Houston Dynamo 2024 player report cards: Brooklyn Raines
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
We’re continuing our 2024 report card series, recapping each Dynamo and Dash player’s season. Next up is Brooklyn Raines. Brooklyn Raines was 18 years old coming into the season, looking to make a name for himself in this deep Houston midfield.
2024 Grade: B-
2024 by the numbers (MLS play)
Appearances: 15
Minutes played: 421
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
G+ per 96: 0.02
2024 in review
Brooklyn Raines was a player who barely saw the field in 2023 and was looking to show signs of being a potential starter in the future. While he didn’t play a whole lot of minutes this year, those signs began to shine through. He started the season in the starting lineup with Hector Herrera out injured and Jan Gregus still acclimating himself to Houston. He had a rough first two game against Kansas City and St Louis before finding himself out of the lineup for the next couple of months.
During the middle portion of the season, he played most of his soccer in MLS NEXT Pro with Dynamo 2 where he stood out amongst the crowd, putting in some great midfield performances. He looked a cut above the rest of the competition as he was more MLS ready than most players.
Late in the year he started seeing some bench appearances where they were more than just small cameos but as a player expected to make a real impact in the game. His play off the bench impressed Ben Olsen enough to give him the start againt St. Louis where he had his best performance in a Dynamo shirt. He was then given the entire second half against the Galaxy where he also looked very impressive.
Moment of the season
While Brooklyn never had a real shining moment in particular, his performance against St Louis in October was a game where we really saw the player Brooklyn is developing into. He ran the show on the wing not looking like a downgrade from Coco Carrasquilla or Sebastian Kowalczyk who usually play that position. Although the team lost, he was the best player on the field for the Dynamo and had Ben Olsen raving about him in the post-game press conference.
Looking forward
Brookyln is under contract through 2025 with an option year for 2026. You have to imagine that his increase in performance and Ben’s increased trust in him were factors in Hector Herrera’s departure. Ben has said multiple times that Brooklyn is a future starter in this team, and he can’t wait to see what that looks like, although it still might be a few years away.
