Aaron Herrera – D.C. United
Aaron Herrera is thriving. And by “thriving” I mean, “someone time-traveled to the past, picked up 2021 Aaron Herrera, and plunked him down on the right side of Troy Lesesne’s defense.” With a tireless motor and good right-footed service, the Guatemalan international leads all right backs in progressive passes this season. He’s also in the 96th percentile in shot-creating actions per 90 among his positional peers, according to FBref.
Federico Bernardeschi – Toronto FC
What? What’s that look you’re giving me? Okay, fine, positions are social constructs and Federico Bernardeschi is a right wingback in name only for Toronto FC this year. But he is a right wingback! And this is All-Star voting we’re talking about! Let’s have some fun. Not a single player who defends as an outside back matches the Italian’s non-penalty xG plus expected assisted goals (xAG) output of 0.50 per 90.
