FC Dallas sit at the top of the Western Conference after their 2-1 win over LAFC on Saturday night and one of the players who has led them there is 19-year-old right back Reggie Cannon.
The former UCLA defender signed a Homegrown Player contract with the club prior to the 2017 season, after spending one season in LA, but played just one MLS minute during his rookie season. But with the departure of Hernan Grana in the offseason, Cannon was offered the chance to win the starting job in preseason.
He has not disappointed. Cannon has started every game for Oscar Pareja along a backline that has conceded just 1.08 goals per game, good for the third-fewest in MLS this season. The Dallas coach was quick to offer praise after the win.
“The national team in America has a young player that is asking for an opportunity,” he said in his postgame press conference. “I am pleased to see him grow that fast. He shows a lot of maturity. I’m very pleased to see that this country has a right back that can take off.”
With Pareja shuffling his lineup on a game-by-game basis, Cannon is the only player to start every match for the West leaders and is leading the team with 1,142 minutes. He has won 62 percent of his duels, which is the seventh-highest success rate for players who have been involved in at least 100.
Cannon has featured for both the Under-19 and Under-17 US youth national teams but has yet to receive a call-up to the senior team. He currently figures to be behind a few players on the current right back depth chart heading into the next cycle including 24-year-old DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United) and 21-year-old Shaquell Moore (Levante).
