Best Defensive players by Season Rating in USL Championship 2026

The best defensive players in USL Championship in 2026, ranked on Field Insider.

Best defensive goalkeepers in USL Championship Best defensive defenders in USL Championship Best defensive midfielders in USL Championship Best defensive attackers in USL Championship Best players in USL Championship Most in-form players in USL Championship

At a glance

S. Ngoma of Birmingham Legion is the standout for raw talent across players in USL Championship, with a Field Insider Rating of 41, and C. Jennings has been the form player this season, grading 36.1.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: S. Anderson has improved his Season rating most, up +19.3 on last season, while A. Larsson's scouting Rating has risen fastest, +3.1 over the same span. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, J. Torres of Charleston Battery is the most valuable name in this group at 8.1.

Monterey Bay · 23/24→25/26

Most improved

S. Anderson+19.3SsN

Hartford Athletic · 24/25→25/26

50 players · ranked by best defendersCustomise →

	Player	Team
1	K. Adams Centre-back	Louisville City	29	27.8	28	22
2	S. Totsch Full-back	Louisville City	35	27.5	28	10
3	S. Suber Centre-back	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	25	26.9	27	32
4	G. Nigro Full-back	Tampa Bay Rowdies	26	24.2	24	31
5	L. Biasi Full-back	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	27	23.3	23	27
6	S. Anderson Full-back	Hartford Athletic	24	22.8	23551.4%	3315.9%
7	Arturo Osuna Centre-back	Louisville City	29	22.5	23	20
8	F. Nodarse Centre-back	Rhode Island	25	21.7	22	30
9	F. Kleemann Centre-back	Sacramento Republic	27	21.5	227066.7%	2626.4%
10	A. Cissoko Centre-back	FC Tulsa	26	20.3	2020200%	2818.5%
11	M. Bryant Centre-back	Detroit City	31	19.9	20	17
12	O. Damm Full-back	FC Tulsa	23	19.5	20	32
13	L. Desmond Centre-back	Sacramento Republic	31	18.8	19	14
14	J. Timmer Full-back	Sacramento Republic	29	17.8	18	21
15	K. Yao Centre-back	Rhode Island	25	17.5	18	3014.5%
16	J. Scarlett Centre-back	Hartford Athletic	31	17.3	17	16
17	J. Hafferty Full-back	Indy Eleven	28	16.6	17	23
18	D. Amoo-Mensah Centre-back	Detroit City	30	16.3	16	18
19	Guillaume Vacter Centre-back	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	26	16.3	16	27
20	Maliek Howell Centre-back	New Mexico United	27	16.2	16	26
21	B. Akinyode Centre-back	Loudoun United	32	16.1	16	19
22	K. Greene Centre-back	Oakland Roots	33	16.1	16	11
23	H. St Clair Full-back	FC Tulsa	27	16.1	165266.7%	2549.4%
24	A. Rogers Full-back	Miami FC	29	16	16	20
25	T. Maples Centre-back	Colorado Springs	27	15.4	15	27
26	D. Knutson Centre-back	Miami FC	29	15.3	15	21
27	L. Batista Full-back	FC Tulsa	28	14.5	15	21
28	W. Seymore Full-back	New Mexico United	34	14.5	15	8
29	S. Smart Centre-back	Las Vegas Lights	22	14.3	14	33
30	N. Hackshaw Centre-back	Oakland Roots	30	14.2	14	18
31	M. Mahoney Centre-back	Colorado Springs	31	14.2	14	16
32	Kieran Sargeant Full-back	Lexington	23	14.1	14±0%	342.4%
33	N. Dossantos Centre-back	Charleston Battery	27	14	14	27
34	R. Hope-Gund Centre-back	Detroit City	27	13.8	14	27
35	Finn Sundstrom Full-back	North Carolina	19	13.8	14	34
36	K. Burks Centre-back	Lexington	26	13.6	14151.9%	2916.7%
37	G. Stoneman Full-back	Rhode Island	30	13.4	13	16
38	J. Akpunonu Centre-back	Charleston Battery	24	12.8	13	3311.6%
39	J. Bravo Full-back	Oakland Roots	25	12.7	13	29
40	J. Farrell Full-back	Hartford Athletic	32	12.7	13	12
41	A. Crognale Full-back	San Antonio	32	12.6	13	16
42	K. Awuah Full-back	Loudoun United	30	11.9	12	18
43	R. Ydrach Centre-back	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	25	11.6	12	29
44	R. Doghman Full-back	Orange County SC	29	11.1	11825%	2135.4%
45	Álvaro Quezada Centre-back	El Paso Locomotive	27	11	11	24
46	M. Real Full-back	Hartford Athletic	27	10.7	1128.9%	2436.5%
47	R. Buckmaster Full-back	San Antonio	30	10.6	11	16
48	C. Smith Full-back	Phoenix Rising	22	10.5	113400%	345.8%
49	A. Mabika Centre-back	Rhode Island	28	10.3	10151.2%	2138.1%
50	A. Ward Centre-back	San Antonio	30	10.2	10	16