I'm not a professional evaluator of talent nor a scout, nor do I pretend to be. However, the guys below all caught my eye, either in press from knowledgeable sources, or during the combine matches I watched.

As a point of reference, the Sounders hold picks 33, 34, 53, and 72.

Is there an eye-catching player who will fall that far?

Is there a player left who merits trading up?

Is there a less-deep team who would be interested in, for example, most of/all of our picks in exchange for one earlier pick?

*****************************************************************************

Miguel Ibarra, UC Irvine, MF, 5-7 135

One mock draft had the Sounders picking him in the second round. Another reputable mock had him going in round one. The big knock on him is obviously his size (to put it in perspective, Le Toux is 6'0, 155). However, he has great speed and skill.

The following three were all in the discussion when the GA roster was being named. I know less about each of them, but they all went pretty early in a mock or two pre-combine:

Carlos Alvarez, Connecticut, F, 5-10 160

Eric Schoenle, West Virginia , D, 6-2 147

Taylor Kemp, Maryland, D, 5-11 153

No international players were drafted in the first two rounds. I am certain that this was at least mildly embarrassing to Don G. and the boys. I am not, however, surprised. Each team has only 8 intl (before trades), and they are reticent to use one of them AND a super draft pick on an unproven player. With that said, a Supplemental Pick and an international slot is a (much?) lesser price. The following international players all showed well at the combine or have good pedigree/press.

Kohei Yamada MF

Yamada in particular showed a real spark of genius and really seemed to see the field well. I would love to see him in Rave Green.

Jason Banton MF

Has a lot of training time with top EPL teams on his resume. On the other hand, never stuck with any of them and is in the MLS Draft. He's probably a better gamble than John Rooney was though...and, despite the bouncing around, he's just 19.

Aldo Paniagua MF

Six foot 22-year-old Paraguayan who showed pretty well at the combine.

Who do you guys like from the remaining players? Is there anyone eye-catching who you would like to see in training?