We're back with part two of our team-by-team Breakout Player preview (you know one when you see one!).
Yesterday we did the Western Conference; today we’re on the Eastern Conference.
In we go:
Injuries limited both the minutes and the effectiveness of the 2024 No. 1 overall SuperDraft pick during his rookie season, but I actually thought he was quite promising – and often just straight-up good – in his time on the field. I just wish we’d gotten to see more of it.
Spicer's got a new coach in 2025, which probably means a new role as nobody’s going to try to copy John Herdman’s lopsided 3-4-2-1. Instead, Robin Fraser’s got the team running the 4-3-2-1 Christmas Tree early in preseason and I’ve got to tell you: I’m not exactly sure where Spicer fits there unless they’re really committed to making him an attacking left back (I love that idea, for what it’s worth).
Still, force me to pick one from Toronto and it’s him. I’m betting on talent.
Confidence level: Not great, Bob. I think the Reds will struggle badly this year, so it’ll be tough for anyone to look good.
I think the player who most stands to benefit from Jack McGlynn’s departure to Houston is Olney. A product of the Union’s academy (kind of) like McGlynn, Olney’s more of an attacker than any midfield orchestrator. Playing as a shuttler in Philly’s diamond – Quinn Sullivan’s role, but on the other side – suits him, even if he’s not really the same type of player. While McGlynn was that conductor, and Sullivan is a north-south runner, Olney is more of a dribbling 10 who has been learning to play a little bit wider since moving to the Union.
Still, he will run himself into the ground getting into good spots, and do the same pressing and tracking back when necessary. Sporting director Ernst Tanner was pretty explicit in the offseason that he wanted more of that.
Confidence level: Medium. Olney will get minutes this year, but I'm guessing he starts the season fairly low on the depth chart and has to play his way into a bigger role. It might not truly happen for him until 2026 or even 2027.
You could argue Enrique broke out during the second half of last season when he won the starting No. 9 job over Duncan McGuire and DP Luis Muriel. That’s pretty significant!
And his numbers were really good, with 12g/4a in 1,800 minutes across all competitions. The advanced data from FBRef says none of that was a fluke:
Those elite defensive numbers will keep him on the field from the whistle this year. If he gets 2,500 minutes in the league, then we’re talking “Julián Carranza, 2022”-type buzz. And probably a move to a similar-sized club as Feyenoord.
Confidence level: Very, very high. Enrique might already be the best defensive forward in the league. By the end of the year, he’ll be regarded as an elite scorer as well.
The Ghanaian got out there for just under 1,000 minutes last year and was awesome. Both his stamina and field coverage are insane, but what really sets him apart from most central midfielders of his profile is his ability to get forward on the dribble, rapidly take space and eliminate opposing defenders.
That is incredibly useful for a team that never wants to waste a single transition moment. Donkor won't vivisect opponents with his passing, which is just functional, but he tilts the field anyway.
Confidence level: High. I don’t think he’ll be a starter, but end up around 2,000 minutes anyway. And it’s impossible not to notice him when he’s out there.
Flip a coin between him and Julián Fernández, NYCFC's other South American U22 Initiative winger who spent virtually all of last year buried on the bench despite looking dangerous and often being productive whenever they got on the field.
Of the two, Fernández seemed to have more of a knack for producing spectacular moments, but Ojeda’s off-ball work really caught the eye and spoke of a higher goalscoring upside. The dude will happily dribble into the box, but also understands how to set a defender up and time his run off-ball to be a threat on the back post. The Pigeons needed that badly once Malachi Jones went down, and I still can’t figure out why Ojeda didn’t get more run.
Confidence level: High. If you told me he topped this year’s 22 Under 22 list, I’d buy that.
This one’s easy. Miller got onto the field as a 16-year-old last year, getting over 900 minutes between the regular season and Leagues Cup, and didn’t look out of place. He was, in fact, one of the fastest players in the entire league as per Sportec’s tracking data.
The next step is tactical refinement, to go along with honing technique on the ball. Miller’s not as advanced in either of those facets as he is physically, though it’s not like he was out of his depth. He just looked like a pretty good MLS fullback who added a ton of verticality.
He’s got more levels he can hit. People will notice as he does so.
Confidence level: High. Given the Revs' commitment to developing academy products over the past few years, and what their left-back depth chart looks like right now, Miller could be the youngest regular starter in MLS.
Pérez does something no other player on Nashville’s roster can: take opponents on 1v1 and beat them. Hany Mukhtar doesn’t do that, neither does Jacob Shaffelburg, and Alex Muyl definitely doesn’t. You could argue nobody in the ‘Yotes’ five-year history has done that – not with any regularity or notable effectiveness, anyway.
Pérez does and showed it during his 230-ish minutes with the first team, on loan from the Galaxy, last season. He ended up with just an assist, as he still has trouble producing end product. But when Pérez was out there, the threat he presented with the ball on his foot opened up space for the likes of Mukhtar. Also, “create space for your team’s best player” is basically job No. 1 for all role players in this game.
Confidence level: Low-ish. I’m not sure 1v1 stuff is a big part of B.J. Callaghan’s gameplan, and that lack of end product – which has been a thing at all levels for Pérez – is tough to look past. But hopefully it all snaps into place this season.
I really liked what I saw from Campell with the USMNT last month. At times he seemed to be playing in the old John Stones role (i.e., a center back who comes off the line and into central midfield both in and out of possession).
This is a lot to ask of a relatively young defender, but he was up for it throughout, not just with his ability to read the game and do the defensive work, but with his ability to dribble past the first line of opponents and compromise their pressing scheme and overall shape. He looked Robin Jansson-esque, and as I’ve said repeatedly over the past few years, Jansson is my favorite center back to watch in all of MLS.
Campbell was a central midfielder in his youth days, so this comfort level makes sense. He just hadn’t been asked or allowed to show much of it in MLS so far (I’m hoping that changes in 2025).
Confidence level: Medium. The talent’s there, but I’m perpetually worried about a Montréal team that always seems one bad week from utter ruin.
I’ve got him second on the d-mid depth chart behind Sergio Busquets, just as he was last year. Just as was the case last year, Busquets will miss time, and when Bright gets on the field, he will do stuff like this:
He probably won’t be in Miami’s best starting XI – though I can’t entirely rule that out, as Busquets wasn't the same down the stretch in 2024 – but he’ll log a ton of minutes and there will be some real “Hey, Miami don’t need to go overseas to find Busi’s replacement, they’ve got their guy already” buzz by summer.
Confidence level: High. Bright is legit.
The best moment of Kijima’s rookie season came early, with this game-winner in the Concacaf Champions Cup:
I think that play encapsulates Kijima’s best qualities: a super-energetic, ground-covering central midfielder who reads plays well – he understands where turnovers could happen – and uses that to add value.
There’s a reason D.C., who are one of the pressing-est teams in the league and are utterly reliant on creating turnovers to create chances, went out and got him.
Confidence level: Medium-high. I think Kijima is likely to be pretty good. D.C. overall, though…
Russell-Rowe was very productive last year, with 8g/3a in about 1,500 minutes across all competitions. That includes some big minutes in Concacaf Champions Cup when Cucho Hernández was suspended from the team for a minute.
The Crew will absolutely go out and buy a new DP to take Cucho’s spot, but even so, I’d expect more minutes – starter’s minutes – from Russell-Rowe in 2025. As a 21-year-old, he showed the ability to handle big moments and still produce. As a 22-year-old, we should see more of that, especially with Christian Ramírez now following Cucho out the door.
Confidence level: High. I think Russell-Rowe’s going to be a starter on this team. No inside info here, just a gut feeling.
Bucha was actually pretty good in the second half of last year after struggling (I thought, anyway) to start the season. The problem is as he was improving, just about everything else around Cincy was falling apart.
So he was probably too good to be a true Gass Theorem guy. But also, I was left with the impression that he’s got two more levels he can hit as an all-around, game-conducting No. 8 who brings a ton of defensive value (especially in transition). He won’t make Best XI because guys with his profile typically don’t, but there’s a good chance ball knowers will consider him irreplaceable for one of the league’s best teams.
Confidence level: Medium. Part of the reason it all fell apart last year was it was all built around Lucho, and Lucho's likely not gonna be playing for Cincy anymore.
Right now, it looks like Chicago will sit tight with just two DPs until the summer, which means the homegrown attacker is almost certainly in line for a starting role. All this coming off a January USMNT camp in which he looked very good, with his typical decisive play both on and off the ball.
Gutiérrez's got fans out there doing comps:
I think Gutiérrez is really good. He has a chance to be great. This might be his best time to take that chance.
Confidence level: High. The pieces are in place.
We’ve already seen Agyemang do this repeatedly in MLS:
Nice to see him bring it to the national team.
What comes next – what changes him from a toolsy, talented kid into a threat to bang home 20 goals – is sharpening up his off-ball movement and finding the types of one-touch box finishes the best No. 9s feast upon.
Given his improvement curve over his first two years as a pro, I am super optimistic.
Confidence level: Incredibly high.
Cobb played just about 1,500 minutes across all competitions last year, which is a ton of top-flight time for a teenaged center back.
And he mostly looked like a teenaged center back – prone to getting out-muscled and trying desperately to keep up with the pace of play. All that for a team in constant flux due to injuries, formation shifts and a mid-season coaching change. Not to mention all the outbound (and some inbound) transfers.
Atlanta return the same center back corps from last season, which means Cobb is third or fourth (probably fourth) on the depth chart, and that means minutes. It’ll be interesting to see how he does with them.
Confidence level: Low. I think Cobb will be good one day, but we’re not there yet.
