Not at all soccer players are created equal, and the difference between an all-leaguer and squad piece means a lot to a team's success. Here, I want to rank all rostered USL players and a smattering of free agents that were active in 2022 to get at that difference. For each position, I've divided the pool into six tiers:
All-League Candidates
High-end Starters
Solid Starters
Replacement Level
Squad Players
Unknown, Young, or Bad
Someone at the peak of the second tier could easily slot into the first; I have to draw the lines somewhere. That said, I feel fairly good about the broad divisions. If anything, don't read too deeply into the order within each tier level. There's loose ranking going on, but I had no desire rank 500ish players at a microscopic level.
I'm no expert about every single person in the league, but I probably watch as much of the USL as any other human not working for a team. Moreover, I began with the baseline of my Goals Above Replacement player evaluation model and made significant edits from there. That metric is as flawed as my subjective analysis, but the synthesis hopefully creates something close to accurate.
There's also the issue of position labelling in the first place. You'll note the precise designation for every player next to their team and tier, and sometimes that may seem to disagree with their bigger category. This is all a bit academic. Enzo Martinez was a deep-lying creator with Charlotte but plays as a striker in Birmingham; what am I supposed to do with that? Just assume that the tiers carry over across positions to a certain degree.
Without further ado, let's get to the tiers. Double-click or tap on the position abbreviation to view the rankings without bad cropping!
Forwards
Attacking Midfielders and Wingers
Central Midfielders
Fullbacks and Wingbacks
Centerbacks
Goalkeepers
Who fares the best? The answer won't surprise you. By average tier ranking per player, our top fives sides are:
San Antonio FC (2.1)
Birmingham Legion (2.4)
Louisville City (2.6)
Sacramento Republic (2.9)
Indy Eleven (2.9)
Those averages aren't weighted for minutes or usage, which would have a major effect. Additionally, teams like Birmingham and Indy currently have rather small roster that are devoid of end-of-bench pieces. Fill out the squad, and the average drops.
It's difficult to rank the best position groups by team because of small sample sizes - especially at goalkeeper - but some standouts include:
FW: Harris/Lancaster (LOU), Solignac/Gomez (ELP)
AM: Mertz/Forbes (PIT)
CM: Abu/PC (SAFC), Lindley/Blake/Quinn/Rebellon (IND)
FB: Azocar/Gomez (SAFC), Buckmaster/Ward (MEM)
CB: Taintor/Garcia/Manley (SAFC), Kavita/Crognale (BHM)
San Antonio might have a strong squad, y'all. In any event, it's hard to list the worst groups thanks to the same small sample issue. Will these rankings matter come opening day? Not really, but it's an interesting exercise to get a feel for the depth of the USL.
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