2012 SuperDraft Results

The Quakes had 3 picks in the 2012 SuperDraft. In their first pick they selected a Generation Adidas forward from UC Santa Barbara, Sam Garza (seen above), with the No. 6 overall pick. The team picked up Jacob Hustedt, midfielder, from the University of Washington with the 25th pick (6th in round 2) and Chris Blais, goalkeeper, from the University of South Florida with the 33rd pick (14th in round 2).

I was thinking the Quakes would pick up a backup central defender and left back for some extra depth. Corrales is 34 and getting a bit slower, so an attacking left back probably isn’t his best position at this point in time. He’d be better suited to playing in midfield. With Attakora’s contract not being picked up yet, the Quakes only have Hernandez, Opara and newcomer Bernardez. Opara has been injured for the later half of the last 2 seasons, so if the Quakes go into 2012 with only 3 CBs they are taking a long chance on Opara’s health.

It might be that the Quakes are trying to compensate for the possibility that Dawkins won’t be coming back from Tottenham. Garza and Hustedt can both play in the midfield, but it might be a little congested as the Quakes also picked up Chavez from FC Dallas to play on the right. However most first year rookies don’t get a ton of playing time unless absolutely needed. It doesn’t seem as if both Garza and Hustedt will be needed that much in the first year, but we will see.

The Quakes third pick was goalkeeper Chris Blais. He was one of only 2 goalkeepers selected in the draft. It would seem the Quakes are planning for the possibility that Bingham will be with the Olympic squad in London. Since the Quakes waived Weber, they are left with only Busch and Bingham. Makes sense from a depth perspective, but I wonder if they could have picked up a capable 3rd string goalie for less than a draft pick.

The Quakes also resigned Lenhart and Gordon to new contracts. With these re-signings, and assuming Dawkins doesn’t come back, I foresee a formation similar to this (optimal set up):

Wondo – Lenhart
Salinas – Ampai (Attacking) – Cronin (Defend) – Chavez
Morrow – Hernandez – Bernardez – Beitashour
Busch

It looks like a positive improvement from the beginning of last year, when we weren’t sure what Yallop’s 4-3-3 might look like or how it might function. I think the team plays better when they have 2 up top, especially when one of those is Wondo. The front office might still pick up a designated player, they should still have some money left over from the Convey sale and other transactions. If the team can’t renegotiate with Tottenham for Dawkins, the team will need to find the replacements for left back, central defender and an attacking midfielder, just in case Baca or Ampai aren’t cut out for the position just yet.

GO QUAKES!

Category: Management, Offseason Chat, Player News, Preseason