Soccer side’s draft pick adds speed to back line
University of Washington product brings plenty of speed to MLS club’s back line
The trades came fast and furious as the first round of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft unfolded Friday in Philadelphia.
But Vancouver Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson played it cool and ended up with the fastest player available.
While several teams in the top 10 exchanged their picks in deals for money or players — including the Montreal Impact, who dealt away the fourth and seventh overall picks for targeted allocation money — the Caps waited out the frenzy at 17th overall and picked the player they had No. 1 on their list in University of Washington defender Justin Fiddes.
“(We’re) very lucky, to be honest. I didn’t think he would fall this low. I thought he was the best fullback in the draft ... and he was No. 1 on our list,” Robinson said from Philadelphia.
“As you get to (picks) No. 9, No. 10 and you think, ‘Can it happen?’ … and you think it could be your lucky day.
“He’s got the talent, we know that, and he’s very, very quick. We’ll get coaching him and he’s got all the raw ingredients you need to be successful. If we can add to what he’s already got, then we’ve got a really, really good player on our hands.”
The fleet-footed five-foot-11 San Diego native had four assists in 14 games for the Huskies and was a second team all-Far West Region all-star and an all-Pac-12 honourable mention.
But it was his speed that caught their attention. Fiddes ran the 40yard dash at the MLS Combine in 4.37 seconds, the fastest time recorded. For comparison, only five players in the NFL Combine this year ran faster, including UW cohort John Ross, who set the record at 4.22 seconds.
“Pace is definitely my strongest suit, I’d say,” said Fiddes, who started all 20 games for Washington this season.
“A lot of teams like to get in forward and get high — especially Vancouver — with their fullbacks and wingbacks. I think I can impact the game with my speed. I know (the Whitecaps) want to get the ball wide and get the crosses in, so I think I’ll fit in there.”
With the 26th pick, which they acquired from DC United in the trade for David Ousted’s MLS rights, they took another defender in Creighton’s Lucas Stauffer. A skilled, futsal-type player who has a deft touch with the ball at his feet, the five-foot-eight, 165-pounder was a 2016 first-team all-Big East selection and started every one of the Bluejays’ 23 matches that year.
He earned the most competitive player award in 2016, a trait that should fit in well with Robinson’s well-documented practice of encouraging intra-squad competition for spots.
“I think my coaching staff saw that I have a mentality that is never give up, work as hard as you can and never really stop,” said Stauffer.
“I’ve got a good engine and I can run — maybe not as fast as Justin, but I can certainly hold my own. Being competitive is dealing with the ups and downs. I think me and Robbo share a similar mentality in that we both want to win.”
Los Angeles FC took defender Joao Moutinho first overall out of the University of Akron. He was part of the Sporting Lisbon academy before heading to the Ohiobased school.
The L.A. Galaxy, selecting second, took fullback Tomas HilliardArce out of Stanford, while it was back to LAFC for the third pick, where the expansion team sent $200,000 in allocation money to get University of the Pacific defender Tristan Blackmon.
(We’re) very lucky, to be honest. I didn’t think he would fall this low. I thought he was the best fullback in the draft.