2008 MLS SuperDraft Grades...Part I...

The draft wrapped up last Friday and all anyone can talk about is the fact that Patrick Nyarko slipped to #7 overall and teams in need of offensive fire power, cough Colorado cough cough, passed on him. Maybe everyone had a good reason to pass on him. One thing is clear when looking at the outcome of the draft, Bloggers and Talking Heads shouldn't be doing the drafting.

With that in mind, take a read over how Emile and I rate team's performances in the 2008 SuperDraft. Part 1 today...Part 2 tomorrow or something.

Chicago:
#7 Patrick Nyarko - F
#12 Dominic Cervi - GK
#26 Peter Lowry - M
#38 Dwight Barnett - F
#40 Stephen King - M
#54 Austin Washington - D

Bonji: A- Many people out there think Chicago had the best draft this year. Nyarko was a consensus #1 pick until the morning of the draft. Cervi is a solid keeper who increased his stock at the combine. Both of these players should be able to earn starting spots with the Fire over the next few seasons with some hard work. I don't hold the view that Nyarko is a guaranteed star as some feel. At the combine he had moments of greatness in addition to longer times of seeming laziness. Lowry and King are two solid midfield prospects and the Fire did well to get both of them.

Emile: B+ Chicago is always a fun team to watch, because they always have the deepest scouting of any MLS team. This has led them to overthink and blow many early picks, only to come back and make great choices in later rounds, and then waste late picks on non-prospects. Assistant Coach Daryl Shore seems to be a scouting specialist and has been a consistent figure through their coaching changes, and the Fire did not disappoint me again. Getting Nyarko, Lowry, and King was simply great work by the Fire. All three were superbly productive college players and perfectly fit team needs. especially if Nyarko can play the right wing and as forward. But I hate the Cervi and Barnett picks. Barnett was a low pick, no big deal, but he'll be 26 next season, so unless he can come in and contribute immediately the pick was wasted. Cervi, on the other hand is the pick that's going to make me feel smart or stupid in two years. Cervi had a good 2004 NCAA tournament, a mediocre 2005, a terrible 2006, and an excellent 2007, which was the first year he was Tulsa's full-time starter. I just don't think it's enough of a record to base the #12 pick on, no matter how good he looked at the combine, and I don't think any Fire fans should hope he will step in and replace Pickens off the bat. In fact, he doesn't have any better resume than last year's dev goalie pick Nick Noble. This is not to say that he can't become really good. He's only 21 and has great size, but it's a gamble - and if the Fire want a young keeper who may be able to provide immediate help at the position, they should look to USL keepers like Ryan McIntosh, Josh Wicks, or Eric Reed, who were more decorated college players than Cervi and have performed well already as pros. Cervi is, to me, too big of a gamble to take that high - for me, the only first-round goalies selected should be premium prospects because the positional development is so long-term and unpredictable. The Fire also failed to address needs on their back line, other than Austin Washington, who is an interesting, but long-term, project.

Chivas USA
#43 Keith Savage - M

Bonji: N/A Chivas participated in the draft? I don't think it is fair to grade an effort based on one player taken so late. Savage will have good teachers in LA, hopefully he can contribute to the team.

Emile: C Not for the Savage pick really, which I think was a decent gamble at #43. Savage has good size, and was very productive at the D2 level. Since he also excelled in the PDL, there is reason to think he can hang with the big-school players, and we'll have to wait to see how well. Chivas traded their first three picks for Paulo Nagamura, Alex Zotinca, and Atiba Harris, and the first two were big minute players during Chivas' breakthrough season. Fortunately, that breakthrough season meant that the traded picks were fairly low, but I still wonder if Chivas could not have gotten similar players more cheaply, and if they will regret the lack of 2008 picks in a few years.

