Opara, Bone, Tchani, Duka

I'm very stupidly going to commit my first eighteen picks to posterity, with a little note for each.

1. Philly: Danny Mwanga (F), Oregon State -- This is a cinch according to sources from Goff to Ives and beyond. Nowak, who has Arena-esque power in the PU boardroom, decided on this pick long ago.

2. New York: Dilly Duka (M), Rutgers -- For all the reasons listed above.

3. San Jose: Corben Bone (M), Wake Forest -- I don't rate Bone as highly as Duka, but the Quakes have a need for some creative spark in their midfield having lost Darren Huckerby to retirement and Shea Salinas to the expansion draft.

4. Kansas City: Tony Tchani (M), Virginia -- The Wiz fell off the soccer map when Kerry Zavagnin retired, and they've been looking for a defensive midfielder ever since. In the interim they've tried guys like Kurt Morsink, Jack Jewsbury, and even Argentine attacker Santiago Hirsig. None worked. Tchani may not be a complete d-mid yet, but if they're willing to surround him with stability and give him a year to develop, Tchani is the guy who solves their problems.

5. Dallas: Ike Opara (D), Wake Forest -- This is the guy Dallas wants at #2, and to be fair they'll probably have to trade up to get him since perception is reality. But if he falls to #5, they don't even hesitate.

6. Dallas: Andre Akpan (F), Harvard -- The best senior forward on the board, Akpan's from north Texas, plays as a true #9, and is more MLS-ready than the other options. Which is important to Dallas, whose roster looks a lot like a youth team.

7. DC United: Teal Bunbury (F), Akron -- Bunbury was the best player in the country this year, comes from a program that's produced it's fair share of pros over the past half decade, has great bloodlines, and fits a need for DC. If he falls to them, they'll be doing backflips.

8. Columbus: Toni Stahl (M), UConn -- Stahl's older (he'll turn 24 during the season) and maybe the most MLS-ready player in the draft. He'd be a good fit on any team that needs a d-mid -- which Columbus doesn't. However, let's just say that the Crew's FO have been less than impressive since Sigi left, meaning they're likely to leave us scratching our heads on draft day.

9. New England: Zach Lloyd (M/D), UNC -- This would be the logical choice for the Revs, but I'm not sure I trust them to make it. Lloyd can play either d-mid (replacing Jeff Larentowicz) or central defense, and has the competitive drive that Steve Nicol loves. However, since 2006 the Revs' first round picks have been nightmarish: Leandro de Oliveira (2006), Wells Thompson and Amaechi Igwe (2007), Rob Valentino (2008), Kevin Alston and Ryan Maxwell (2009). Only two of the six are legitimate MLS players, and only one of the six is a starter. If I was Nicol I'd probably just trade this for as many third round picks as I could get, since the Revs tend to have more luck there.

10. Chivas USA: Andrew Wiedeman (F), Cal -- I'm going to assume Martin Vasquez looks at the Chivas roster and thinks, as I do, "Boy, it'd be nice if we had someone who could score." Wiedeman's not a pretty player, but he puts the ball in the net. Plus he and Bornstein could do the Hora after goals, which would definitely make SportsCenter's top plays.

11. Seattle: Amobi Okugo (M), UCLA -- Okugo's a box-to-box midfielder from UCLA. SSFC already have one of those in Brad Evans, and he's working out pretty well, so why not? Okugo was the national freshman of the year, and even if he's a year or two away from being a regular contributor in MLS, Seattle can afford to be patient.

12. Columbus: Blair Gavin (M), Akron -- Having already drafted Stahl, the Crew smartly go for another deep-lying central midfielder. Giving them five total. Genius.

13. Chicago: Ofori Sarkodie (D), Indiana -- Sarkodie's the best fullback prospect in the draft even if he's not a real fullback. I'd compare him to a left-footed AJ DeLaGarza, in that he's smart, quick, a bit undersized, but ready to play from day one. Given all the changes the Fire have endured this year, especially in the defense, this makes the most sense for them.

14. New York: Kwame Watson-Siriboe (D), UConn -- Being a UConn guy I watched a lot of Kwame over the past four years, and while I like he reading of the game and distribution, I'm worried about slow feet and an overall lack of tenacity. He won't get pushed around, but he never seemed to get out of third gear. Even so he's still the second best central defensive prospect after Opara, but I'm not sold.

15. Los Angeles: Zach Schilawski (F), Wake Forest -- There are a lot of different ways for LA to go here, but what's clear is that 1) Arena favors guys who are ready to play, and 2) they need someone to put the ball in the net. Schilawski might not pan out, but he's the closest to filling both criteria of anyone on the board.

16. Salt Lake: Sean Johnson (G), Central Florida -- The champs dealt their young, promising keeper (Chris Seitz) to Philly, so once again they're in the market for a backup to incumbent Nick Rimando. Johnson's the highest rated keeper on the board, an athletic freak like Seitz before him, so it makes sense.

17. Philly: Austin da Luz (M), Wake Forest -- da Luz is Wake's all-time assists leader, a mini-Brad Davis with a wicked left foot and the ability to play either centrally or on the flank. His athleticism can be questioned, but vision, touch and the ability to cross with the left foot -- not to mention a winning pedigree -- will keep him in the league for years even if he doesn't become a star.

18. New York: Michael Stephens (M), UCLA -- Stephens was the Pac-10 player of the year in 2008 but wasn't as statistically impressive in 2009. That's seen his stock drop, but it shouldn't. Stephens, who's played as a forward for the U-18s and U-20s, played deeper for UCLA and was the focal point of their possession game. While Kyle Nakazawa got all the stats and Okugo got the "grass is greener" accolades, it's Stephens who was the driving force for the Bruins midfield. He won't be a star, but he'll be a solid pro who knows how to keep the game simple and his strikers happy.

I was about to type "after that, it's a crapshoot", but who am I kidding? The whole thing is a crapshoot starting as soon as Mwanga's name is called. I'm writing this the Thursday before the draft; I wouldn't be surprised if it was obsolete before the combine is even half over.

Doesn't matter, though. The combine's nice, but it shouldn't effect what we need to do. I think it's time for bullet points: