22 Under 22 and Philadelphia
Award season is right around the corner... where do Jack McGlynn and Quinn Sullivan rank, and just how valuable are they?
Across the league, certain members of the press (not myself) will have the opportunity to cast votes for various awards. Unfortunately, more often than not, these awards end up being nothing more than a popularity contest. However, one that intrigues me the most is the 22 Under 22, a ranked list of the best 22 players under the age of 22 for the MLS season.
As you can imagine, the Union should thrive on this list, considering the amount of young talent they seem to collect and develop.
So, with that context out of the way, here are Matt Doyle's (@MattDoyle76) picks for the 22 Under 22 ranked list for this MLS season.
As I mentioned above, more often than not, these awards are somewhat pointless and provide very little insight. To give them more value, I did some work—with the help of
—to extract useful data.Below is a table showing contributions (goals and assists) as well as minutes played. For the goalkeepers on the list, rather than forcing a comparison, I used save percentages to provide a relevant metric.
So, what makes this sheet valuable? Here are a few key data points:
The average salary on the list is $274,062, which is higher than both Quinn Sullivan’s and Jack McGlynn’s. Additionally, the average minutes played is 1,448, a mark both players easily exceed. This makes them clear value assets without even considering their goal contributions or overall minutes.
In terms of total contributions and salary, Quinn ranks second with 13 contributions and a salary of $153,500—just five contributions behind Diego Luna of Real Salt Lake, yet $295,333 cheaper.
Jack McGlynn comes in 5th place with 9 total contributions and a salary of $226,533. He matches Brian Gutierrez in contributions but is $669,346 cheaper, highlighting his immense value despite the Union's challenging season.
Both Jack and Quinn have played the 4th and 5th most minutes on the list. These figures don’t even include the Leagues Cup or CONCACAF Champions Cup, which would place them near the very top due to the Union's deep runs in both tournaments. If those matches were included, Jack would have 2,708 minutes, and Quinn would reach 2,956 minutes.
Lastly, all but five of these players are Homegrown talents, further emphasizing the significance of youth development across the league.
Just some data to help guide the conversation and provide more context as these lists are built. Both Jack and Quinn have plenty to be proud of, and they certainly don’t need me to remind them.
Cheers,
J.
Non Union comment first -- the fact that the USMNT appears to have botched the recruitment of Luna, Gutierrez and Vargas is......
- How many minutes did Sullivan spend out of position at striker and games did McGlynn miss at the Olympics? Could probably add a couple of assists for each of them
- $$ wise, these will be the U-22s under expanded roster rules? They deserve the raise but Union need to get more players like them in those slots from outside if the sell first, win second model has any chance of getting a trophy by accident.
- Thanks for this analysis, would love to see more
I’ve been talking a lot about those two with my daughter, lately. It seems to us that Jack gets more pub, but Quinn seems to fit better in our squad formation. I was shocked that he already has ten assists this year!