Houston Dynamo 2024 player report cards: Brad Smith
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
We’re continuing our 2024 report card series, recapping each Dynamo and Dash player’s season. Next up is Brad Smith. Brad had a weird 2023 where he was coming back from a nasty ACL injury and was looking to reestablish himself on a new team.
2024 Grade: C
2024 by the numbers (MLS play)
Appearances: 20
Minutes played: 401
Goals: 2
Assists: 2
G+ per 96: -0.12
2024 in review
Brad Smith came into the year with an uncertain role, with Ben Olsen opting for an inverted fullback on the left side while Smith is more of a wide attacking wing back. He ended up seeing almost all of his minutes on the left wing, playing a sub role for Aliyu Ibrahim, who rarely saw the bench this season.
Brad started the first four games of the season on the wing and looked completely lost starting games. He was never able to involve himself in the games unless he was coming off the bench. He was quickly moved to the bench in favor of Aliyu moving wide and Segal and Kowalczyk competing at the striker position.
While Brad was mostly poor, he did have three games where he was incredible coming off the bench. He scored the winner on the road to the Rapids and the equalizer in a wild game in Vancouver. He then also came off the bench for two assists against DC United.
Moment of the season
There are two moments to pick from between his goals against Vancouver and Colorado. I am going to opt for his goal against Colorado as it was a game winner in stoppage time. He picked up the ball in transition and calmly slotted it past the goalkeeper to give the Dynamo their first road win of the season which ended up kickstarting a trend for the team on the road in 2024.
Looking forward
Brad Smith is out of contract, and it does not seem like the Dynamo are all too interested in keeping him around. They will likely look for a more natural backup to Aliyu while they also have Nelson Quinones and Lawrence Ennali coming back from injury next season. Hopefully Brad will find another MLS team looking for a backup attacking fullback where he can play his natural role.
