Staying on Track: Atlanta United’s Noah Cobb among world’s most utilized young center backs | Atlanta United FC

As Atlanta United, and MLS, develops deeper knowledge and use of data analytics, we’ll be taking a look behind the curtain at some of the specific stats the club values. In our new weekly content series, we examine one metric provided by StatsBomb that may not stand out on a first watch, but upon closer evaluation, is a useful tool to measure the team’s performance. This is Staying on Track presented by MARTA.

Eight Homegrowns players appeared in Atlanta United’s 3-0 victory in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night. One of those was Noah Cobb, a Homegrown defender originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Cobb wasn’t in the starting XI for the Open Cup match Tuesday but came on early in the match to replace Stian Gregersen, who needed to be subbed off in the 11th minute due to injury.

It wasn’t a situation where Atlanta United head coach Gonzalo Pineda had to look far down his depth chart and select a player who might be making his debut against a lower division opponent. Cobb is one of the most experienced youngsters in the club, already accruing 532 minutes of MLS action in 2024 according to StatsBomb. He’s made nine career appearances in MLS play and appeared in the starting XI six times so far for the 5-Stripes in the regular season.

His playing time is among the top-ranked in the world for young players. Following the May 7 match against Minnesota United, Cobb ranks no. 15 across the world for number of minutes played by a center back under 19 years of age. That scope of data from StatsBomb includes 76 leagues and pretty much every semi-major leagues in the world.

Under those same filters, Cobb ranks third in North and South America combined.

For a player this age, minutes played is one of the greatest indicators of success, and this is a very positive sign for Cobb’s development. It shows not only a player’s potential, that they have more years ahead of them than say a 32-year-old who’s earning the same number of minutes, but also an ability to get on the field. Managers see their players train every day, so putting them in the starting lineup is a sign the player is performing on a day-to-day basis. For Cobb to be a first team starting center back in MLS, which requires defending quality strikers, shows great confidence in a player essentially the age of high school senior.