well....talk about your reaches.... good luck kid.... Mark will be happy, big time drafted on need with that one. He'll certainly be our new left midfielder.
...Sam Garza? At #6? Uh... Can't help but think if we really wanted the kid we could have traded down.. Oddly enough, one of the mlssoccer.com guys called our pick in their mock draft: http://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft...10/update-mlssoccercoms-final-2012-mock-draft To me, this kid has "Ellis McLoughlin" written all over him. We'll see him maybe in tiny amounts, but Frank will never use him the way he should. Time will tell. Welcome to the Quakes, Sam!
This is cover if the Dawkins loan doesn't happen. I guess it means they don't think Salinas can play on the left and he'll just back up Chavez on the right side. But we need to fork out $$ for Bostock....or Baca needs to take great leaps forward....or we have to a CAM DP pick up in mind...or we'll be a be a fringe playoff team at best again cause Khari ain't no partner for Ring/Cronin.
"Quakes select F Sam Garza in MLS SuperDraft" (SJEarthquakes.com - Thursday, 1/12/12) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
"San Jose Earthquakes take UC Santa Barbara's Sam Garza with No. 6 pick in MLS draft" (San Jose Mercury News - Thursday, 1/12/12) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Should be a good wing option. We needed more than just Salinas and Chavez. Generation adidas: Q&A with Sam Garza Generation adidas: 5 things to know about Sam Garza 2012 MLS Superdraft Targets: Sam Garza
Any one who thinks a college draft pick will be a starter in MLS is clueless. Even Opara, who had the skills, still didn't have the physical foundation to keep from getting hurt and off the field. Expect Ampi-like 2011 minutes.
- Centerline Soccer: San Jose Earthquakes select forward Sam Garza of UC Santa Barbara with sixth overall pick
wow! looks like a solid pick Looks like has the right combo of size, strength, & skill to play in the MLS right away. Maybe, FY will convert him to mid or def since it appears that he isn't afraid of physical contact.
17 - Sam Garza Born: 10/17/1989 Height: 5-11 Weight: 160 Year: Junior Hometown: Highland Village, Texas High School: Edward S. Marcus HS College: Denver Position: Forward http://ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-soccer/2011-12/bios/garza_sam00.html
Seems you're fairly clueless- recall AJ Soares, Perry Kitchen, CJ Sapong, and Teal Bunbury - all rookie draft picks from last year who each started in at least half the games last season. You're either giving our league too much credit or the top college picks not enough.
They are recent though. I'm not saying Garza wo't be any good but history has proven more often than not that top draft picks don't turn in to top or even special players or even stick with the same club. If anything the middle of the road picks last longer and do better. Top pick in MLS draft won't assure Montreal Impact a star http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/mls/story/2012-01-11/mls-draft-first-round-pick/52505916/1 2000 - Steve Shak, New York MetroStars 2001 - Chris Carrieri, San Jose Earthquakes 2002 - Chris Gbandi, FC Dallas (then-Dallas Burn) 2003 - Alecko Eskandarian, DC United 2004 - Freddy Adu, DC United 2005 - Nik Besagno, Real Salt Lake 2006 - Marvell Wynne, New York Red Bulls
I think there have been several cases where Quakes draft picks have been at least sometimes starters their first year. Off the top of my head, - Dunivant - 2003 - (started until maybe towards the end of the season?) - Ryan Cochrane - 2004 (started maybe half the games(?) in 2004 - Danny O'Rourke - 2005 (started a number of games) - Salinas -2008 - (began the season as a starter but was on and off - got significant minutes and don't think he had a significant injury) - Opara - 2010 - (would have been a consistent starter in 2010 if not for injuries) - Baca - 2011 - (started a number of games after he became available - no injuries) Ring may have gotten some starts in 2009 but he had that freak hip thing that was not related to playing in MLS I don't think. I don't know if he'd even started training.
Well those are #1 picks and teams tend to go a little crazy in that situation, don't they? Dot said 'college draft pick' and I merely wanted to point out that for the last 3-5 years at least you could find at least a half-dozen former college players who made significant contributions as starters their rookie seasons.
I said "black" and you tried to say "not black"... Of course there are players who will contribute in their first year, but I'm thinking more along the lines of what kind of quality does the NFL, NBA or MLB get out of their drafts? Seems college game for those sports is closer to the pro level then the college soccer game is to MLS level. One example, there was a lot of Corbon Bone love on this board last year, maybe he'll live up to it this year. Edit... I see you responded to all the others and adjusted. I spent about 10 years reading Paul Gardner rant on about how horrible the college game is for developing players. Different rules, season is too short, blah blah. (I thought he was a bit over the top, but he has some points). I just think it's like counting angles on the head on a needle, trying to project starting roles for any of these players, the odds really are not that good.
Acutally Dunivant started every game until the playoffs. Baca was a discovery player, not a draft pick
I don't believe Baca was drafted... Yeah well thats what I posted As opposed to top picks, the later round picks usually do more in the MLS. The draft is pretty much a crap shoot.