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SANDY — Real Salt Lake looks to continue its rebuild before the 2015 MLS season with the SuperDraft in Philadelphia on Thursday.
The Salt Lake side has overhauled the roster, signing a handful of players along the spine of the team to extensions while also reformatting several key positions, including most of the defense.
The club has made no secret of its desire to get younger, and the league’s annual college draft is a great chance to do so. With that in mind, RSL’s late first-round pick doesn’t often lead to superstar talent in the form of highly coveted Generation adidas contracts or immediate-impact professional players.
RSL owns the No. 16 pick in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft, which will host two rounds on Thursday and conclude with the final two rounds via conference call next week.
Here are five players Real Salt Lake could add to its roster to fill a variety of needs.
Ramon Martin del Campo (DF)
The UC Davis product started last week as a surefire top 10 pick in the SuperDraft, but saw his stock tumble during the combine when he failed to impress with perceived lack of speed and agility. But with RSL’s needs along the back line, the U.S. U-23 international del Campo could slot in for backup minutes at center back with newly re-signed Aaron Maund and homegrown players Justen Glad and Phanuel Kavita. A former player for the San Jose Earthquakes U-23 team that plays in the Premier Development League, del Campo anchored a defense that allowed only 12 goals in 2014.
Eric Bird (MF)
Bird is a midfielder who can slot into the central spot a la Kyle Beckerman, or who can jump into the wide midfield position vacated by Ned Grabavoy. The University of Virginia product helped his team to an NCAA College Cup title in 2014 with five goals and two assists on the season, and he’s been a regular starter for the Cavaliers since 2012. The two-time All-American Bird could see immediate time behind Beckerman, who RSL recently signed to a three-year extension but will be called up for the CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer.
Dan Metzger (MF)
Similar to Bird in a lot of ways, Metzger is a defensive midfielder with bite and vision to reminiscent of a young Beckerman. The Maryland product was a four-year leader, and an all-Big Ten first team selection in 2014 while leading the Terps to a 13-6-3 record.
Otis Earle (DF)
It’s highly unlikely the UC Riverside graduate falls to RSL at No. 16, but if he does, expect the Salt Lake side to snatch him up in a hurry. Earle is one of the top left backs in the draft, a position of increased need for Real Salt Lake. The club lost fullback Chris Wingert to New York City FC, and is currently without a true left back on its roster — though Jamaican international Demar Phillips is reportedly in negotiations with the club, and fullbacks Tony Beltran and Abdoulie Mansally could step into that spot in a pinch. Earle would be an immediate-impact player with RSL, should he drop out of the top 10 picks. Earle, the son of former Premier League standout and current NBC broadcaster Robbie Earle, is a London native who has been a regular starter with the Highlanders since 2012.
Dzenan Catic (F)
The Serbia-born striker from Michigan was a virtual unknown prior to the MLS Combine in Florida, but he exploded onto the scene with the first goal of the combine. The 6-3, 188-pound forward played at NAIA Davenport University after a less-than-stellar professional career in Germany. He lit up the nation when he came back to college, though, scoring 63 goals in two seasons before heading to MLS. RSL has other needs, but a strong goal-scorer is one of the most sure things in the league, and it would be hard to pass up this option.
