DC United's Draft Grade [R]

-A i think the only bad decision was behonich, but as you said hudson has seen him more and anyway he will probably end up in the A-league

 

Incomplete!

I like that we drafted two P-40s who played locally. That will help them develop. I'm glad we selected Warren at 14 'cause we need a backup GK. The proof is in the pudding -- let's see how these guys play -- hence the incomplete.

I gotta believe Ray sees something special in Carroll and his selection of Behonick (sp?) says a lot about Ray -- he gives a player a chance to make an impact.

I hope Woodworth continues to be inspired by a futbol loving God, especially if the Almighty roots for DCU. Vicar?

What kind of pace does Stokes have?

Alecko looks like a rugby player. He must have an eighteen size neck. 160 lbs for a 5'9" player -- hell yeah!

Swann I know nothing about.

GM

 

Grade: "A"

I'd give Hudson and Kaspar an "A" for refraining from making any monstrous trades. I distinctly remember the sinking feeling in my stomach when we began the youth movement at the expense of Agoos, Llamossa and others...

I'm glad we got a good number of young players, some of whom sound as if they will stick to the squad. This is a plus, especially after last year's dubious draft performance. Plus, I think most of these kids are under contract already. In other words, it doesn't appear we have to fear any Daouda Kante-type desertions.

Hopefully Esky lives up to the hype. I know he's practiced with the team before--I remember his name from Diceson's practice reports--so maybe he will mesh quickly. I've gotta say, I like the sound of this Woodworth kid. Stokes must have been the real deal to attract Ray's eye so early. But what can we say, the man knows how to spot defensive talent. Plus, all of these guys seem to have some height, except Esky, which is a positive move away from midget football.

I'm glad we didn't do the rumored Stoichkov for the #5 pick trade. Actually, I'm glad we didn't get involved in trade-day wheeling and dealing at all. This tells me that Hudson is increasingly confident in the team he has put together. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if we had one more major acquisition. And I would love it if the renewed Milton "Tyson" Nunez rumors are true.

Finally, if Stoichkov and Harkes are coming to United, I hope we don't have to give up much if anything to get them. If we acquire another top notch player in addition to Stocihkov and Harkes without selling the farm, I'll give Hudspar an "A" for the offseason, not just the draft.

Now I can't wait for Diceson's practice reports to start rolling in.

--Catch

 

How is taking Behonich with the last pick for the team (they passed on their absolute last pick) a bad move?

I figure the whole draft is actually similar to hockey's draft. The first couple of guys are probably going to make it, but the rest of it is just a toss up, and you don't quite know what you'll really get. Maybe some guys hang on for a year, some won't make it though mid February.

With the first two picks, Alecko and Stokes, United looks like they've got a couple of guys who will be on the regular roster and might see some time.

 

I think United did an excellent job with the draft today. As much as there may have been tactical advantages to taking Clark over Eskandarian at No. 1, I don't see any downside to making Alecko the top pick.

I am partial to the pick of Stokes at No. 5. I watched quite a few of his high school games and he certainly didn't disappoint at North Carolina. Hudson was talking him up as early as midseason last year and this pick shouldn't come as a surprise. He has decent pace for a player his size, and that's just it with him, good, tall player that's good in the air, as well. I, like others here, also like that they got another hometown guy in Carroll. Though I think he is much farther away from contributing than either Eskandarian or Stokes. Stokes can also add that Pope-esque ability to connect in the area on set pieces and corners.

The rest of the draft was decent. I have no problem with the club taking 2 goalkeepers. A little competition for the No. 2 spot is a good thing, unlike last year, where McGinty was never tested for the spot and it would have been interesting had Rimando ever gotten hurt. And that's another point, Rimando has played all but one game the last two seasons between Miami and United. You'd have to think the law of averages is going to catch with him at some point (hopefully, not), so having a tested No. 2 who earned his spot there would be a good thing.

I thought the picks toward the end of the draft were excellent, as well. Overall, if you're a United fan, you have to be pleased.

So, now what does the lineup look like, starting XI and bench?

Ed

 

You know, putting the (R) on these types of threads is less funny than "Friedel/Keller would have saved it."

And that's really, really saying something.

 

Because I have a hard time imagining how United could have done a better job in this draft, I can give them nothing but an A.

First off, United's first three picks are roster and cap exempt. In this league, that is nothing but a plus.

Esky is the best forward in the draft.

Stokes one of the three best backs in the draft.

Carroll is the second best D-mid in the draft.

Warren is the best GK in the draft.

On top of that, they all fill needs though none are expected to start. They might end up starting, but the team is fortunate that none have to.

