Making a list, checking it twice.
January 14th, 2009 . 11:41 am .
By: Buzz Carrick
The combine is over and the SuperDraft is Thursday. Hopefully my Final SuperDraft Rankigns will follow this Combine Wrap on Wednesday.
This Combine Wrap up is a final review of each player at the MLS Combine. I divide them into five categories for this exercise. 1. Can’t Miss Prospects. 2. Should Do Well. 3. Projects with Hope. 4. Has a Chance. 5. Slim to None. In each section I will list the players in alphabetical and they will only include players who participated in the Combine.
Again my warning: If you are a friend or family of a player at the combine I would highly suggest you don’t read this. Some of the comments, particularly near the bottom, can be harsh in soccer terms. You may not believe it but I am far more forgiving that MLS coaches as I am looking for upside in almost everyone.
Can’t Miss Prospects
I think we all know there aren’t really any can’t miss prospects in soccer. Or at least in US college soccer. But these guys are as close as we can get to being a sure thing. As usual there aren’t many of these top tier talents. This is the smallest list I can recall in this first category because Marcus Tracy, Mike Grella, and O’Brian White all missed the Combine for various reasons.
| Sam Cronin |
Wake Forest |
The best senior player at the combine and a class all around player for a deep controlling midfield spot. |
| Stephen Frei |
California |
An outstanding keeper prospect, predicted to be in the same class as Brad Guzan and Chris Seitz. Ga. |
| Chris Pontius |
UCSB |
The best all around forward at the combine, showed he has the individual skill to separate and finish. |
Should Do Well
This next group, and the one after, are bigger than in the recent past. That depth is what makes this a good draft. There will be some, maybe even a bunch, of good players coming out of this group, I’m just not dead solid set on any of them as a virtual lock. A few are of course just short of that ideal. Most all of them should make an MLS side.
| Lyle Adams |
Wake Forest |
Really tall and lanky outside right runner out of the back. Runs all day and gets behind people to great effect. Second best right back after Alston. |
| Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe |
George Mason |
A real speedy runner at the forward spot. He hit the best two crosses of the whole combine with his left foot. I like him as a possible wide midfielder even though he didn’t play there. |
| Kevin Alston |
Indiana |
Ridiculously speedy diminutive outside back, runs end to end and can both attack and defend. Best right back on boards. Ga |
| Quincy Amarikwa |
UC Davis |
Hard nosed, gritty, fighter. Terrific athleticism and coordination but not top end speed. |
| Darrius Barnes |
Duke |
An athletic defender who can tight man mark the best strikers. Notably shut out Zakuani on Day 2. Might be able to play right back. |
| Matt Besler |
Notre Dame |
A smart, smooth, and finesse central defender. A leader in the back that reminds me of Parkhurst at hic combine in LA years ago. |
| Josh Boateng |
Liberty |
A fast, slashing type midfielder or withdrawn striker. Likes to roam about and change the point of attack. |
| Evan Brown |
Wake Forest |
A well rounded right back with a serious penchant to get forward, although he’s not a speedster. White’s best attacking threat all week even though he’s an outside back. |
| Aaron Clapman |
Louisville |
A smooth and skilled central midfielder with great field awareness. A rung or two below Cronin but with some game to offer. |
| Daniel Cruz |
UNLV |
A hard working but skilled wide midfielder, Fast enough with quick first step, but not a pure burner. Ga. |
| Alec Dufty |
Evansville |
A pro size keeper with a solid game. Has pro level potential but not superstar gifts. |
| Omar Gonzalez |
Maryland |
The best defender in the pool. Big, strong, dominate in the air. Questions remain about quickness and pace. Ga. |
| Andrei Gotsmanov |
Creighton |
A tall, play making type midfielder that was unfortunately injured and couldn’t be truly involved at the combine. Pace is a question. |
| Jeremy Hall |
Maryland |
The best wide mid in the draft pool didn’t get to show much at the combine due to team pairings. May have slipped a little. Ga. |
| David Hertel |
Michigan State |
The best true left back on the board. Fast, can run the line, defenders very well. He is, by the way, the winner of may 5th Annual Chris Rolfe Man Crush Award. |
| George John |
Washington |
A big center back who has converted from holding mid. Great feet and game reading as a center back. Good passer. Coming off recent meniscus injury, may have tweaked knee. |
| Milos Kocic |
Loyola (Maryland) |
Big keeper with some upside. Solid skill set but will need lots positional work to progress. |
| Michael Lahoud |
Wake Forest |
A very skillful, well rounded, and strong midfielder. Athletic. Not classy like Cronin. Where does he play centrally, wide, or both? |
| Peri Marosevic |
Michigan |
A gritty hard working baller with a nose for goal. Good soccer smarts and only 19. Can combine and gets off fast shot in tight space. Ga. |
| Kyle Patterson |
Saint Louis |
The top performing attacking wide midfielder at the combine. Can both attack and play defense. Has some pace. |
| Jordan Seabrook |
South Florida |
Fast, strong, and dangerous. Has all the tools to be a great pro striker if he can put it together and get the right team. |
| Rodney Wallace |
Maryland |
Speedy left back struggled a bit at the combine. Young with upside. Ga |
| Steve Zakuani |
Akron |
Top attacking talent at the combine. Loves to break people down with pace and moves running at them. |
Projects with Hope
These are the guys who either showed flashes of potential, or have a weakness in one specific area of their game that keeps them out of the previous group. Again this is a relatively large group this year. You will find some good players in there that will be develop by a MLS team.
