180 pounds and a relentless worker with decent feet, he has some tools.

Three ACC players and one from the Midwest with youth national team experience add an enigmatic twist to this draft. Corey Ashe of North Carolina, Ryan Solle and Steven Curfman of Wake Forest, and John DiRaimondo of St. Louis have all been good collegiate players and deserve a shot. Yet all have question marks at the pro level.

Despite playing for the national champs, UC Santa Barbara's Bryan Byrne is something of a sleeper.

DEFENSE. There are some good prospects at the positions most often filled in MLS by college products.

It's a close call among Michael Harrington (North Carolina), Andrew Boyens (New Mexico) and Jay Needham (SMU) as to who will better adapt to MLS. Moyens is a towering 6-foot-4 with decent speed and another New Zealander who could follow the path of successful Kiwis Duncan Oughton, Simon Elliott and Ryan Nelsen.

Harrington is a blistering burner with excellent touch who can shore up most MLS teams at outside back. Needham, a Hermann Trophy finalist, is more technical than tough but that worked pretty well for Michael Parkurst, didn't it?

GA Bakary Soumare (Virginia) needs polishing but is tall and quick. Fellow GA Amaechi Igwe (Santa Clara) has left school after his freshman year, and will be with the under-20s. He's younger than Soumare and perhaps even rawer but has power, speed and good instincts.

GOALKEEPER. Chris Seitz (Maryland) is a U-20 and a GA and certainly the real deal, but rookie goalies, even the best ones, don't excel in MLS right away. He will probably do so someday. Still, he may be too good to pass up. The Crew, with the No. 2 pick and as many idled as active goalkeepers, have other holes to fill as well.

Size abounds in this year's goalkeeping class. Seitz (6-foot-4, 210) is about the same dimensions as Chris Konopka (Providence) and Tally Hall (San Diego State). Konopka has a strong two seasons under his belt, Hall must be more commanding in the box but is quick and sure.

Great things were once predicted for former U.S. youth internationals Andrew Kartunen (Stanford) and Phil Marfuggi (Clemson), but a shoulder injury short-circuited Kartunen's season and Marfuggi just hasn't progressed rapidly.

UCLA has produced more MLS goalkeepers than any other school and reached the championship game with Eric Reed in the nets, so who's got a slot?