Toros Targets: who to watch from the RGV roster
Player profiles and best fits for my four favorites
Say what you will about Rio Grande Valley FC’s investment, success, or lack thereof in both categories, but they knew how to throw together a midfield worth watching. From Eric Bird in 2017 to Rodrigo Lopez in 2021 to Taylor Davila this season, the Toros have given players a platform to either showcase their wares for the first time or re-establish themselves as difference-makers.
With the club folding, there’s a whole roster of potential needle-movers freely available, and I want to spotlight a few that I find especially enticing. Taylor Davila leads the way. An all-USL pick in 2023, the former LA Galaxy II man blossomed as the singular play-driver in the middle of the park at H-E-B Park.
Appearing in all 34 matches, Davila garnered six assists on 66 chance creations, the second-highest total in the league. He completed 68% of his long balls on more than 300 attempts, and less than 13% of his passes went backwards. Davila knows how to find the ball and move it forward.
As you can see above, the 23-year-old is also adept and active as a defender. Here, he advances on an opponent, forging between the lines out of a baseline 4-2-3-1 in which he played in the pivot. The RGV press wasn’t always consistently applied, but Davila was an active contributor when required to be.
The second and third instances showcase the offensive verve. Davila seeks the ball on the move in one play, quickly picking out a teammate for a switch. Though the pass doesn’t come off to absolute perfection, it more than does the job to put the Toros in. That last clip is better, illustrating the midfielder’s ability to do the job himself on the edge of the box with a slickly curled goal. Davila is, without a doubt, the most special talent one could nab from this team.
Davila Fits: Hartford, who need a nailed-on minutes eater at No. 10; Monterey, who literally have no central midfielders.
If Davila is a top-end creator, Robert Coronado is the perfect partner, the sort of second-ball magnet and meddlesome defender in the midfield that every team requires. Across 2,000 minutes in 2023, Coronado completed more than 80% of his passes in the opposing half and won 64% of his tackle attempts.
Still, Coronado - now ending his second stint in Edinburg - would be a great addition because of the things he does that don’t show up on the stat sheet. Take that first play, where the midfielder pressures the opposition into a backwards pass, follows the ball to force a bad touch, and immediately progress it upfield upon recovery.
The native Californian’s penchant for recoveries is especially clear in that second play, where he serves as a ball recycler and keeps the Toros in attack on the edge of the area. The passes are safe, but they constantly shift the point of attack, and they’re only possible because Coronado is consistently in the right position to do the job.
Coronado Fits: Pittsburgh, where he’d be a more conservative Marc Ybarra replacement; Memphis, who don’t have a proven USL defensive midfielder in the squad
Christian Pinzon legitimately took the league by storm on loan with RGV in late 2022, scoring seven goals in seven matches to spearhead a hot run of form that led to a postseason berth. Pinzon was signed on a permanent deal that winter and had a solid if unspectacular 2023, ranking in the 68th percentile for expected assists and the 80th for touches as a hyper-involved but somewhat less self-starting winger and No. 10.
Tantalizing kernels of potential are obvious when you see the 25-year-old at his best. Pinzon has a knack for timing his runs and is fearsome when he can run at defenders. You see him finish at the far post in the first clip above, whereas the other two clips are examples of the former Toro’s supreme confidence.
The next example highlights slick ball control, with Pinzon receiving a cutback, feinting, and turning on a dime to slot home a slick finish. On the wing in the final play, he gets on the end of a switch, tucks onto his stronger right foot, and absolutely slams a shot home. In the right team, Pinzon can be a sparkplug.
Pinzon Fits: Detroit, where he wouldn’t demand a massive salary and would provide heretofore unseen scoring on the wing
Last but not least, Ricky Ruiz is the do-it-all complement to Pinzon’s scoring. A natural winger comfortable on either side and not bad in an offense-first wing back deployment, he boasts years of good returns with RGV (see seven assists in 2022) and the Chattanooga Red Wolves.
27 years old, Ruiz nearly hit 2,000 minutes in 2023 and put up something like seven expected goals and assists despite a conservative deployment. He drew fouls at a 98th percentile rate amongst all wide players and actually won the second-most duels of any RGV player despite standing just 5’6”.
You see Ruiz turn on a dime after cutting inside in the first example, slicing and dicing in tandem with a winger to forge a look on net. He’s playing as a No. 10 there, a position that he has the technique to fulfill even if the wing is a more natural spot given Ruiz’s somewhat diminutive frame.
The dribbling skills hinted at in his foul-drawing numbers are on display in the latter clips. Ruiz dives hard from the right flank to the center of the park in the middle example, forging a shot for himself. In that last play, he interfaces with an overlapping teammate, displaying that headiness and knowledge of defensive momentum excellently to tee up a cross. Ruiz has the goods.
Ruiz Fits: Indy, who may actually need wide players with Mark Lowry out; Tulsa, as depth at wing back and maybe a change of pace up top
There are plenty of other solid picks from the corpse of the RGV squad. Tyler Deric is a perfectly solid netminder. Eric Kinzner has potential as a versatile defender. Tomas Ritondale could be a very good left back somewhere in the near future. You’ve already seen Wahab Ackwei head to Colorado Springs, Jonathan Ricketts go to Sacramento, and Christiano Francois join Loudoun.
It’s no fun to see a club fall apart, but you’ve got to hope for the best for the actual humans that made the organization tick. The Toros had plenty of talent in 2023, and I’d expect to see their best pieces make moves soon enough.