2011 Player Rating and Review - Marvell Wynne

This offseason, the Burgundy Wave staff will give short reviews on the play of all Colorado Rapids players who received a decent amount of time on the pitch during the season along with a season grade. Starting with Goalkeepers and then moving up the field as necessary from defenders to forwards, today we'll feature Marvell Wynne.

Name: Marvell Wynne
Number: 22
Appearances: 29 (28)
Stats: 2 Assists
Marvell Wynne, Marvell Wynne, Marvell Wyyynnnne... (This chant isn't exactly exciting when written down)

When the Rapids traded for Marvell Wynne right before the 2010 season, it was a trade for a guy who had made his career up to that point as a mediocre to good right back with a lot of speed but not a lot of defense. In fact, his speed was really the only thing you could identify about him. His defending wasn't all that great, his crosses when he got involved in the offense were nothing special... but man was he fast! As we all know, Gary Smith was a miracle worker with some players and he turned Wynne into the player we see today.

Wynne regressed a bit from his 2010 form this season, still incredibly fast but with a little less defensive mettle than we had seen last season. This was probably due to the fact that he was playing with Drew Moor as his fellow center back a lot less often due to the glut of injuries that the Rapids saw. I've said before that 'Moor makes Wynne' because of Moor's all encompassing ability to bail Wynne out when he screws up. In fact, the one game that Moor didn't play at all against the Los Angeles Galaxy was Wynne's worst game of the season.

Wynne still isn't a big part of the offense, but we don't really need him to be in the center. He did play quite well at right back when we needed him to, but hopefully that won't be a permanent move any time soon considering how his career path at that position was before getting traded to Colorado. Wynne was solid if unspectacular this season after being fairly spectacular last year, and I'm fairly sure that this year is closer to the norm than last year will be. After all, just about EVERYONE on the Rapids sparkled in 2010 more than they did in 2011.

Right now Wynne looks like a solid and speedy center back for the Rapids who is rarely injured. That's just the kind of player we need starting next to Drew Moor, and I don't see that pairing in the back changing any time soon - Wynne's just good enough to keep pretty much anyone else the Rapids could put back there on the bench.

PLAYER RATING: 7