| Jean Alexandre |
Lynn |
A NFL strong safety in a soccer uniform. Massive, strong, and intimidating. Good long range shot, nice passing, and a little ball skill. With some coaching I see big upside as a holding mid, but is raw in current form. |
| Calum Angus |
Saint Louis |
A aggressive defender and vocal organizer. Could be a step quicker and a couple inches bigger. Might still be a solid pro. |
| Graciano Brito |
Quinnipiac |
Large and athletic forward that reminds me of Julian Nash. Tends to stay very central looking for his chance and not run about. |
| Oscar Castillo |
UConn |
Hard working smaller outside back who likes to run. Plays aggressive and gets caught out of position. Doesn’t have great ball skills. |
| Steward Ceus |
Albany |
A very tall keeper with some serious quickness and reactions. He’s very raw and looks a high risk high reward pick. |
| Chris Clements |
Tulsa |
A big strong defender who was clearly playing hurt at the combine. College career says he might have something, but we can’t tell this week. |
| Dylan Curtis |
UC Davis |
Tall wide mid who likes to run the field and get in crosses. Will play defense. Wasn’t fit enough at the combine. |
| AJ Delagarza |
Maryland |
If he were 6′2″ he’d be the best defender in the draft. At a 5′8″ it’s just going to be very difficult to make it at center back. Can he play right back? Possibly. |
| Jokul Elisabetarson |
UNC Greensboro |
A shorter holding mid with a knack for being in the right place. Made some very nice passes including one for a goal early in the weekend. |
| Doug DeMartin |
Michigan State |
A really smart and savvy player for the front line or maybe even wide midfield. But is soccer smarts enough? Pace is a problem. |
| Paul Gerstenberger |
Boston College |
A left back that tried to play hurt at the combine. Impossible to get a review of him. But he was average here even hurt and he’s left back so that’s worth something. |
| Alex Grendi |
Penn |
A average player without all that much remarkable skills. He’d be down a group… except that he’s a lefty. And left mids are hard to find. |
| Juan Guerra |
Florida Int. |
A nice ball player with good foot skills. He wants go forward in a hurry but could use a little more pace. Never got any results for his effort. |
| Baggio Husidic |
Illinois-Chicago |
A slow style play making midfielder. Great passer and ball handlers but wants to slow the pace to a deliberate style. May not fit the fast paced MLS. |
| Richard Jata |
Campbell |
Lots of nifty moves but he tries to do to much. Sometimes gets in the way of his own team. Off the pace defensively and fouling to much. Could be amazing, or could be out of MLS in a month. A love/hate kind of player. |
| Wes Knight |
College of Charleston |
A above average two way right back. Plays solid defense and does combine forward but without top pace of some others. More reliably, less risk player. |
| Yohance Marshall |
South Florida |
All the physical tools are there, but the decision making is shocking. Poor marking and positioning, poor passing, and even tripped over the ball a few times. |
| Ryan Maxwell |
Tampa |
Crazy fast wide mid, arguably the fastest player at the combine. With or without the ball he beat players to get results. Doesn’t have a clue about how to play defense. |
| Sean Milligan |
Dartmouth |
Ok looking keeper, but didn’t look confident on a few crosses. |
| Babajide Ogunbiyi |
Santa Clara |
A massive central defender with recovery pace. May have helped himself more than anyone at the combine. Still raw and a project but might be a steal in the mid rounds. |
| Jack Traynor |
Notre Dame |
A solid looking left back without the pace of Hertel or the upside of Wallace, but he does have above average game and a willingness to move forward. 3rd best left back here. |
| Nick Zimmerman |
James Madison |
A tall and strong looking above average player. In the right system he might be this year’s Jeff Cameron… or he might not. |
| Graham Zusi |
Maryland |
Smart player, dedicated leader. I like him much better wide in midfield or as a second striker than I do as an attacking mid. If only he were one step quicker. |
Has a Chance
These guys are on the fringe. If a MLS coach took a liking to them for some reason they might get a late pick or a free agent call. In year past a few of them would pop up on MLS developmental rosters, but that will be tougher now with the elimination of the reserve league.