Colorado:
#5 Ciaran O'Brien - M
#36 Adrian Chevannes - D
#47 Brian Grazier - M
#49 Scott Campbell - M

Bonji: C+ A lot of people, including most Rapids fans, were left scratching their heads after the Rapids #5 selection of O'Brien. For them this pick was another reason for the Enigma nickname for coach Clavijo. "Why not Nyarko?" was the question coming out of a lot of Rapids Fans mouths after the consensus #1 slipped down the draft board. However, I'm going to give the Rapids the benefit of the doubt with this one. I think O'Brien will have a long career in MLS and when we look back at the 2008 draft we'll commend the selection. The Rapids seemed to pick very well in the final two rounds as Chevannes and Grazier are solid players with US youth national team experience and Bradenton Residency on their resumes. They are versatile players who should be able to step up in a number of different positions when needed. Campbell is a creative midfielder who will have to work hard to make the roster. For more detail into how I feel about this one, check out my post from last Friday over at the Class VI website.

Emile: C+ Taking O'Brien over Nyarko may prove to be a future headache for the goal-starved Rapids, but I liked O'Brien more than most before the draft, and I think it was a defensible gamble. The Rapids midfield is arguably as needy as their front line, and O'Brien can potentially play a number of positions. He has a rocket of a right-foot, and seems to like to play centrally, so he may be able to replace some of what they lost when they traded Beckerman. O'Brien adapted immediately to a new team in 2007, so look for him to contribute more quickly than you might think in 2008. The rest of Colorado's draft was pretty questionable. Chevannes may be prove to be a good value, but you have to wonder how good he can be when teams that had him in for training during his college hiatus had no interest. Grazier and Campbell are both young, workmanlike midfield role-player prospects who didn't stand out in college - taking one of them and then going for something different with the other late pick would have made more sense.

Columbus:
#6 Andy Iro - D
#20 George Josten - F
#22 Ricardo Pierre-Louis - F
#31 Ryan Miller - D/M
#48 Steven Lenhart - F

Bonji: B+ When I first saw Iro's name pop up I thought Columbus was crazy because Iro had made public comments about how he was still thinking of going back to his home country of England and he would leave faster if the wrong team selected him. For the kid who went to College in Santa Barbara many of us assumed he wanted to stay in southern California. However, during the draft he made a positive comment about being drafted by Columbus, to many people's surprise. If he does stay Iro should compliment Chad Marshall well in the back. That is, if Marshall can get his career back on track after many injuries. Iro's footwork has been called into question, so if he wants to play he'll have to work hard. His size won't get him on the field alone. In Josten and Pierre-Louis Columbus adds to the young attacking minded players already on the team. Pierre-Louis is already a senior national player for his home country of Haiti and Josten had a strong combine showing. While I don't think this class will turn Columbus around alone, it should provide Sigi with some interesting options off the bench in 2008.

Emile: C- Columbus gets my lowest draft grade. Although I don't think it was terrible, it seemed to be an unplanned, messy collection of picks with perhaps too much emphasis again on Sigi's Southern California connections. I assume we will see Iro in blinding yellow next year, and while I definitely prefer Julius James, I haven't seen Iro enough to quibble over personal preferences. Iro fits a clear need and gives them an exciting prospect the size of an OSU defensive end. In total however, the Crew draft has problems. Three of their picks are at least 23 (Pierre-Louis is listed as 23 by MLSnet, but I have seen him as 24 in other places), which has to be accounted for when considering their college production and potential upside. They also picked three forwards, which seems like a "throw stuff on the wall and see if anything sticks" approach. That hasn't worked so far for the Crew at that position, and I'm not sure it will again. I like the Josten pick, and I wouldn't mind the Pierre-Louis pick if they hadn't already taken Josten and another older international player. The Lenhart pick was just nonsensical, especially considering local talent like Balc and Kasiguran was on the board. They may have a positional change in mind for Lenhart, but everything suggests he is the longest of long-shots coming off of one big season at the NAIA level. I will give the Crew some credit for getting two mid-round picks basically at cost from Dallas.

DC United
#24 Andrew Jacobson - M
#33 Ryan Cordeiro - M
#52 Tony Schmitz - D/M

Bonji: C+ DC didn't have any early picks and I suppose they did in drafting Jacobson at #24. Many thought he'd be gone earlier. I for one don't see what all the hype is about. In the NCAA tournament against lowly UC Daivs he was largely ineffectual aside from his goal. We'll see if he can push his way into a crowded DC lineup. Cordeiro is a left sided midfielder who may have an easier time earning a contract due to the difficulty American clubs have finding left sided players. However, do you think any rookies are going to earn starting time over Fred or Christian Gomez?

