I have gone back and looked at the last two Super Drafts - and popular to what people want to believe, we are no where near as bad as some of the other teams: % of picks impact players still on team (played 1000+ min this year): Chi - 20% NY - 18.2% DC - 15.4% Colum - 15.4% % of picks still on team: Here we are dead last at 15.4% - Chi leads with 40% % of picks out of league: Chi - 40% Dall - 43.8% SJ - 53.8% DC - 53.8% This data tells me a few things - DC doesn't draft as badly as some say they do (and these numbers do include dumping Namoff and Ludwig) or DC would have come out much higher. The problem truly lies in the fact we don't give players long enough to develop - Lisi and Ziadie are still in the league just no longer with us. We could be like LA and KC - not a single impact player over the last two years of the draft. Or even worse - NE, Colorado, and KC, 70%+ of their drafted players are no longer in the league.
How many of the players that are still with their team are P-40 and thus roster and cap-protected? Dave
Go back further...Jason Moore The problem is DC's skewed salary structure, where DCU has no budget for players with a little experience, but not yet stars. You either make mad cash, a la MAE, Jaime, Pope, Williams(?) or starvation wages. Get 'em cheap, keep 'em if they're stars (Convey & Q1), throw 'em away if they're mid-level pros.
We can keep going back - but DC has at least one contributor in each draft except 99. 00 - Convey, Armstrong, Denton 98 - Talley 97 - Presthus People are acting like we are the only team that can't draft. I am thinking there is a serious lack of talent out there to draft from. At best a team can hope for one player a year that can contribute. DC is averaging more than that.
Well at the time I was doing a major WTF!?!?!?!? when United passed over Eddie Johnson (who wasn't going to join the team until the end of the season, so was not going to help the team that season) with the 15th pick in the draft to select Bryan Namoff who was just sent to Richmond. I gave Namoff a chance and learned that he actually had good potential, but at #19 the Dallas Burn selected Eddie Johnson. Man, I'd give away our first pick in the entire SuperDraft (potentially) in a heartbeat to have Johnson in a United kit. Because of injury and a crowded stable of finishers at the Burn, he hasn't seen much time on the pitch. I wonder if there is any way we could swing a trade for him without giving up one of our core players (i.e. Santino, Convey, Olsen, etc.)? The problem is that the Burn are basicly stacked right now and have no glaring needs. Oh well. That decision eats away at me just as the Lisi/Nelsen over Suarez one does. But don't get me started ... Can we get the person who does the draft for the Dallas Burn? Maybe Jefferies could give us some tips? -Tron