He's definitely a late bloomer with a somewhat interesting career path. He was drafted by the Timbers in 2014, but was cut. He signed with the Sounders who loaned him out to their USL team, but was cut after the season. Then NYRB signed him to a USL deal in 2016, he won USL defender of the year, and has been a mainstay for their MLS defense ever since.Good for him, but is there any reason to be excited as a fan regarding a 25 year old getting his first USMNT call up? Is he a late bloomer? Or is he just depth, and won't really be needed once games that matter roll around?
I have a hard time seeing him ever being one of our top two CBs, but we do need to build out the depth chart because of potential injuries, suspensions, and also we'll need a bigger CB depth chart if we decide to use a three-man backline.
Long is definitely a quality MLS center back at a time when those are hard to find — it feels like the investment in attackers has outpaced the investment in defenders over the last couple of years. For me, he's the exact sort of player where you can't get mad if he's called up, but you also can't get mad if he's not.
One last thought: I've become a bit suspicious of the NT viability of MLS CBs who are paired with another above-average MLS CB. For example, at NYRB both Tim Parker and Aaron Long are good; possibly "on-the-US-depth-chart" good. But sometimes being a solid player paired with another solid player makes both look a little better than they actually are and neither makes it at the NT level. Let's call this the "Hedges-Zimmerman Effect".