22 Under 22

Which MLS teams have the most minutes played by players under 22?

Brian Rodriguez - LAFC - eyes on ball

The 22 Under 22 rankings are out and in the midst of all the takes in the aftermath of their release, it's worth looking at exactly what teams make the most use of their up-and-coming young players.

We crunched the numbers, and there are a few teams near the top of the list that may not be the first to come to mind when you think of the league's youngest rosters.

Reigning Supporters' Shield champion LAFC lead the pack, with a total of 4,529 minutes played by players under 22, which is nearly a quarter of their total minutes for the season. Bob Bradley's group also leads the league with nine players under 22 that have seen the field this year. Uruguayan attacker Brian Rodriguez, who came in at No. 2 on this year's list, highlights the bunch.

They're followed closely by the Philadelphia Union, who boast the player who took the No. 1 spot in this year's rankings in Brenden Aaronson, with under 22 players receiving 4,307 minutes for 22.90% of their team total. The Union are followed by the Montreal Impact at 3,278 minutes (17.56%), with the Vancouver Whitecaps and D.C. United rounding out the top five.

Nashville SC have the fewest minutes from under 22 players, with 2020 No. 2 MLS SuperDraft pick Jack Maher's 99 minutes accounting for just 0.56% of their 17,784 team minutes.

Team
Minutes
Minutes by U22 players
%
Players
LAFC
18,771
4,529
24.13%
9: Rodriguez, Palacios, Ginella, Cifuentes, Duke, Torres, Opoku, Traore, Duenas
PHI
18,810
4,307
22.90%
6: Aaronson, McKenzie, Real, Fontana, De Vries, Turner
MTL
18,663
3,278
17.56%
5: Brault-Guillard, Binks, Yao, Tabla, Bayiha
VAN
18,702
3,275
17.51%
6: Veselinovic, Hasal, Baldisimo, Bair, Raposo, Metcalfe
DC
18,715
3,251
17.37%
4: Paredes, Sorga, Nyeman, Yow
COL
12,824
2,193
17.10%
3: Vines, Bassett, Galvan
CHI
17,820
2,726
15.30%
5: Aliseda, Navarro, Mihailovic, Gutierrez, Reynolds
MIA
17,783
2,679
15.06%
5: Reyes, Pellegrini, Carranza, Robinson, Makoun
RBNY
18,809
2,682
14.26%
6: Casseres Jr., Fernandez, Yearwood, Jorgensen, Mines, Clark
SKC
17,792
2,123
11.93%
3: Busio, Lindsey, Duke
ATL
18,745
2,220
11.84%
4: Barco, Campbell, Bello, Wolff
CLB
17,820
2,007
11.26%
4: Diaz, Keita, Berhalter, Morris
LA
16,800
1,746
10.39%
5: Araujo, Alvarez, Dunbar, Traore, Harvey
DAL
16,829
1,746
10.37%
8: Reynolds, Tessmann, Ferreira, Servania, Pepi, Pomykal, Sealy, Cerrillo
CIN
18,810
1,915
10.18%
3: Amaya, Barreal, Bailey
ORL
17,799
1,697
9.53%
3: Dike, Perera, Bender
NYC
18,723
1,570
8.39%
3: Sands, Acevedo, Scally
POR
18,795
1,393
7.41%
2: Farfan, Bonilla
TOR
18,809
1,357
7.21%
6: Akinola, Gallacher, Nelson, Shaffelberg, Okello, Dorsey
RSL
17,767
1,139
6.41%
4: Ruiz, Ramirez, Iloski, Garcia
SJ
18,810
1,154
6.14%
5: Lopez, Cowell, Akanyirige, Haji, Fuentes
NE
18,769
879
4.68%
2: Buchanan, Rennicks
SEA
17,820
322
1.81%
4: Bwana, Hopeau, Leyva, Atencio
MIN
16,820
172
1.02%
1: Chacon
HOU
18,763
155
0.83%
2: Lemoine, Palomino
NSH
17,784
99
0.56%
1: Maher