Houston Dynamo FC: Griffin Dorsey signed to revive hybrid position

Just when everyone said goodbye to the Houston Dynamo FC backline experiment, the team signs Griffin Dorsey and calls him a defender.

Toronto FC picked Griffin Dorsey first in the Superdraft. They announced him as a midfielder who might work some as a forward. But Houston Dynamo FC signed him as a defender.

Only one thing was ever for sure. When everyone is ready, Dorsey will certainly play somewhere on the right.

That’s because the most detailed scouting charts on Dorsey have him just about anywhere on the pitch you can go – as long as it’s on the right.

With limited CONCACAF champions Cup experience to analyze as a right-winger, Houston will also spot Dorsey on the right. But first, expect them to get Boniek Garcia to explain the team’s strategy when they used that defensive midfielder a starter on defense.

So the Houston Dynamo hybrid midfielder-defender position? It’s back!

Dorsey is one of the most unripe players among Houston’s recent signings. So his pitch time will be limited for quite a while. But he won’t hit the wall like he did after Toronto FC put him on the roster. That’s what made him available for Houston to scoop up.

The difference is head coach Tab Ramos knows Dorsey better than his previous squad. Ramos coached him in the U-20 Men’s National Team. Ramos describes him as a relentless worker, young, with plenty of potential,

Senior vice president and general manager Matt Jordan also emphasizes Dorsey’s youth and upside, expressing that this will actually help him grow specifically within Houston’s developing system.

Those are the last specific statements in the team’s communication about Dorsey and what they intend to do with him. After that are only hints.

Those hints include interchangeably describing his positions as the midfielder and the defender, once in the same paragraph.

The last time Dynamo supporters saw the midfielder and the defender as the same player was in starts by Boniek Garcia as one the back four.

Since the team signed Dorsey partly on his capacity for growth on the team, supporters will have to be patient waiting to see what he’ll do. Toronto FC drafted him without a clear understanding of his abilities and where they might fit in the team’s mission.

But Ramos was able to fill in any blanks in the Houston scouting reports. He saw Dorsey well before his time with Toronto and he knows everything the previous MLS team missed.

The only question now is how long it will take Dorsey to start in that hybrid position. Then, opponents will have to practice fighting through Houston’s disruption of their game plan.

If they can.

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