by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, Dec 29, 2015

SA Positional Rankings:

SA Positional Rankings: Right Backs

6. A.J. DeLaGarza (LA Galaxy)

7. Marvell Wynne (San Jose)

8. Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake)

9. Harrison Afful (Columbus)

10. Ambroise Oyongo (Montreal)



Since debuting for Iran in October 2013, Beitashour has moved from San Jose to Vancouver and, 10 days ago, to Toronto FC. He logged 3.4 interceptions per game as the ‘Caps tied Seattle for the fewest goals allowed (36). Offensively, in his 27 appearances he chalked up five assists and posted a solid passing percentage of 78.1.



Williams moved from Philly to Houston in late July and took away the starting job from Kofi Sarkodie; in his 31 games overall he contributed four assists. Mears isn’t a Yedlin-like speed demon but is stronger defensively and among right backs ranked near the top in passing percentage at 80.8. Injuries limited Franklin to 24 games and rate of clearances per game (3.8) was among the highest at his position.



Powell led this category with 3.9 tackles per game and also ranked highly at 3.5 interceptions. His passing (67.3 percent) was poor. DeLaGarza missed 10 games and though plagued by some inconsistently along with injuries still reeled off many solid games. Wynne withstood a tough season for the Quakes to play 33 games, log two assists, and complete 78.2 percent of his passes.



Beltran led RSL in starts (31) and registered two assists in a transition year as it missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Ordinarily, Afful wouldn’t be rated because he played only nine regular-season games, but his zealous defending and aggressive runs up the flank stamp him as a player to watch in 2016. In his first full MLS season (22 games), Oyongo, 24, showed his rawness but also displayed strength and tenacity.



HISTORY. Chris Albright leads all players with four selections as Soccer America's best right back. Brian Namoff was picked three times.



SA's Best Right Backs

2015 Steven Beitashour

2014 Andrew Farrell

2013 Sheanon Williams

2012 Sean Franklin

2011 Zach Loyd

2010 Sean Franklin

2009 Brian Namoff

2008 Frankie Hejduk

2007 Brian Namoff

2006 Chris Albright, Brian Namoff

2005 Chris Albright, Jay Heaps

2004 Chris Albright

2003 Danny Califf

2002 Chris Albright

2001 Ezra Hendrickson

2000 Mike Petke

1999 Ezra Hendrickson

1998 Mike Burns

1997 David Vaudreuil

1996 Mark Semioli

Note: In 2005 and 2006, right backs were ranked in 3-man and 4-man backlines.

Sinceleft the Sounders to join Tottenham about a year ago, there hasn’t been as dynamic a right back in MLS.None of the current crop of right backs can match his speed and penchant for getting into the attacking third, yet many solid players who can defend and attack from this position remain in the league.Yet rapid expansion since 2007 seems to have diluted the caliber of players in a few spots and this is one of them; there are many good right backs but none of them stands out as exceptional.(Vancouver)(Houston)(Seattle)(D.C. United)(Portland)