When Ryan Herman entered the Combine the Seattle Sounders confirmed that he was still Homegrown Player eligible. They will no longer be able to sign the towering keeper from the University of Washington as FC Dallas took him 17th. He is the second keeper to be drafted in 2016.
Herman split his college time between Santa Clara and the UW. With the Huskies he was the starter in 2013 and 2015. He had 18 shutouts in 42 appearances.
Many expected Herman to fall out of the first day of the draft, which would have meant passing on the HGP tag isn't a huge miss. But, with their player taken in the 1st round Seattle missed the opportunity to sign a player that others saw as valuable, even if just to trade him to Dallas.
Ryan will learn from an organization that has developed two HGP keepers. One they already sold to a Liga MX side, the other helped Dallas advance past the Sounders in the MLS Cup Playoffs.