| Trevor Banks |
Old Dominion |
A outside back with some pace, but he’s not a good enough defender at this stage. Would need reserve game and coaching… and the reserves are gone. |
| Brandon Barklage |
Saint Louis |
Hard working and fit, with an awesome engine. But not enough skill to go with it. |
| Evan Bush |
Akron |
A bit nervous and unsure with the hands and on crosses. |
| Raphael Cox |
Washington |
Speedy winger type but doesn’t have the skills to beat people one v one. |
| Jeff Harwell |
SMU |
A player I wish I could rank higher. A good midfielder who’s game I enjoy. He’s never put it all together and getting hurt here can’t help. |
| Michael Holody |
Michigan |
A larger defender but with poor feet. Wants nothing to do with the ball. |
| Bryan Irwin |
Portland |
Smart player who gets the game, moves well enough, but there’s nothing special to make him a legit forward. Can he do a Marc Burch like conversion? |
| Neal Kitson |
St John’s |
Capable of massive games, see the College Cup; but often has a momentary lapse of reason, see MLS Combine. |
| Ryan Maduro |
Providence |
A play making type who can’t quite beat people one v one at this level. Good ideas, they just don’t work here. Will be great in the USL. |
| Ryan Mirsky |
SMU |
Tall and skinny with some recovery speed. But slow reading of the game and poor passing are holding him back. |
| Akeem Priestley |
UConn |
A play maker type midfielder that reads to slow to be a top level player. Ball to slow to come off the feet but he can dribble a little. |
| Daniel Revivo |
Winthrop |
A big college striker who dominated lower level college soccer, but can’t do much at the top level. |
| Chris Salvaggione |
UNC Charlotte |
Hard working and fit striker, he gets in the right spots, but doesn’t produce. USL level player. |
| Ross Schunk |
Redlands U |
An always moving forward who looks to come back to midfield and combine going forward. Not fast enough in pace or feet for MLS. |
Slim to None
The last groups is not a good place to be. I don’t think any of these guys have much to offer, or at least they didn’t show it at the combine. Is there hope for them? Sure, I’ve been wrong before and will be wrong again. Just ask Luke Sassano.
| Pavel Castenada |
Duke |
Plays nervous and behind the pace of action. Struggled to keep up. |
| Keum Sung Kim |
Loyola (Chicago) |
Arguably the worst player at the combine. Did almost nothing right. |
| Paul Nicholson |
Rio Grande |
Workman like in effort and big in heart but with pedestrian skills. |
| Nick Parera |
UCSB |
A big, slow lumbering college style striker. |
| Matt Polle |
Virginia |
One dimensional tackler, ever single pass he made at the combine went backward. |
| Kyle Russell |
Coastal Carolina |
Limited defender who couldn’t handle most opposition players here. |
Our Final SuperDraft Rankings should be coming out soon.
Categories: 120 Fahrenheit.
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Buzz, did I miss it or did you forget to rate Steward Ceus?
it’s very possible I may have left him off on accident. I wrote all the players down on here at 2 am lst night and could have left one off by mistake. Ill check and add him.
Thanks.
And, as always, tremendous job.
Buzz,
Thanks for giving us your daily feedback on the combine. The MLS website is spotty and it looks like they are spinning their pre-combine favorites, especially the GAs. Pontius doesn’t get a mention today by Davis.
By the way, who were the top goal scorers at the combine?
Also, Did you accedentally list the players in your final list by overall player rating? It’s not alphabetical, at least not in English.
Thanks, again. Great work.
rough morning, i forgot to put them in alphabetical order. The order they were in was as I came across names on the lineup sheet from day three that I happened to have in front of me. There was no meaning to it beyond me forgetting.
I love that someone reminds you of Julian Nash, a guy who only played a handful of games in MLS but was great for us Creighton fans.
players not at the combine (injured): Ring, O’Brien White, Fucito, Bernstein
players currently looking at Europe (or recently signed): Tracy, Grella, Ricketts, Chris Brown
players from the 3rd and 4th tier I think will get drafted: Husidic, Maxwell, Curtis, Marshall, Zusi, Angus, Delagarza, Ogunbiyi, Jean Alexandre, Barklage (with Zusi and Barklage being far from certain).
Just some hunches and not necessarily players I personally like or think will do well. There are 26 players listed here in the top 2 tiers and most all will be drafted (a couple of goalkeepers might slip, MLS teams are random about that). Add in Ring & White, that’s 28 of 60 slots before adding in the 10 I listed above. So as of right now I feel comfortable projecting ~2/3 the draft picks.
Combine players without all-american, all-regional or full all-conference honors: Dufty (6′5″ Evansville keeper), Irwin (noone from pro-producing Portland made the 2008 1st or 2nd team) and the ACC contingent of Adams, Evan Brown, Gerstenberger, Poole. Of the lower division players, Maxwell is the only one not to make an all-american list.
By the way, Bryan Irwin played fullback his first 2 years at Portland. Minor side note – his father is the coach there.
Did Jeff Harwell try out one of the back positions? I seem to recall him playing fullback with the Dallas Cup Super Group winning Texans side.
Amazing work you did…. amazing. Thank you!
very impressive and objective reports…thankyou for your time and effort
did you forget to rank patrick murray from furman?
So it appears. I’ll ad him.