Best Defenders in MLS '21 (so far)

The top goal scorers/creators get a disproportionate amount of attention. It makes sense, as it's very easy to measure what their job is. For defenders? It's much less clear. So where is a good place to start? For me, the correct place to start is picking out as many skills a defender should have, measuring, then ranking. 

SKILLS
Tackling: % Won
Tackling vs Dribbles
Successful Pressures
Successful Pressures % Won
Blocked Passes
Interceptions
Completed Passes
Completed Passes %
Successful Dribbles
Successful Dribbles % 
Carries (Possession
Team Goals +/- per 90
xG +/- per 90

After deciding the above I ranked every player in MLS, took the avg of that and then teased out the Center, Right, and Left Backs.

Here are the best. The "Top 50" and "Top 100" is how many times they ranked there out of all MLS players.

CENTER BACKS

Top 50	Top 100	Player	Position	Team	SALARY
5	9	Andreu Fontàs	CB	Sporting KC	$ 1,125,000
5	8	Nouhou Tolo	CB	Seattle	$ 125,000
2	6	Auston Trusty	CB	Colorado Rapids	$ 375,000
5	8	Bressan	CB	FC Dallas	$ 536,000
3	5	Jesús David Murillo Largacha	CB	Los Angeles FC	$ 400,000
3	6	Ilie Sánchez	CB	Sporting KC	$ 1,000,000
2	5	Rodrigo Schlegel	CB	Orlando City	$ 120,000
2	6	Antonio Carlos	CB	Orlando City	$ 840,000
3	4	Yeimar Gómez Andrade	CB	Seattle	$ 300,000
2	6	Jack Elliott	CB	Philadelphia	$ 325,000
4	6	Miles Robinson	CB	Atlanta Utd	$ 650,000
4	6	José Antonio Martínez Gil	CB	FC Dallas	$ 600,000
1	6	Boniek García	CB	Houston Dynamo	$ 81,375
1	3	Brendan Hines-Ike	CB	D.C. United	$ 240,000
1	3	Bill Tuiloma	CB	Portland Timbers	$ 220,000
3	7	James Sands	CB	NYCFC	$ 150,000
2	7	Eddie Segura	CB	Los Angeles FC	$ 200,000
2	5	Rudy Camacho	CB	CF Montréal	$ 800,000
1	2	Alexander Callens	CB	NYCFC	$ 700,000
3	4	Danny Wilson	CB	Colorado Rapids	$ 275,000
1	3	Xavier Arreaga	CB	Seattle	$ 393,600

RIGHT BACKS

Top 50	Top 100	Player	Position	Team	SALARY
6	7	Olivier Mbaizo	RB	Philadelphia	$ 89,513
1	6	Alistair Johnston	RB	Nashville	$ 73,079
2	8	Brandon Bye	RB	New England	$ 170,000
5	7	Kyle Duncan	RB	NY Red Bulls	$ 93,581
3	6	Boris Sekulić	RB	Chicago Fire	$ 571,000
1	4	Tristan Blackmon	RB	Los Angeles FC	$ 193,000
2	4	Harrison Afful	RB	Columbus Crew	$ 335,000
2	5	Richie Laryea	RB	Toronto FC	$ 200,000
3	4	Keegan Rosenberry	RB	Colorado Rapids	$ 285,000
4	6	Romain Métanire	RB	Minnesota Utd	$ 600,000

LEFT BACKS

Top 50	Top 100	Player	Position	Team	SALARY
5	6	Diego Palacios	LB	Los Angeles FC	$ 432,000
5	8	DeJuan Jones	LB	New England	$ 95,000
4	7	Luís Martins	LB	Sporting KC	$ 340,000
2	7	George Bello	LB	Atlanta Utd	$ 135,000
6	7	Kai Wagner	LB	Philadelphia	$ 450,000
6	8	Chase Gasper	LB	Minnesota Utd	$ 81,375
2	6	Jorge Villafaña	LB	LA Galaxy	$ 450,000
5	5	Kyle Smith	LB	Orlando City	$ 105,996
4	5	Daniel Lovitz	LB	Nashville	$ 385,000
5	6	Claudio Bravo	LB	Portland Timbers	$ 300,000
3	6	Julian Araujo	LB	LA Galaxy	$ 140,000
5	7	Auro	LB	Toronto FC	$ 360,000