2013 MLS Mock Draft: Rapids Select DeShorn Brown In Soccer By Ives Mock

Soccer By Ives put out its first mock draft of the 2013 MLS SuperDraft season, and the Colorado Rapids are being projected to go for a forward. Specifically, Ives has the Rapids taking Jamaican striker DeShorn Brown of Central Florida with their sixth overall pick.

The Rapids acquisition of Edson Buddle might make it easier for the Rapids to go in another direction with this pick, but adding a speed option up top like Brown makes sense for what Oscar Pareja wants to do. A 4-3-3 with Brown, Buddle and Omar Cummings could be pretty scary. If you’re looking for someone similar to Darren Mattocks in this draft, Brown is that player.

Let's just get this out of the way: this pick will not happen.

There is no way in hell that this pick actually goes down, for one simple reason: Brown is an international player. He's Jamaican, not American, and would therefore take up an international slot. Colorado has shown willingness to use its precious international slots only on players who will immediately come in and start, and I don't see a new rookie overtaking Tony Cascio, Andre Akpan, Eric Avila et. al. on that side. (Remember Harrison Henao? He couldn't even make it a month on the team before being cut because he just wasn't able to work his way onto the first team.)

It's not just the Rapids though, international players never get picked in the draft, at least not until the Supplemental rounds. Remember Kohei Yamada? Michael Boxall and Daniel Keat? Every year, there's a group of pretty solid players who are projected as first round talent but aren't taken because they're internationals. Teams simply don't like wasting picks on players who might not pan out but will still sap a slot for a year or three.

Considering Ives has three International prospects going in the first round, I have a feeling he's going to be very disappointed come draft day.

In addition to the whole international point, I'm not even going to comment on the fact that apparently Ives thinks that it is still 2009 or 2010. That's the last time that any front line featuring Buddle and Cummings would be considered 'frightening', after all.