Draft Day Rewind

The MLS draft ended a couple hours ago, and there are 5 new Wizards draftees, only one of those players though is already signed to an MLS contract, the other 4 will be looking to earn contract this coming preseason.

Let's start with some really good news to most Wizards fans. When ESPN opened their broadcast today they mentioned that the Wizards were shopping Jimmy Conrad. Many Wizards fans were pissed off and frustrated with this announcement. Thankfully for those fans, the team has come out and denied those rumors. Peter Vermes spoke with Ives Galarcep after the draft and Vermes did not mix words saying "we were NEVER shopping around Jimmy Conrad" and "we are not looking to deal Jimmy Conrad." So breath easy Wizards fans, it appears Captain Conrad will be staying in KC.

As for the draft itself, the first four picks went as many people seemed to expect them to, Philadelphia grabbed Danny Mwanga, New York took Tony Tchani, and San Jose took Ike Opara. That left Teal Bunbury right there for the Wizards to grab. They didn't have second thoughts about taking Bunbury and he will not only become the first son of a former MLSer to play in the league, but he'll play for the same team his father did. I like this pick, he brings size, speed, and a touch to the Wizards forward line. With Kei Kamara still being an unknown as to whether he will return, Bunbury could step in almost immediately and fill a hole for KC. Thad over at The Back Post also has a quick phone interview with the Wizards first pick.

In the second round the Wizards went a different way than I think anyone really thought they would as they grabbed defendner Korede Aiyegbusi (co-REH-day eye-a-BOO-see) or Kay as Robb Heineman called him. From everything I've been able to find on Aiyegbusi and his performance during college and in the combine, the Wizards should have been able to grab the left back from NC State later in the draft. Later in the draft, Heineman said that Vermes sees Aiyegbusi as more of a left winger in the professional game. That means more competition with Claudio Lopez and Roger Espinoza for the left wing.

In the third round, the Wizards had two picks and they tried to take care of both ends of the field. First the Wizards grabbed Nick Cardenas from San Diego State with the 36th pick in the draft. Cardenas is a big center back, 6-5 the worry on him is that he is apparently a little slow with his feet. Of course the same thing was said by some people about last year's rookie of the year, Omar Gonzalez. Not saying Cardenas will be rookie of the year, but it's too early to tell. The Wizards other 3rd round pick was University of Michigan forward Mauro Fuzetti a multi-time All Big 10 forward I want to think he'll be different, but I have a feeling he'll be the second coming of Doug DeMartin.

With their final pick, the Wizards grabbed former US U-17 captain and U-20 international, Ofori Sarkodie. Sarkodie could be a good late round pick up for KC, although he had a poor combine, he'll provide some competition out on the wing positions. We'll see if the promise he showed back when he was a youth international shows up.

Overall I was a little underwhelmed with the draft, I thought there were better players out there are certain times in the draft, but I probably haven't seen the players as much as other people have and I'm willing to give a pass until I see these players more.