MLSsoccer.com's Charles Boehm has tabbed Sporting Kansas City defender Jaylin Lindsey as one of the top young players in Week 6 of the 2021 MLS regular season.
Lindsey, a 21-year-old right back, was summoned to start in place of the injured Graham Zusi on Saturday and helped Sporting to a massive 3-1 road win over the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park.
The Sporting KC Academy product recorded his first professional goal in the 15th minute and finished the game as the second Kansas City defender since 2010 with a goal, five tackles and 10 duels in a regular season match.
"Lindsey took advantage of (the) circumstance by producing his best performance of the season and maybe even his MLS career, completing 88% of his passes, making 17 defensive actions and winning most of his duels, then capping it all off with his debut professional goal in a solid 3-1 win. His goals added number was 0.30, one of the best among young players this weekend," Boehm wrote on MLSsoccer.com.
He continued: "Lindsey’s first-team progression has been kind of a slow burn compared to, say, his fellow academy import Gianluca Busio. His skill set is not quite as head-turning to the naked eye. But the 21-year-old has everything needed to succeed as a modern fullback and this might be the year he makes the jump."
Boehm also gave Week 6 honorable mentions to fellow Sporting KC Academy products Gianluca Busio and Kaveh Rad, both of whom logged the full 90 minutes against San Jose and thrived in their starting roles.
Boehm on Gianluca Busio: "Another week, another solid engine-room outing for Sporting’s No. 10. Might just start cut-and-pasting this entry if SKC keeps climbing the table."
Boehm on Kaveh Rad: "Here’s a name to file away for the future. Making his second career MLS start, SKC’s 19-year-old rookie homegrown center back adeptly handled the unique challenges posed by the Earthquakes, completing 92.3% of his 52 passes and generally keeping things simple."
Occupying second place in the Western Conference, Sporting (4-2-1, 13 points) will return home Saturday to host rivals Houston Dynamo FC (3-2-2, 11 points) in the first full-capacity match at Children’s Mercy Park since March 7, 2020 when the club welcomed—you guessed it—the Dynamo. Tickets for the highly anticipated showdown are available now at SeatGeek.com.
