There’s a tendency to make Most Valuable Player a “best attacker” award, and you can fairly argue that would accurately reflect value on the pitch. Goals win games, and the players most effective at putting the ball in the net are doing the most to rack up points for their team.
My approach is a little different. I care about scoring, but I also try to divine who’s most vital to their team’s tactical identity. This is a team sport, and the player that brings the best out of their teammates is doing heroic work.
With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of the leading contenders for my MVP vote. I've split this into two tiers: a putative top pair and a second tier of players who would garner fringe consideration. Let's get to it.
Note: Want a full breakdown of the awards races by an actual smart person? Nicholas Murray did a bang-up job on the league site.
Top of the Pile
Luis Felipe (Sacramento, CM)
For what it's worth, Luis Felipe is my "official" MVP pick. As a true box-to-box midfielder in Sacramento's 5-4-1, #96 has four goals plus the second-most tackles on the Republic. He has the sixth sense for late-arriving runs into the box to overload opponents, and his movement without the ball is constantly opening up his teammates out wide or in the hole.
Sacramento is the best team in the West right now, and they've only given up two goals(!) all season. Luis Felipe's contributions as a defender are part of that, whether they come in the low block or when he steps up to press behind the forward line. He's excellent as the "safety net" center fielder behind the front line.
I should quickly shout out Danny Vitiello (second in the league in goals against per 90 minutes) and Russell Cicerone (four goals, impeccable interchange in the forward line) as well. This team is stacked. I'm also discounting the injured Rodrigo Lopez, who got my actual vote last season.
Enzo Martinez (Birmingham, AM)
With five goals and two assists to date, Enzo Martinez is the heart and soul of the Legion attack. He operates as a forward in the 4-4-2 press, but he's liberated to drop lower in attack to let Birmingham break opponents down. His gravity in the center of the park opens up space for Tyler Pasher, Prosper Kasim, and others to tear down the flanks.
Team success matters, and the Legion are second in the East even with injuries to starting goalkeeper Matt VanOekel and veteran midfielder Mikey Lopez. Pasher has also missed time. Even so, Martinez's contributions have assured that Birmingham hasn't missed a beat.
For Your Consideration
Christian Volesky, Alex Dixon (Monterey, FWs)
Yes, picking two players is cheating. Dixon, the best addition of the offseason in the USL, has seven goals on nine shots already, flitting across the attacking midfield for Monterey. He's tremendous on the break.
Volesky, meanwhile, has won:
USL Player of the Week (twice!)
USL Player of the Month
US Open Cup Player of the Round
On top of the plaudits, the striker's four goals and three assists have been massive, and his hold-up play is the thing that keeps Monterey in control more often than not.
If you force me to choose, it's Volesky. I think his hold-up gives him a slight edge over Dixon, even if both are crucial for the sixth-placed team in the West.
Charlie Dennis (Tampa Bay, AM)
Dennis has 23 key passes so far this season, second only to Aaron Molloy. Almost no one in the league is as instrumental to their team's attack. Without Dennis, the Rowdies sorely lack for a midfielder capable of carrying the ball on the dribble or a linking player between the liens with a modicum of passing vision. He's also a nasty set piece taker.
Things haven't gone fully to plan in Tampa Bay, and the Rowdies actually have a minus-one goal difference with Dennis on the pitch, but the process is visibly better with the former Oakland man out there. His numbers and the eye test speak to a player with the potential to rack up goals and assists and make a real charge at back-to-back MVP awards at Al Lang Stadium.
Kenardo Forbes (Pittsburgh, CM)
With only one assist in 2023, you could question Kenardo Forbes' spot on this list on the face of headline numbers alone. Still, he's second on the team in key passes, and his biggest contributions have come off the ball. Bob Lilley plugs Forbes anywhere in the midfield, and the veteran immediately provides clean passing and defensive surety.
The Riverhounds have given up nine goals in nine games and only sit sixth in the East, but they've done so with a rather revamped roster. My expected goals model also ranks their defense as the best in the entire USL. Forbes, often used as a No. 6 or high-work-rate No. 8, is the cornerstone of the hard-closing low-block system that makes this team impenetrable.
Koke Vegas (San Diego, GK)
It's rare for a goalkeeper to be a crucial part of a team's offense, but Koke Vegas is a shining example of that phenomenon. He becomes the fourth man in a back three when the Loyal have possession. See here:
Yup, that's the goalie ahead of a center back. He's playing almost 40 passes per game, and he showing the utmost poise against even the most lethal presses.
Still, Vegas' shot-stopping makes him an MVP candidate beyond his crucial role in San Diego's elite system. He's in the top third of all 'keepers for Goals Saved Above Average, and he rates in the 75th percentile for goals allowed per match. Koke Vegas gives you the complete package.
Paco Craig (Miami, CB)
With 43 clearances, Paco Craig is amongst the best there is at sweeping danger away from his own net. Craig, a veteran of Louisville City and a stalwart of all-league teams, has played every minute across Miami's nine matches, and they've given up the third-least goals of any side all the while.
What's more, Craig is a potent set piece threat. He has two headed goals already and transforms an up-and-down attacking unit into a threat in any dead ball situation.