With the players set to report for the start of the 2013 preseason on January 17 - the same day as the MLS SuperDraft - ColoradoRapids.com will be taking a look at the depth chart at each position, based on the formation the team utilized for the last portion of last year.
Central Defense:
Drew Moor and Marvell Wynne have been the most commonly used center back pairing over the past two years, but that could change in 2013.
Injuries and lack of form from the outside backs had been the primary reason why the versatile Moor was shifted wide for stretches of each of the past few seasons, leaving Wynne to defend the center with a different partner, most recently with veteran Tyrone Marshall. But the addition of 26-year-old Ecuadorian defender Diego Calderon gives Pareja another option now.
Wynne, Moor, and Calderon can each play in the middle. Wynne can also play wide right - his primary position until he arrived in Colorado in 2010. Moor can play left and right, but his presence in the air and leadership would seem to make him a better option in the center. And the left-footed Calderon can and has played left back.
So, who plays in central defense may be determined by the play of the outside backs. It could be that Calderon shifts wide left, leaving the center for Moor and Wynne. Or, it could be that Wynne moves wide right, leaving Moor and Calderon in the center.
Two other options are newcomer Nathan Sturgis and youngster Chris Klute, though one would expect the experienced Wynne, Moor, and Calderon would hold their ground.
If Sturgis is played primarily at holding / center mid - which is his preferred position - and Klute continues to work at left back, don't be surprised if the team opts to select a center back in one of the upcoming drafts to give them four options to work with in that position.
MORE:
Depth - Goalkeeper
Depth - Center Back
Depth - Right back
Depth - Left back
Depth - Holding Mid
Depth - Right Mid
Depth - Left wing
Depth - Forward
