Rapids By The Numbers: #15

As we get into the mid to higher teens were entering the realm of lesser used numbers and, honestly, mostly lesser players as well.  We certainly see this at #15:

Scott Cannon (1996)
Tahj Jakins (1997-2000)
Junior Agogo (2000-2001)
Chris Carrieri (2001-2003)
Jacob Peterson (2006-2009)
Wells Thompson (2010-2012)
Chris Klute (2013-2014)
Juan Ramirez (2015)
Sam Hamilton (2017-2018)
Andre Rawls (2019-2020)

You can easily remove Cannon and everyone who came after Klute from the running.  Not surprisingly, the only league honer any of these players have is Thompson winning MLS Cup, and as far as team records go only Chris Carrieri appears, being ties for 7th in game-winning goals and 8th in game winning assists.  He also had the second hat-trick in team history, on Independence Day 2002.  Junior Agogo (RIP) would be my sentimental favorite but if we're being as unbiased as possible he's not in the same category as the other options.

Peterson had the most appearances for the club, at 92, but just under half of them (43) were coming off the bench as a sub.  Similarly 35 of Wells Thompson's 75 appearances were as a sub as well.  Jakins started just over half of his games (34 of 60) while Chris Klute was the most regular starter, with 54 starts in the 68 games of the 2013 and 2014 seasons (and one start at the end of 2012).  Meanwhile Carrieri started 56 of his 69 appearances, the most starts of anyone on the list, but spread over 3 seasons of 84 games.

In the end I think the nod has to go to Carrieri over Klute.  Klute started for a borderline playoff team and a truly awful team, and in a position that has less competition.  Its hard to find a left back in this league, so a decent one can lock down a position without much effort.  Carrieri was getting his starts alongside Paul Bravo and John Spencer, and getting goals while playing with Henderson and Chung on the wings.  That's both a great help, and a bit of a hindrance as people fight for opportunities in front of goal.