New England selected Dawyne Smith with the third overall pick in the Supplemental Draft on Tuesday afternoon for one reason in particular: The technical staff thought he could bolster an attacking group currently short on numbers.
The midfielder/forward from Kingston, Jamaica, will attempt to translate his success at the NAIA level with Bethel University (46 goals and 39 assists in 77 matches) to MLS, alongside three other selections made during the four-round draft.
“We certainly went into the supplemental draft looking to draft some players that were forwards, attacking midfielders or wide midfielders, players to help us in the attack,” Revolution general manager Michael Burns told MLSsoccer.com by phone on Tuesday night. “He's a player that we've seen and we're very interested to get him into camp and see how he does at the next level with our guys.”
Smith – a Jamaican national who will take up a Senior International slot if he latches on with the team – joins Indiana midfielder Alec Purdie (second round, 22nd overall selection), Villanova defender Kevin Garcia (third round, 41st overall selection) and Saint Louis forward Mike Roach (fourth round, 60th overall selection) as potential additions to the Revolution squad.
Burns said he hoped all four players would impress in training camp and merit a place in a Revolution squad with just 22 players on the books at the moment.
“In these rounds, we're drafting guys and hoping they're going to come in and fight for roster spots,” Burns said. “Some will be in for training as early as [Wednesday] and the rest will funnel in towards the end of the week and will come to Arizona. We have roster spots that are open and we hope they come in, do well and prove to us that they deserve to be on the roster.”