Esky will challenge Tino for a starting forward spot. United is likely playing a 3-5-2 and that is the formation that Stokes is best at. He can challenge Reyes, Petke and Prideaux for minutes and will definitely push them in practice. (I wouldn't be surprised if Ray trades either Petke or Prideaux) United needed a GK to back up Lil' Nicky and they went out and got the best one in college.

So, at this point, they're 4-for-4. That's a damn good average and given this team's recent draft history, phenomenal.

The D-III kid is worth a flyer. I mean, he was a national player of the year and he won a couple of titles and he did well at the combine. D-III players stick some times and this one is worth a chance, especially if he can play on either flank. (Having never seen him play, I don't know if he can or not.)

The Swann kid is intriguing. Both an All-American and All-PDL player who has won an NCAA title and played in 3 final fours. He's tough and feisty and mature and another reason why I won't be surprised if Petke or Prideaux are moved. (I'd move Petke just because Prideaux is more versatile and cheaper.)

Behonick is never gonna be a star. But he had a solid college career and Ray is obviously familair with him. With Warren in the fold, Behonick seems like a perfect candidate for a developmental spot. He can stay in town and apprentice and, more importantly, he can enable United to still have cover if, and hopefully when, they send Warren down to Richmond or Hampton Roads to get some starts. (Now all we need is a GK coach!)

While I likely would have taken Clark No. 1, I certainly don't blame the team for taking Eskandarian and as I said before, I don't think the team could have done much better.

Finally, a huge shout out has to go to assistant coach John Trask. I was at the ACC Tournament and saw coaches from every MLS team. Most of them sent their head coaches but during the ACCs Ray was on one of his overseas jaunts and Trask was handling United's scoutings.

It looks like Trask had a huge influence on these picks as the first 4 picks came from the ACC and the 6th one is a player he recruited out of high school.

Again, I give United a well-deserved A.

 

I give this draft a B+, and it would move to an A if Woodworth and Swann sign developmental contracts.

Alecko I'm fine with: he fills a need that Clark doesn't as Nelsen will be just fine at d-mid.

Stokes makes our defense very deep. Since the metros wouldn't take the #s 5, 11, and 14 for their #2, Stokes works out fine.

Not getting Gaven bothered me, but it seems that it was known befoire the draft that Gaven was the metro's as DC wouldn't set up living arangements for the kid.

So we got Carroll. Conservative pick and we can't expect much out of him next year. Then again, after the top five or six picks (an not Jaqua IMO) no team can really expect much out of their drafts this year.

Warren is a solid, conservative pick too.

Then we get Woodworth and Swann who could make this draft exceptional for us if they are willing to play for peanuts. Their value will really (hopefully) pay off next year when we are having to deal with potential cap difficulties.

So what did the draft do for this year? Only Esky will really contest for a starting job. The starters:

-------------Rimando
Reyes--------Ivanov----Petke
--------------Nelsen
Olsen-------Etch&Dema------Convey
------Stewart------------Q1/Eski

Main subs:
defense- Prideaux is the main one but I still expect him to be traded (though maybe it will be Petke), especially if not only Stokes shows well but if Swann signs and looks promising. At d-mid when Nellie is at the Confed Cup, if Harkes is with the team, he'll start with Carroll getting into late in games.

offense- Eski IMO has a real shot at starting over Q1, especially since he starts the first couple of games with Tino in the UAE. Stoichkov will be the main late sub. Somehow Q2 and Curtis play, but I have no idea of their roles.

I also think that eventually Etch will have a seat on the bench with Convey pairing up with Dema in the middle as I see the two young uns just being flat out better than Etch this year. Read folks: I don't hate Etch; the game is just passing him by. His game is becoming remarkably like Ivan Mckinley's, except he doesn't play much defense: mainly long balls is what to expect from Etch nowadays.

Rating Hudson: I think we can start to really read Ray. He's pretty conservative at heart. He's also very astute at judging talent. Look at this draft. None of the four early picks was surprising; they all filled a need. Ray could have selected Pause instead of Carroll for d-mid but he went with the more established kid. He also didn't go for Gaven as I think last year's Mapp experience soured him: Ray wants guys who are no becoming men- he wants men when he selects him. He doesn't want to convince a kid to do what it takes to fulfill his potential.

The other first round pick last year, Kante was a safe pick too as Ray knew the guy very well. He didn't even need to pick Kante in round one last year since no one else was thinking of taking him but he did so because he he was the best guy Ray knew. (And as it turned out, Kante was the best guy.)

Hudson has an unfair rep for having an old folks club. More acurately, he looks for talent that is already starting to show itself.

 

Ed, I agree with you. I would have also like to have seen Clark instead of Esky, but given our recent problems as a team, I have no problems with it, and Esky is a great player from what I remember about the time I saw him. As for David Stokes, I've seen him play once live, and twice on t.v. He is a great defender and when I first saw him before last year's draft, I wanted D.C. to draft him if he placed himself in the draft. So I'm certainly happy about us getting him. He's very similar to Eddie Pope IMO. He's larger, may not be quite as fast, but still fast enough. He's also very very calm in doing his job, he's not an organizer, but he's also capable of doing more that just man-marking.

