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As the first two rounds of the 2020 MLS SuperDraft comes to an end, it’s time for The Bent Musket crew to share our thoughts on how this year’s draft unfolded.
Josh: Overall, I was not expecting much to come from this draft outside the 6th pick. Although I was on the Aaron Molloy hype train, Henry Kessler was a solid pick for the Revolution. At 6’4, Kessler will be a brute on the defensive end and will be able to provide solid defense for Revolution II and will look to display said skills on the main squad for the foreseeable future. Moving on, I got to say I was somewhat shocked with the trade that sent the 13th pick to Nashville for $100k in GAM. With names like Aaron Molloy, Patrick Nielsen, Jesus Perez, and many more still on the board, I was a little shocked to see the Revs trade it away for GAM.
Keegan Meyer and Simon Lekressner seem to be solid depth piece who will be able to grow with Revs II. Although Meyer is a solid pick, I am surprised that the Revs did not select academy alum Austin Aviza, who was taken by Orlando following the selection of Meyer. Maybe Bruce Arena and crew saw something in Meyer they did not see in Aviza. Regardless, Meyer and Lekressner will provide great depths to their respective positions.
Overall Grade: B+
Matt: I’m pretty happy with the Revs selections as a whole, and I’m excited to see each of the selections log minutes with Revs II and see if any of them can crack the 18 for the main club this season. Like Josh I was on the Aaron Molloy hype train, but with New England already being over the limit for international roster spots, it would have taken some roster reworking to see that come to fruition.
I think Kessler with his size if he can impress is the most likely to at least dress for the first team in the coming season. Meyer had an impressive college career and should be logging minutes with Revs II in the early going. I’m not as sold on Lekressner, but admittedly don’t know much about him. I’m taking some points from the draft grade because with this being the first season for Revs II I would have rather seen the organization draft another player to fill that roster out rather than trading the 13th pick for GAM.
Overall Grade: B+
Jake: I am not going to gripe over the little things, and there were a several little things I didn’t love yesterday. Would I have preferred drafting a player at #13 rather than selling it for allocation money, yes...but I know the value of the Garber Buck and understand the move. Did I like the Revs taking a keeper and then one pick later having academy alum Austin Aviza go the next pick to Orlando...no, whatever happened regarding that is none of my business and I hope Austin has a successful pro career else where and look forward to watching Keegan Meyer get some minutes in USL this year.
At the end of the day Bruce Arena got his player, Kessler the defender from UVA, who is a player Bruce wanted to trade up to get and was able to select at #6 while staying put. At some point we’re going to have to do an article on the battalion of former Cavaliers that Arena is stocking up in Foxborough (we saw you in the draft war room too Chris Tierney!). I like the second round options and the fact the Revs are far more settled at defense than they were at the beginning of the week between the draft picks and USL signings including Nick Woodruff. The Revs addressed a significant area of need in my opinion in bolstering the backline and Arena continues his strong first offseason in New England.
Overall Grade: B+