Emile: B- In the end, I liked all three of DC's picks a lot. The Jacobson pick is dependent on his signing with MLS, but he is a productive midfielder with great size that may at least replace Brian Carroll, and perhaps do even more. I liked Cordeiro more than most because he can fill a particular role on the left wing which is not east to fill, and I thought Schmitz was a solid non-combine sleeper which proved DC was doing their homework. However, it's impossible to rate the DC draft too highly because of them losing their first-round pick in the Dyachenko swap with Toronto, which has so far proven to be a botched move. If Jacobson doesn't sign, drop them by another grade.

FC Dallas
#2 Brek Shea - D/M
#8 Josh Lambo - GK
#19 Eric Avila - M
#45 Jamil Roberts - D
#50 Ben Nason - M

Bonji: B The only reason I give Dallas a - on this grade is Shea going #2. Yes, he is a talented youngster but #2 overall seems high to me. Afterall, this could be another Nik Besagno type selection. There is a lot of upside there but we can't be so excited to overlook the downside. Lambo also went too early in my opinion. It seems to me Dallas could have taken someone who would have more impact in their rookie season at #2, and either Shea or Lambo would have still been there at #8. The Hoops did lock up three of the Generation Adidas players in this draft, so I guess that is some sort of Coup. It certainly gives them a lot of youth for little money. Avila soured a bunch of coaches in this draft somehow. Remember when we thought he would go #2 overall? I knew FCD liked little creative midfielders (Nunez). Roberts and Nason will have to work hard to get a roster spot, especially since three of their classmates are salary cap exempt.

Emile: A Shea may be a questionable #2 pick, and Dallas has a good young goalie prospect already. So why give Dallas an A? Because they can afford to take these chances, because they keep a tight roster and constantly accumulate extra picks. Dallas leads the league in acquiring domestic and international talent, and are always in position to continue accumulating assets which will pay off or can be traded for additional picks or players at a later date. It's unlikely that any draft pick would break their starting 11, so taking Shea and Lambo is an affordable investment in the future. Shea is a 6'3 lefty with some electricity in his game, and some say Lambo is the next in line of great American keepers. Dallas now has the building blocks of the first real youth reserve team in MLS with Shea, Lambo, Wallace, Wagner, and Ibrahim, and if half of them meet their potential, Dallas will be in great shape. I love everything else Dallas did too. I thought Avila was overrated coming into the draft, but at #19 he was a steal and gave them three Generation Adidias picks. They didn't get much return for the two traded picks (especially since they don't pay back until 2010), but they knew they couldn't use them and so correctly deferred their value. And the last two picks are mature, productive, and underrated college players from big programs who were ideal late picks that can start on the developmental roster and maybe fill needs in 2009. Whether they go to a 3-5-2 or not, Dallas does need central defender depth and Roberts was the best one on the board - and Nason might be able to more cheaply replace Pitchkolan as a utility midfielder in a year or so. They have this part down - the real challenge for the Hoops is to figure out how to turn their acquisition skills into a cohesive 11 that can actually challenge for MLS Cup.

Houston
#42 Geoff Cameron - M
#56 Jeremy Barlow - M

Bonji: N/A Similar to Chivas USA, Houston didn't have a lot to work with and I don't feel like I need to give them a grade. The defending champs don't have a lot of needs, however they may want to start thinking about the day Brian Ching, DeRo and Onstad hang up the boots. Maybe next year they'll have some earlier picks...or at least trade for one.

Emile: B- It's pretty hard to knock Houston's lack of picks even if Jaqua moves to Europe and Mulrooney starts to decline this season, since those two helped them win another MLS Cup. Any MLS team would gladly give up the chance for a good young player to lift the Cup, and the Dynamo's 2007 additions continued their reign as the league's current dynasty. I found both Houston picks to be underwhelming though, especially considering their needs at forward and goalkeeper. It's true that filling a positional need is tricky late in the draft, but Houston needs to find some gold nuggets if they're going to maintain their success. Cameron is the type of big midfielder who comes along every year and usually doesn't pay off. A player with that size should dominate college ball if they have the technical and athletic gifts needed for MLS - at best I think he could be a Pitchkolan or Chris Roner type. Barlow had a decent career at Virginia, and might transition well to the back, but I don't see much upside in either pick. I would have liked to see at least one of the picks take a gamble at addressing their big positional needs.

