In Sunday's 4-1 win over New York, all four of D.C.'s goals were scored by players originally drafted by the Black-and-Red. With that in mind, we decided to take a look back at the most successful draft classes in United history. There is no real science behind this ranking, but some loose criteria used were the player impact on the club, future career success and where the player was drafted. The list goes back to the first MLS SuperDraft in 2000.
5) 2004
While Freddy Adu was the highlight of the 2004 haul, it's actually Josh Gros who ended up making more appearances for United. D.C. took the Rutgers University star with the 34th overall pick and he played in over 100 matches while being named to the MLS All-Star team in 2006.
4) 2009
With consecutive selections in the first round, United took Rodney Wallace (6) and Chris Pontius (7). Later choices included Milos Kocic and Brandon Barklage, and both players - though not with D.C. - are still in the league. Wallace was traded away for Dax McCarty who eventually was traded for Dwayne De Rosario.
3) 2011
Since being drafted third overall last year, Perry Kitchen has been a regular in United's lineup. His college teammate Chris Korb was taken in the second round and has provided depth at the back. The steal of this draft was D.C.'s third round choice, goalkeeper Joe Willis. The club drafted Willis with the 50th overall pick thanks to a recommendation from assistant coach Chad Ashton, who had recruited Willis to the University of Denver.
2) 2003
This class had a very local feel to it as both David Stokes (5th overall) and Brian Carroll (11th overall) hailed from Northern Virginia. Alongside top overall pick Alecko Eskandarian, all three players contributed to the '04 championship effort with Eskandarian picking up MLS Cup MVP honors. Unfortunately, both Stokes and Eskandarian saw their careers cut short by injury. Otherwise, the class of '03 might sit atop this list.
1) 2001
D.C. had five of the top 28 selections in the class of '01 and did well with each choice. The highlight was United's second pick (4th overall) where the Black-and-Red chose Ryan Nelsen out of Stanford. Bryan Namoff would prove to be a good value selection in the second round and Santino Quaranta - taken 8th overall - scored five goals in his rookie season. Namoff and Nelsen were both starters on the 2004 MLS Cup side.