As for Carroll, I've never seen him play, but at the time we picked him, I had hoped we would pick Ricky Lewis instead and then pick either Carroll or Logan Pause at #14 if we didn't pick Clark at #1. But now that I've discovered that Ricky tore his ACL, I understand why we didn't pick him, and therefore was fine with Carroll at the #11 pick. I'm also glad we got a keeper because I think we need another long term keeper. I don't like changing keepers every year. I hope he doesn't mind riding the pine though because that's what he's going to be doing.

From what I've heard of Woodworth, I'm really really glad we got him. He could provide depth at the wing and if makes the final team, he could perhaps fight for the left wing spot allowing Convey to move into the middle. As for Swann, I'm happy we got him as well. An all-american defender in the fifth round, we should snatch at it and we did. And as for Behonick, no use in not drafting him because like others have said, he will at least make Warren fight for his position.

BTW, anyone else notice Knox Cameron didn't get drafted!!?? He was a player I thought DC should draft. We need a forward like him and I was sure that he would get drafted. I read over the draft list twice and didn't see his name on there and I recall him signing with MLS so that came as a huge suprise to me.

 

Don't forget also that teams get 2 more developmental spots this year, so it's easier to give some of the lower picks a chance. I think that's why teams actually picked all the way through the last round this year, rather than passign on every pick after the fourth round.

I'd give this draft an A. We filled our needs with a few guys that may push our starters, picked up a few guys with potential in the later rounds, and didn't make any ridiculous trades to do it. Until the season starts and we see some of these guys in action, I'm content that these were good picks.

 

Agreed. About trading Petke, I'm certainly hoping he's the defender who will inevitably will get traded. And it doesn't even have to do with the fact that he played for the scum. I just think the rest are better/cheaper/more upside to them than him.

And what you say about Etch, is how I feel exactly. Since we've resigned him, I'm sure some think I'm out to bash Etch every chance I get, its just that I'm SHOCKED we resigned for MAX salary when he can hardly contribute anything now. A convey and Dema central midfield pair is pretty damn good IMO.

And since Ivan isn't going to play this year, we don't still have to pay of his salary or anything, do we?

 

Having seen only one or two of these players ever play, it's impossible for me to give a rating based on their talent.

But one point I haven't seen is that competition for spots on the team is going to be fierce at every single position. Do you think Prideaux feels completely comfortable knowing he's at best the fourth defender in Hudson's eyes and we just drafted a kid from UNC who by all appearances statistically is solid as a rock?

How would Chino feel with Woodworth challenging? I mean that kid coming from DIII could end up being one of the best players drafted this year. Who knows what will happen but the competition will be tough.

Even at goalkeeper. And let's not even start at forward where there's a very real possibility that Ali Curtis or Q2 will get sent to the A League.

Because of this - probable intense pressure at practice to make the team and keep a position - I give Hudson an A.

 

At Messiah College, Hayden Woodworth played central midfielder for 4 years. Sometimes he played in a more advanced/attacking position, sometimes deeper almost like a d-mid depending on the other players on the field at the time or on the squad that year. But he was always playing in the center, not on the wings. So, it will be interesting to see what positions Ray Hudson sees him competing at to make the roster. From some of the other posts here, it sounds like he might need to move out to the wing.

 

woodworth

To ease all your worries and ignite your passions, here is something to chew on.

I go to Messiah with Woodworth and have watched him absolutely dazzle the past four years. His foot skills and ball control are unparalleled, his vision immaculate and touch profound.

He would have been All-American three years in a row had it not been for an injury to his face on a head ball that kept him out half his junior season.

Woodworth thrives in the middle, where he opens up looks for the strikers and wing players to make the most of their position. Hayden is an exceptional player who has the ability to stun all those from miles around.

His stamina and hard work are wonderful, he will never tire and continues at good pace while many others have passed into fatigue.

Hayden has played against D3 players for four years and was able to thrive at the combine. I cannot imagine how much more he will perform after working out at higher levels in increased speeds.

His stengths are in his instinct and mental capabilities (which you cannot teach) which react and interact more quickly than most competitors. So take heart in knowing Woodworth will not disappoint. However I am only one man and have been wrong many times before. Yet never about Hayden, who is a special and unorthodox player willing to push forward with integrity, determination and much flair. If you do not believe me, ask Otterbein College (D3 runners-up, whom he annihilated) or the rest of his opponents and teammates.

 

Welcome to BigSoccer c1rcaone! Thanks for your insight. I can't wait to see Hayden in action.