The first ever Major League Rugby draft took place on Saturday, and while there may still be tons of questions circulating the event, it provided great entertainment and hype for fans around the MLR. In all likelihood, it would surprise me if many of the drafted players find much playing time in 2021, but there certainly are a few players who could become contributors in their rookie seasons. 

I'm going to look at five picks from this draft that I think garnered the best value for the selecting team. Here they are:

#5.) Cole Zarcone - Central Washinton, Wing | San Diego 

Zarcone, the former CWU football player, picked up rugby in college and became a stud out on the wing for the Wildcats. Zarcone will be one of the quicker players in the league when he begins with the Legion, and has the physical tools to slot in right away. For Zarcone, he'll have some top class players around him to learn from and enhance his skills and awareness. 

With the last pick in the draft, San Diego gets a guy that could be a contributor in season one. 

#4.) Andrew Guerra - Notre Dame College, Flanker | NOLA

Guerra may be a little bit undersized, but he's as strong a player as you'll see in this draft and plays with an extremely high work rate and aggression. He's a strong ball carrier and a great tackler, and with some more work at the professional level will sharpen his skills around the breakdown and in open play. He's a young player and has a great back row around him to learn from at Nola. 

For a late first round pick (#10), NOLA got a good one for the future. 

#3.) Aaron Mattews - Saint Mary's, Utility Back | Seattle

Matthews has the potential to be a consistent player off the bench in year one by virtue of his incredible versatility. Matthews suited up anywhere from fly-half to center to fullback for the Gaels in his collegiate career, and was a four-year starter for one of the best teams in the nation. He's played at a high level for both college and men's rugby, starting on the Bulldog 7s team that won the 2018 Club 7s national championship. 

He went pretty high in the draft (#5), but there weren't any other players with his utility. Seattle gets a multi-skilled player here. 

#2.) Connor Mooneyham - Life, Wing | Dallas

Mooneyham is a Texas native who's known quite well across the Lone Star state dating back to his high school days with Woodlands. After a two-year mission trip in 2017 and 2018, Mooneyham came back to the Life Running Eagles in 2019 and 2020 and was an irreplaceable figure on the wing. He's one of the best tacklers in all of college rugby, and has the speed, size, and footwork to score from anywhere on the field. For a wing, he has a wide skillset that will translate well to the next level, and he plays with as much heart and aggression as anyone else in the league. 

The first ever #1 pick was a good one, and Dallas is getting a workhorse type of player that knows how to finish. He could certainly feature on the wing in the first game of 2021 for the Jackals. 

#1.) Justin Johnson - Life, Flanker | New England

If I were selecting for the Dallas Jackals in the 2020 Draft, I would have taken Justin Johnson in a heartbeat. There have only been a handful of players to come in and start for Life University as a freshman, and JJ is one of those guys. Alongside Ryan Rees (who elected not to enter the draft), Johnson started from day one for Life, playing in three national championship games and winning two of them before the pandemic shut down his senior season. 

JJ is a very aggressive player that leads the team defensively with his line speed and powerful tackling. He is a smart guy that also has an extremely high motor and will only get better with time. Offensively he's a good ball carrier and has good skills with offloading and distribution, but also puts in the work to clear out rucks. 

New England got the steal of the draft with the #6 pick, and I suspect Johnson will find playing time by midseason in 2021.