Well, five years wasn't enough to properly evaluate Chris Wondolowski. But looking back on SuperDrafts are like looking back on memorable road accidents.
So let's get the conclusion out of the way. You don't build a winner through the MLS SuperDraft. You build a winning MLS team through trades and discovery players. The 2006 SuperDraft proves this to an embarrassing degree.
Then again, so do all the other SuperDrafts. The MLS SuperDraft is little more than a record of the crimes and follies of mankind.
I had to rely way too much on Wikipedia for this, too, thanks to the Winston Smiths at Major League Soccer Soccer. So, if I bungle any important fact, please accept my usual insincere apologies.
METROSTARS: Marvell Wynne (pick acquired from Chivas USA in exchange for Jason Hernandez), Jozy Altidore, Blake Camp.
So Wynne was a central defender all this time? He must have been, he's got a ring to prove it. This draft was pretty much the last hurrahs for Mo Johnston and Alexi Lalas, both of whom left the Metros later in 2006 for greater and more hilarious things. The Metrostars themselves would only have a couple more months of life, before they became the Red Bulls. Altidore was sixteen years old, and ended up giving the Red Bulls roughly ten million reasons to feel good about this draft. (With about three million reasons sent across the Hudson. Cost of doing business.) Gotta give that an A.
REAL SALT LAKE: Mehdi Ballouchy, Ryan Johnson.
Ballouchy was the second overall pick. Can you believe it? Actually, yeah, you probably can. Johnson eventually put his life back together in San Jose, although it looks as if 2009 was his career year. D+
COLUMBUS CREW: Jason Garey, Kei Kamara (in exchange for Jeff Cunningham), Jed Zayner, Brandon Moss, Dayton O'Brien, Duke Hashimoto.
This was a Sigi Schmid draft? Christ! F
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS: Yura Movsisyan, Lance Watson, Tyson Wahl, Matt Groenwald, Stephen Shirley, Eric Kronberg.
Movsisyan became much more useful in Salt Lake, before deciding he hated America. Or hated not being paid and not being called up. Same thing, right? D-
CHIVAS USA: Sacha Kljestan (oh, yeah – the Metros also threw in this pick along with Hernandez), Jonathan Bornstein.
Bob Bradley's last MLS draft, so far at least. A++. Probably one of the best afternoons any team has had, ever. Bornstein, who stands out in this draft to say the least, was a FOURTH ROUND PICK. ONLY CAPITAL LETTERS CAN CONVEY HOW SIGNIFICANT THAT IS. And, with Bornstein leaving, they have nothing to show for it. (Unless you count regular season division titles. And who does? No one, that's who.)
FC DALLAS: Dax McCarty, Justin Moore, Blake Wagner, Dominic Oduro, Ray Burse, Michael Dello-Russo, Mike Ambersley.
Dallas won the West this season. See what I mean about regular season division titles? They got five years out of their first round pick, which by MLS SuperDraft standards is like building the Great Pyramid and the Great Wall. B
DC UNITED: Justin Moose (not to be confused with Justin Moore, or former overall #1 SuperDraft pick Jason Moore, or…you know what, go ahead and confuse them), Rod Dyachenko, Jeff Carroll, Kenney Bertz.
The Supporters Shield! DC United got the Supporters Shield with this freaking draft! The hell, man! F
HOUSTON DYNAMO: Patrick Ianni, Andre Schmid (no relation), Mike Chabala.
MLS Cup! Houston got MLS Cup with this freaking draft! The hell, man! By the way, Mike Chabala is the first name I've typed so far who is with the same team that drafted him. Now that Bornstein has fled Carson and Dallas dumped Dax, that is. D-
CHICAGO FIRE: Calen Carr, Jeff Curtin, Brian Plotkin, Jordan Russolillo, Jeremy Ashe.
Carr is still with the Fire, too. Maybe he pulls a Wondolowski and wins the scoring title in 2011. What say we all hold our breath waiting for that to happen. Hard to believe this was four coaches ago for the Fire, and that Sarachan would have one after this. C-
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION: Leonardo de Oliveira, Willie Sims, Kyle Brown.
I suppose it's cruel to point out that if they had drafted Bornstein, they'd probably have a couple of Cups by now. F
LOS ANGELES GALAXY: Nathan Sturgis, Marc Burch, Kyle Veris, Chris Dunsheath, Aaron King.
Steve Sampson's last MLS draft…so far. Boy, I thought Sturgis was going to have a better career. The year 2006 truly sucked for the Galaxy – they really have yet to recover from Doug Hamilton's death. C-
COLORADO RAPIDS: Jacob Peterson, Josh Brown.
And Cunningham in exchange for a first round pick. Why do the Rapids bother showing up for these things? F+
And there you have it. Any relation between SuperDraft success on on-field accomplishment is purely coincidental.