Kansas City:
#1 Chance Myers - D
#11 Roger Espinoza - M/F
#23 Yomby William - D
#25 Jonathan Leathers - D
#39 Matt Marquess - D/M
#53 Rauwshan McKenzie - D

Bonji: B+ I'm not sure, but the number of defenders traded away and then selected in the draft makes me think KC sees someone from the above list as a rookie year contributor. They got one last year in Michael Harrington, did they win again with Chance Myers? The morning of the draft I was shocked to hear Myers was going to be #1. I was on the same bus with everyone else being obsessed with Nyarko. KC surprised us and I hope it works out for them. They ended up with two GA players who will have plenty of time to develop. The rest of their picks should yield defensive help although I think they're not close to starting in MLS. Hard work and good coaching should bring one or two of those last four to the development squad and maybe someday the first team.

Emile: B In round 4 of the MLSNet webcast, Allen Hopkins mentioned that Kansas City felt like they had the best scouting analysis of any team in MLS. And this seems like a Chicago Fire draft - one of a team out-thinking themselves in some spots and making great value picks in others. The quality of their draft will ultimately be decided by how well Chance Myers pans out, but he has many admirers, despite only having one good college season under his belt. I liked the San Jose trade from the beginning, but it seems unlikely that Myers will do much to make up for the loss of Garcia in 2008. I thought Espinoza was picked a bit high - and if they go to a 3-5-2, as has been rumored, I don't see how he fits in with Harrington, who would be playing the same position. In a 4-4-2 though, they could complement each other nicely - but Espinoza doesn't have enough of a college track record for me to feel completely confident in his being picked that high. Leathers and McKenzie were both solid picks where they were selected, but I question the picks of William and Marquess. William is either 23 or 26, and at either age, an international center back labeled as 'raw' and a 'prospect' was picked too high. Marquess was never more than a role player at Santa Clara, so I think Kansas City's futuristic analysis tools let them down there. Maybe too many defenders, but they are the positional pick most likely to pay off late in the draft.

Los Angeles:
#4 Sean Franklin - D/M
#21 Ely Allen - F
#29 Julian Valentin - D
#34 Matt Allen - G
#46 Brandon McDonald - D/M
#51 Matt Hatzke - D

Bonji: B LA got some good defensive talent and added a solid goal keeping prospect in this draft. We all know the Gals are out trying to bring Sexy football to LA, and this draft class looks like it is supposed to do the dirty work. It looks like Lalas and Cobi were in charge of the picks since head coach Ruud was in Holland working out some visa issues, reportedly. The biggest surprise for me is that knowing what kind of salary cap issues the Gals must have, they selected the first senior, non-GA player of the day. They could have done equally well with their first pick and saved the salary cap space. Sometimes there are a lot of questions surrounding Lalas and Co. and this time is no different. Ely Allen should be able to earn a developmental spot and may be able to work into the starting 11 if the Little Fishy gets injured or flops around too much.

Emile: B+ It's always too easy to assume that the current LA regime will botch everything they do with their grandiose visions, but I think they did very, very well with this draft. The only real knock I have is that they didn't get any Generation Adidas players, to lighten the load on their overburdened salary cap. They reportedly wanted Chance Myers, but Franklin should keep them feeling happy for years with his athletic runs from the right wing. In fact, I thought their first four picks were all good values. For a team that needs very cheap soldiers to fill in the spaces between the sexy-stars, they got some good candidates. Ely Allen is versatile, productive, and hard-working and Valentin is tough and intelligent. I rate Matt Allen as a better developmental keeper prospect than Brian Edwards, and McDonald is an interesting gamble because he is just beginning a conversion from mediocre athletic forward to defender. They also picked up allocation money for the 28th pick.