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One name to keep your eyes on as Rapids fans, if you're the type that enjoys following the 2013 MLS Draft like I do, is Jose Gomez. The young midfielder out of Creighton has been the driving force for the offense all season for the Blue Jays and was one of the big reasons they made it to the College Cup. He was Top Drawer Soccer's first round selection for the Rapids in their first mock draft a while back, and he's the kind of spark in the midfield that Oscar Pareja would love to add in alongside Martin Rivero.
Unfortunately, Gomez fell flat against the Indiana Hoosiers as the Blue Jays fell, 1-0. Daniel Robertson, on the SB Nation College Cup stream, detailed his somewhat middling performance:
The prospect everyone was watching for Creighton is senior midfielder Jose Gomez. The small attacking midfielder has torched NCAA defenses all season, but on Friday he struggled to ever get going. You could see the clear talent and vision there in a few passes he made, but without many other offensive options on Creighton, Gomez was left to do most of the work on his own.
Unfortunately, it never really came off for the southern California native and he probably didn't do too much to increase his draft stock. With undeniable skill - he resembles a young David Ferreira out there - Gomez could still raise his draft stock considerably with a good combine.
The MLS combine will probably matter more to Gomez than the College Cup ever would, in the end. Plenty of potential MLS stars have seen their stocks rise to the sky or fall to the ground because of their performances over the three combine games. A fantastic performance there could leave Gomez's stock so high that the Rapids don't even have a shot at him at No. 6.
As it stands, Gomez is a likely top 10 pick who will probably go somewhere around where the Rapids are picking -- that will keep him in the conversation for quite a while, especially since Pareja would surely not mind that kind of player helping chip in on the offense.