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Real Salt Lake general manager Craig Waibel had just touched down in Atlanta, Ga., on his way from the 2016 MLS Combine in Florida to the MLS SuperDraft headquarters in Baltimore, Md. Waibel and RSL are owners of the fifth pick in this year's draft, the highest the franchise has chosen since 2008 when it took Tony Beltran out of UCLA.

In a conference call with beat writers, Waibel discussed who could be there at No. 5 for RSL, if he'll keep the pick, deal the pick or if he's expressed moving up in the draft.

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On whether or not there is an impact player available at No. 5 who could be a regular at RSL in 2016 …

Waibel: "Yes, there is a potential. I think the way we ranked the draft, I think there's six or seven guys that have the ability to contribute — some clearly more than others. I think two of the players, in my opinion, have the ability to contribute to our particular roster and style of play more than the other three that we have ranked in the Top 5, but I think all five have the potential."

On if he looks at the fifth pick as a rare opportunity that RSL something hasn't had in the past …

Waibel: "When you have the fifth pick, you either believe you're getting someone that you want and can play a role in your club for quite some time, or you should sell it and get allocation money to go out and pursue a player of interest that exists elsewhere. With our evaluation, it's going to be hard for anyone to buy our pick, because we believe there's five guys that — like I said — can either have a great impact now or are a little bit of a project and someone we believe will have an impact in our organization for a long time."

On whether or not he's entertaining deals for the fifth pick …

Waibel: "Always. That's part of my job. There's a price on everything. Price on players, there's players in the league I'm interested in that I'd be willing to trade that pick for. There's clearly a number that I've got in my head on allocation money that is worth moving the pick for, because in the end, we're talking about young players that aren't as experienced and if you attain enough allocation money, you can go out and attract a player with proven experience already that's able to contribute in a known way immediately."

On if he'll choose to go the 'Best Player Available' route at No. 5 or go with the best fit/need …

Waibel: "There's a couple positions we need to address, whether or not this draft presents that ability is different. Our Top 5, and the way we've ranked our Top 5, are certainly built around our needs. All five are quality players, but our ranking is built around our needs … needs definitely come into play here."

On which specific players impressed he and the RSL staff at the MLS Combine …

Waibel: "No one I didn't know already. As a staff, we do a ton of homework and we watch a ton of college games throughout the season because I don't believe that these games should influence our interpretation of a player. They might compliment maybe what we've seen, but the setting at the Combine is they're bringing roughly 70 players down here that don't know each other's names or tendencies or connectivity or strengths and weaknesses. They're playing three All-Star Games, more or less. The games themselves don't alter our staff's opinion too much; what we really pick from the Combine is the interview process and really getting to know these players as people. And we don't have the ability during the season to do that. The interviews impact us more than anything."

On if he views the SuperDraft as a starting point to moving on from the shortcomings of 2015 …

Waibel: "Yeah, I mean, I am. I know the players are. I've been getting text messages from half the team telling me how excited they are to get back and get to work. The longer an athlete and a coaching staff and myself included have to think about last year, the more it just eats at us. We're ready to get going and get that glass back to half-full instead of half-empty and get to work."

On if there is a potential silver lining (rest, motivation, etc) to missing the playoffs in 2015 …

Waibel: "Now we're still in the glass half-full. I like it. I think there's some definite advantages. There's some good ways to spin it, there's some positive ways to look at the rest. There's clear disappointment when you have a lot of rest. But yeah, you take it for what it is. Look: We didn't make the playoffs, so the next step is moving on. Looking at the positives, getting guys healthy, working with them all offseason to make sure they're fit coming in. We've had our group during workouts for the last five weeks, so we really should hit the ground with a good base of fitness throughout our whole roster and we are going from there. I think the guys, by in large, participation has been 100 percent in their mandatory workouts, which are pretty demanding. A promising time for the mentality of our group so far."

On if he looks at the later-round picks as possible impact players for RSL or Real Monarchs …

Waibel: "Both. Statistically speaking and historically speaking, once you get past the eighth pick in the draft, the statistics show that the contributions drop off dramatically. Now, are there anomalies? Absolutely. We're all trying to identify that anomaly. When we get down to our second pick, which will be the 25th pick in the draft, we're looking at guys that we're excited about working with and excited about developing. I don't think the 25th pick in the draft is a guy that we're convinced is going to come in from Day 1 and really blow us away, but we certainly expect that player to come in and contribute again to the organization, be that the first team, the Monarchs, wherever we are. We don't really look at ourselves anymore as one team that sits up top, we look at ourselves as a soccer organization and we need contributions from everyone."

On if he believes the SuperDraft in its current form will be sustainable in the near future …

Waibel: "I'd love to put my tie on and figure that one out. When you have the fifth pick, I love the draft. When last year, when we were there at 16, I kind of liked it. [If] we win the championship and we're down at 20 or 22 … I might not like it as much. I think it's all perspective on where you are the moment. I like it a lot this year, I can tell you that."

On what stands out about Stanford senior standout left back Brandon Vincent …

Waibel: "His consistency. I've watched him for years, having coached at Washington. I've known Brandon since he was a freshman at Stanford. I've watched his development over the last four years. Again, the luxury of knowing the coaching staff and watching this kid year after year, you get to know him as a player, but you also get to watch him grow as a person and a leader on the field. I think Brandon's the type of guy that maybe doesn't have the upside that a few of the other guys look to have, but I think Brandon's a guy that's going to be reliable for a long, long time."

And Akron midfielder Richie Laryea …

Waibel: "I actually got to coach him for a couple days when he was 15-years-old when I ran a clinic for his club. Super-talented little player. Technically-sound, great attitude, comes from very, very humble roots. [A] very appreciate young man, a very polite young man and realistically talented, technically and gifted in terms of soccer IQ on the field."

… and lastly UNC midfielder Omar Holness …

Waibel: "Holness is an interesting one. I think he's intriguing and I think it's kind of a hit-or-miss with Holness in terms of people that like him and people that don't. His build is attractive, his intelligence is attractive, the way he plays the game, his strengths on the ball is extremely beneficial. I think visually, when you look at Holness, he looks the most MLS-ready physically. The big question doesn't make up for the minor deficiencies that are noticeable. He's obviously talented and someone we'd be interested in along with the other ones we've been talking about."

On if he's entertained the idea of moving up in this year's SuperDraft …

Waibel: "Oh yeah. Always. Again, draft picks are fun. You select them when you get to yours, but you're always trying to move up to put even a bit more pressure on yourself to make the right decision. I think the draft this year is promising enough that nobody really wants to move their picks. I'm very hesitant, as you can tell, at the fifth pick to move mine, so you can imagine what 4, 3, 2 and 1 are thinking in front of me."

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani