Finlay dropping to the second round surprised me more than anything else in the mock draft. I can’t see that happening in real life.

On the plus side, there are a bunch of positionally similar players (Finlay, Garza, Rowe, Cascio, and even the Paraguayan u20 Aldo Paniagua). We need someone that fits that profile to come in and help right away, and this is probably the easiest route to take care of that problem.

If only getting a quality striker internationally were this straightforward.

This year’s draft class is heavy on forwards and attacking midfielders, where last year’s was stronger on defense. That doesn’t mean that we have to take an attacking talent with our SuperDraft pick, but the fact that the draft pool’s strength aligns with our area of need certainly increases the odds that that’s what happens, and that the best player on the board at 7 will be a forward.

With Olsen’s cautious approach to player signings that we’ve seen over the last 12 months, Townsend seems most likely to me too since he’s the player that Olsen would be most familiar with, and is the closest to a sure-thing (in my opinion) at the striker position.

I’m all for glorifying Benny, but Kasper’s one area of reliable success has been the draft. Throw in our pick of Willis being through Chad Ashton’s contacts at his old job at the University of Denver, and it’s safe to say it’s a collaborative effort rather than one person saving us from a gang of fools.