Much was made of the decision to select Keegan Rosenberry with the 3rd overall pick in January’s MLS SuperDraft after selecting Joshua Yaro, Rosenberry’s teammate at Georgetown, with the 1st overall pick.
Brandon Vincent was still on the board at that time, and widely accepted as the most ready prospect to make an immediate impact. As a matter of fact, Jurgen Klinsmann called him into the USMNT camp just prior to the draft.
However, Jim Curtin and Earnie Stewart stuck with their academy prospect in Rosenberry after MLS denied their request to make him a homegrown signing.
The front office’s belief in Rosenberry was confirmed when he was given the nod as the starting right back on opening day. To his credit, he’s never looked back. Rosenberry has played every minute of the Union’s first six matches, and has shown well to this point. As any young player does, he has made his fair share of mistakes, but the promise and upside outweighs the negative by a long shot.
According to WhoScored.com, Rosenberry has earned a 6.78 player rating through his first six professional matches. To the surprise of many, Rosenberry is completing a higher percentage of his passes than his fellow starting fullback in Fabinho.
Rosenberry has completed 74.5-percent of his passes to this point, while Fabinho has completed just a shade less at 74.3-percent. The composure on the ball displayed by the rookie has caught the eyes of not only the Union supporters, but numerous people around the league. Rosenberry, along with teammate C.J. Sapong, was named to the MLS Team of the Week in just his third week in the league.
Rosenberry has proven that he is capable going forward out of his right back position. Even more importantly than whipping in quality crosses and using the width of the pitch to draw out opposing defenders, the rookie has shown the discipline to know when to get forward and when to hold his ground. His intelligence along with his ability has made him an easy player for Curtin to plug into the starting lineup from day one.
While Rosenberry has yet to make crucial mistakes defensively, it is clear that is where the most improvement can be made. Against tougher opponents, athletic players in particular, Rosenberry has shown some weakness. His lack of elite athleticism is apparent, but he has proven to be sound as well as the ability to adapt well.
Curtin can not speak highly enough of his right back of the present and future. “We have a foundation of young players, but Keegan has been the one to emerge,” Curtin stated. “He’s run with his time on the field and contributed in a big way. I’m happy with where he’s at.”
Rosenberry has had somewhat of a dream start to his professional career. Not only playing with coaches and players that he is familiar with from his time in the Union academy, but having an immediate impact for a team that seems capable of breaking the club’s playoff drought.
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