D.C. United Approval Ratings: Devon McTavish

We're spending the first month or so of the D.C. United offseason grading each player on the roster with an approval rating. A vote for APPROVE means you were satisfied with the player's performance and want to see him back in D.C. next season. A vote for DISAPPROVE means you want United to move on without him. There is no middle ground, so please leave salary and contract implications out of your decision.

Clearly next year I need to make it a personal goal to complete all of the approval ratings prior to the announcement of the list of players who won't be coming back to the team next year. The reality of the situation may influence votes. But I don't think it will on this one...

After suffering a concussion during a practice in training camp, utility defender Devon McTavish was forced to miss the entire 2011 season. This was truly a shame because United could have used the versatile veteran defender a few times this season in which they were instead forced to start three rookies along the back line.

But it wasn't just the concussion that kept McTavish out of action. Late in the season, he was cleared to play, but still wasn't able to unseat Chris Korb, Marc Burch, or Stephen King on the depth chart. Sure, that must have had something to do with an understandable loss of fitness and sharpness due to so much time away from the game. But there's also been a sense the past year or two that McTavish has already reached his peak. And that his peak is someone that might not even belong in our 18.