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Jalen Robinson, D.C. United's newest homegrown player, was signed in January; after that, he played 15 games in USL PRO and in the US Open Cup debacle against the Rochester (Ragin') Rhinos, where it was his man who beat him for the goal. But despite all of that, what kind of season did Robinson have?
In D.C. United's Academy and at Wake Forest University, Robinson played center back. However, at 5'9", he is projected to transition to right back at the MLS level. He was highly touted coming out of Wake Forest, and signing him to a homegrown deal was a reasonable thing for D.C. United to do. He was originally loaned out to United's USL PRO affiliate, the Richmond Kickers. However, he was behind a number of established starters at both right back and center back, and so after just one game United loaned him out to Arizona United SC. Arizona United was the former Phoenix FC Wolves and didn't sign any players until the eve of the season, so any player on their team was going to get time.
However, while in Arizona, Robinson alternated between starting and the bench while playing both center back and right back, so his development potential was not maximized. He will be no higher than fourth on D.C. United's fullback depth chart next season, behind Sean Franklin, Chris Korb, and Taylor Kemp. I think that a full season for him in USL PRO would be a good idea, especially at starter's minutes, before we can truly evaluate him. But what do you think?