Cover photo belongs to Denny Medley, of USA Today Sports
It's never too early to project next year's World Cup roster. Below are the top 100 American goalkeepers, projected by Everybody Soccer for the summer of 2018. Ratings are attempted to mimic FIFA's. A player with a rating over 74 is EPL level, MLS is typically around 72-67, NASL 68-65, and USL fills in around the 67-63 range. Players that will still be under 26 in June of 2018 are in bold.
1. Brad Guzan (Aston Villa / England.1) - 77.1 (33.8)
2. Jon Kempin (Sporting Kansas City / USA.1) - 72.6 (25.3)
3. Tim Howard (Everton FC / England.1) - 72.4 (39.3)
4. Bill Hamid (DC United / USA.1) - 71.9 (27.7)
5. Steve Clark (Columbus Crew / USA.1) - 71.5 (32.3)
6. Zac MacMath (Philadelphia Union / USA.1) - 71.3 (26.9)
7. Ryan Meara (New York City FC / USA.1) - 70.9 (27.7)
8. Joseph Bendik (Toronto FC / USA.1) - 70.6 (29.3)
9. William Yarbrough (Leon / Mexico.1) - 70.5 (29.3)
10. John McCarthy (Rochester Rhinos / USA.3) - 70.5 (26)
11. David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes / USA.1) - 70.2 (28.8)
12. Clint Irwin (Colorado Rapids / USA.1) - 70.1 (29.3)
13. Cody Cropper (Southampton / England.1) - 69.8 (25.4)
14. Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire / USA.1) - 69.6 (29.2)
15. Adam Grinwis (Free Agent / None) - 69.4 (26.3)
16. Joe Willis (Houston Dynamo / USA.1) - 69.4 (29.9)
17. Brian Rowe (Los Angeles Galaxy / USA.1) - 69.4 (29.7)
18. Austin Guerrero (Estudiantes de Altamira / Mexico.2) - 69.3 (29.3)
19. Alec Kann (Chicago Fire / USA.1) - 69.2 (27.9)
20. Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls / USA.1) - 69 (34.2)
21. Chris Seitz (FC Dallas / USA.1) - 69 (31.3)
22. Jeff Attinella (Real Salt Lake / USA.1) - 69 (29.8)
22. Tyler Deric (Houston Dynamo / USA.1) - 69 (29.9)
24. Patrick Wall (Free Agent / None) - 68.9 (26.8)
25. Brian Perk (Los Angeles Galaxy / USA.1) - 68.8 (29)
26. Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders / USA.1) - 68.7 (32.3)
27. Ryan Taylor (Richmond Kickers / USA.3) - 68.7 (28.1)
28. Phil Saunders (Bolungarvík FC / Iceland.2) - 68.6 (26.8)
29. Evan Bush (Montreal Impact / USA.1) - 68.6 (32.3)
30. Brian Sylvestre (Harrisburg City Islanders / USA.3) - 68.6 (25.6)
31. Jon Dawson (Free Agent / None) - 68.5 (27.3)
32. John Berner (Colorado Rapids / USA.1) - 68.5 (27.4)
33. Bobby Shuttleworth (New England Revolution / USA.1) - 68.4 (31.2)
34. Mitch Hildebrandt (Minnesota United FC / USA.2) - 68.4 (29.7)
35. Scott Goodwin (Free Agent / None) - 68.3 (27.7)
36. Matt Lampson (Columbus Crew / USA.1) - 68.3 (28.8)
37. Tally Hall (Orlando City SC / USA.1) - 68.2 (33.2)
38. Trevor Spangenberg (Free Agent / None) - 68.2 (27.3)
39. Cody Mizell (Free Agent / None) - 68.1 (26.8)
40. Scott Angevine (Free Agent / None) - 67.9 (29.2)
41. Brad Stuver (Columbus Crew / USA.1) - 67.9 (27.3)
42. Andrew Fontein (Minnesota United FC / USA.2) - 67.7 (28.3)
43. Quentin Westberg (Free Agent / None) - 67.7 (32.3)
44. Tim Melia (Sporting Kansas City / USA.1) - 67.7 (31.3)
45. Bryan Meredith (San Jose Earthquakes / USA.1) - 67.7 (28.9)
46. Spencer Richey (Vancouver Whitecaps / USA.1) - 67.7 (26.2)
47. Alex Bono (Toronto FC / USA.1) - 67.6 (24.3)
47. Paul Blanchette (Loyola Marymount / USA.N) - 67.6 (24.3)
49. Alex Horwath (SK Brann / Norway.1) - 67.5 (31.3)
50. Evan Newton (Free Agent / None) - 67.5 (30.3)
