2026 Colorado Rapids SuperDraft Review: Protecting Billo Diop. Miami at Mile High.

Commerce City, Colo. – Well Thursday was an eventful day for Major League Soccer and the Colorado Rapids. The 2026 MLS SuperDraft was in the afternoon and then we got some expected news regarding the club’s anniversary match against Inter Miami on April 18.

Rapids SuperDraft Review:

Colorado came into the SuperDraft with the following picks: #6, 10, 19, 26, 40, 56, 70, and 86. That’s a haul. The priority however became more about protecting an existing prospect than adding one.

Prior to the draft, MLS announced the list of eligible players. This included Billo Diop, who played for Rapids 2 in 2025 and was under contract with them for 2026. BW can confirm MLS leaned on precedent of him having gone to high school in the U.S. (DME Academy in Florida) and having not played in an MLS academy or any college soccer. A player under these conditions has previously been made draft eligible because an MLS team requested they be in the draft. Colorado thought at the time they signed him that by signing him to a NEXT Pro contract, they had his MLS rights.

Sources tell BW that another club requested he be available in the draft via that precedent and MLS allowed it. Another club wanted him (how petty would it be if it was Toronto?). The Rapids were caught off guard by this a few weeks ago. They were high on Diop. After the Generation Adidas class went quickly before the #6 pick, they chose to just protect their asset. That limited the club from wheeling and dealing as they have in previous first rounds. This rule is dumb and MLS should close this loophole.

“We were willing to do whatever it took to have him wear our colors,” said Brian Crookham.

Read More: Mamadou Billo Diop: The Best Colorado Rapids 2 Player You’ve Never Heard Of

Let’s briefly look at who else Colorado selected.

#10: Mitchell Baker, Georgetown forward, sophomore. Scored 14 goals and 3 assists in 21 games in his second year at college. 6’5″ but more of a futsol player from what I hear. Think Jozy Altidore in that he’s tall and good in the air but wants you to play to his feet. Colorado should be familiar with him having previously drafted his college teammate, Matthew Van Horn.

#26: Wahabu Musah, Clemson forward, sophomore. Recorded 6 goals and 4 assists in 21 games this season. 6’0″, more of a channel running attacker. He likes to be played into space and shoot. The college soccer analytics community is less high on him. Clemson has a pedigree for producing MLS talent. They also gave Colorado Philip Mayaka, and he was a bust.

#56: Asher Hestad, Washington right back, sophomore. After only starting one of the first four games of the season, he started every match afterwards. Washington went on to with the National Championship as an unranked team. That’s better than anything Nate Jones did in college.

#70: Koven Johnson, High Point University sophomore, midfielder: I now know that High Point University exists. Looks more like a defensive midfielder or a shuttler. Started 17 games. High Point finished the season ranked. Johnson had two other teammates taken in the draft.

#86: Jabari De Coteau, Xavier junior, defender: Only started 12 games this past year. Xavier finished third in the BIG EAST Midwest Division.

Colorado ended up trading the #26 and #40 pick for a total of $125K GAM. Not bad.

My takeaway is that they took a lot of underclassmen. Diop is 19-years-old, same age as a sophomore. After him, four of their five picks were sophomores. There might have been less immediate value in the middle of the draft, so they went for guys who will be development projects. They took players they think had measurables and underlying traits that will make them good prospects as seniors, like with Palmer Ault. The draft’s a lottery at this point. If Diop and one other guy become first team contributors, that’s good.

A club source tells BW that this entire class will be going back to school except De Coteau, who likely joins R2 for preseason. R2 is stacked at the moment. Let’s revisit them in a year or two. Unless Rafael Navarro is sold (possible, wouldn’t say likely). In which case, Rapids preseason might be backup striker Thunderdome.

Colorado Rapids host Inter Miami at Mile High April 18:

At the end of the day it was announced that their 30th Anniversary match in March will take place at Empower Field at Mile High. This is not a surprise. Anniversary game. Lionel Messi and the defending champs in town. Uncle Stan is married into the Broncos ownership. KSE and MLS like money. Every Western Conference team that’s had time to prep for the Messi Circus has moved their game to a bigger venue.

The club had been lobbying the league since last summer for a home game that weekend to have a spectacle event. BW had previously reported the league did the Rapids a favor to help them out in their market. As soon as it was Miami, this game was only going to be played at Mile High. It was just a matter of arranging with the Broncos, which wasn’t done when schedule was released.

Rapids STMs got an email saying their seats will be in the lower bowl in a comparable part of the stadium, so that seems good. Hopefully this cash grab converts some Messi tourists into Rapids fans.

Lower bowl single game tickets go on sale January 15. Don’t get scammed if you see third party sites selling before then.

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