Finlay, Perry, and George Drafted By The Crew

The Crew used all three picks to add players to the preseason roster. Columbus used the 10th pick on Creighton's senior forward Ethan Finlay. The team then chose South Florida defender Aubrey Perry, and Central Florida's Kevan George in the 2nd round.

Finlay looks to be an impact player for the team. That certainly makes sense for a team that could use someone ready to play immediately. He was a goal scorer in school, 43 in four years, and he also picked up 17 assists. He can play both wings and forward. His coach thinks he would play best at right wing and this gives the Crew flexibility. They can either move him around or move Eddie Gaven centrally if needed. Finlay looks to be an immediate contributor to a team that needs some outside depth.

Perry was a confusing pick, he plays right back and will fight with Corey Veeder to back up Sebastian Miranda. His college career was solid and he has played for both the U.S. U-17 and U-20 teams. He certainly doesn't fit an immediate need, like the team's weakness at left back, and he's not a highly rated prospect; he's very raw. The coaching staff must have gotten a suggestion to look at Perry as his combine performance was average at best. The coaching staff must think they have enough competition at left back to draft a right back like Perry.

George, the Crew's 2nd pick of the 2nd round, is a tough tackling midfielder. He's tall and covers a lot of ground, drawing comparisons to Ricardo Clark. If he has half the career Clark has had, this will be a very good pick. However, the jury is still out if the Clark comparisons are based on looks alone. He will certainly have to adjust to reading the pro game quickly or else he will have to do quite a bit of catching up. He still gives the team flexibility to move O'Rourke or Balchan around if needed as he provides cover in central midfield.

There really isn't any point to reviewing a draft hours after it has happened. It takes at least a year to start understanding how a draft went. Rich Balchan was thought to be picked at least 10 places too high, but had an outstanding season that was cut short by injury. The trade for Justin Meram was seen as a savvy move, but the rookie struggled to adjust to MLS play. Even looking farther back, Brian McBride, Jeff Cunningham, and Chad Marshall were stellar draft picks. However, the team missed on players like Diego Walsh, Jason Garey, and Bright Dike. Today, Crew Nation is hoping Finlay and company are a bit more like first group.