51. David Meves (Fort Lauderdale Strikers / USA.2) - 67.5 (29)
52. Andrew Dykstra (DC United / USA.1) - 67.5 (32.5)
53. Justin Luthy (Free Agent / None) - 67.4 (27.3)
54. Zac Lubin (IFK Lulea / Sweden.3) - 67.3 (28.9)
55. Matt Pyzdrowski (Helsingborg IF / Sweden.1) - 67.2 (31.9)
56. Eduardo Fernandez (Real Salt Lake / USA.1) - 67.2 (25.6)
57. Nick Shackelford (Los Angeles Galaxy II / USA.3) - 67.1 (27.8)
58. Jimmy Maurer (New York Cosmos / USA.2) - 67.1 (30.8)
59. Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake / USA.1) - 67 (39.1)
60. Matt Van Oekel (FC Edmonton / USA.2) - 67 (31.8)
61. Brandon Miller (Rochester Rhinos / USA.3) - 66.9 (28.6)
62. Diego Restrepo (Free Agent / None) - 66.9 (30.4)
63. Devala Gorrick (Free Agent / None) - 66.9 (31)
64. Patrick McLain (Free Agent / None) - 66.9 (29.9)
65. Kyle Zobeck (New York Cosmos / USA.2) - 66.9 (28.4)
66. Justin Perez (CF Monterrey / Mexico.1) - 66.9 (26.4)
67. Carlos Rojas (CD Cruz Azul / Mexico.1) - 66.9 (28.3)
68. Daniel Withrow (Free Agent / None) - 66.8 (28.2)
68. Markus Dickerson (Kongsvinger IL / Norway.3) - 66.8 (28.2)
70. Carl Woszczynski (Arizona United / USA.3) - 66.8 (30.3)
71. Akira Fitzgerald (New York City FC / USA.1) - 66.7 (31)
72. Josh Ford (Orlando City SC / USA.1) - 66.7 (30.7)
73. Keith Cardona (RB Liefering / Austria.2) - 66.5 (25.7)
74. Zack Steffen (SC Freiburg / Germany.1) - 66.5 (23.3)
75. Devin Cook (Austin Aztex / USA.3) - 66.4 (25.3)
76. Sean Teepen (Free Agent / None) - 66.4 (27.2)
76. Kris Devaux (Strindheim IL / Norway.3) - 66.4 (27.2)
78. Andrew Wolverton (Los Angeles Galaxy / USA.1) - 66.2 (25.1)
79. Oliver Blum (TB Uphusen / Germany.5) - 66.2 (28.6)
80. Caleb Patterson-Sewell (Gil Vicente FC / Portugal.1) - 66.2 (31.2)
81. Nathan Stockie (Jippo / Finland.2) - 66.2 (29.3)
82. Billy Thompson (FC Tuscon / USA.4) - 66.1 (27.8)
83. Will Dieterich (Tindastóll / Iceland.2) - 66.1 (31.3)
84. Alexandros Tabakis (Panathinaikos FC / Greece.1) - 66.1 (25.6)
85. Ethan Horvath (Molde FK / Norway.1) - 66 (23.1)
86. Gregory Blum (Pittsburgh Riverhounds / USA.3) - 66 (29.3)
87. Victor Rodriguez (Albuquerque Sol FC / USA.4) - 66 (27.4)
88. Tyler Miller (SVN Zweibrücken / Germany.4) - 66 (25.3)
89. Matt Bersano (Oregon State / USA.N) - 65.9 (25.8)
90. Cody Laurendi (Los Angeles Galaxy II / USA.3) - 65.9 (29.9)
91. Jeff Gal (Lidköpings FK / Sweden.4) - 65.9 (25.3)
92. Scott Krotee (Free Agent / None) - 65.9 (28.4)
93. Kenneth Kronholm (Holstein Kiel / Germany.3) - 65.8 (32.8)
94. Sean Kelley (Free Agent / None) - 65.8 (30.3)
95. Jake Feener (Free Agent / None) - 65.8 (26.3)
95. Charlie Lyon (Seattle Sounders / USA.1) - 65.8 (26.3)
97. Michael Lisch (Houston Dynamo / USA.1) - 65.7 (27.9)
97. Jeremy Crumpton (Floridians FC / USA.4) - 65.7 (27.9)
99. Zach Bennett (Michigan State / USA.N) - 65.7 (24.6)
100. Charles Sanders (Free Agent / None) - 65.7 (28.7)
I use a very simple formula to project a goalkeeper's progress. It helps the ratings stay consistent in that they have to give an honest current and projected rating.
The numbers aren't set in stone and obviously it's not a one-size fits all graph but it has proven fairly consistent overly the past two years. Injuries will throw a kink into the projection as well as poor development or club situations. We can revisit this later to see how accurate the formula holds up.