After Brad Guzan was involved in a collision with Luis Abram on July 5 at D.C. United, Jayden Hibbert figured there’d be a chance that he’d step in as a substitute.
But while all signs pointed to Guzan being good to go against Toronto FC on Saturday after surgery to repair a fractured cheekbone, the 40-year-old felt he wasn’t quite ready yet.
Instead, it was Hibbert, the 20-year-old UConn product — and Atlanta United’s first-round pick in the MLS SuperDraft in 2024 — getting the nod for his first MLS start. And any emotions that might be tied to an occasion like this came against D.C., Hibbert said, when he realized the possibility of entering the game if Guzan wasn’t able to continue.
“It was my first time standing up, looking around, and Brad is down (so) it was my time to get to warming up, and I felt it then,” Hibbert said after Atlanta’s 1-1 draw against Toronto.
“Thankfully, that moment happened before this, and I went into this game extremely calm.”
“An even bigger jump”
Hibbert’s time in 2025 has mainly been spent with ATL UTD 2, keeping two clean sheets in 10 starts with the second team. After an injury to Josh Cohen, though, he moved to the first team as Guzan’s backup.
He spent part of 2024 on loan with the USL Championship’s Birmingham Legion, making four appearances.
“It was an extreme moment for me coming back on loan in a league that’s established with older, tenured players. That helped me, of course,” he said. “The bigger part now is the first team environment. We have multimillion-dollar players in the club that are phenomenal. Training habits are great and continue to improve. So that especially corralled me to this moment today to be prepared.”
He credited ATL UTD 2 head coach Steve Cooke and goalkeeping coach Lewis Sharpe for their role in his development, as well.
“From college (to MLS NEXT Pro) is a big jump, and today was an even bigger jump. But they set me up for my future, and that confidence they gave me last year allowed me to play and be the person I am on the pitch there,” he said.
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“Fantastic start”
Hibbert’s only blemish on the night came in the 48th minute, though it could hardly be blamed on him. Deivy Flores got in front of Tristan Muyumba in front of goal and struck home a perfect header from a Matty Longstaff corner kick to put TFC up 1-0.
Ultimately, Hibbert finished with four saves, including in the 79th minute as he turned aside a driven effort by Theo Corbeanu that would have all but iced the game away for TFC.
“Fantastic start, but also the group took very good care of him. He didn’t have too much to do,” Ronny Deila said. “There was a couple of good saves he had, but he has talent and it’s something to build on. This is a great experience for him.”
Another go on Wednesday?
With a short week of training ahead of a match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium against the Chicago Fire on Wednesday, Guzan’s fitness will be a primary point of discussion. But there’s at least a decent chance that Hibbert will make his first home start.
“I’m just waiting to get my name called,” Hibbert said. “I’m ready for whatever decision the gaffer makes at the end of the day for Wednesday’s match.”
Either way, Guzan will be in his corner.
“He’s like an extreme father figure in my life,” he said. “I get so much from him on the pitch. He’s extremely tenured in the game of football. So everything he says, I’m clued in on for sure.”
He played well. We need to play him and the younger player from now on especially in the defense. This is a good time to get them some game experience and let the start building chemistry. Get rid of some of these player that do not move the needle – such as Guzan, Abram, Lennon, and Hernandez. With Hibbert, Cobb, Edwards, Morales and Amador, have Williams come off the bench and get some good young defenders as backups.
With that said – i hated how much negative passing we do. Muyamba, Slisz and #59 does not turn up the field when they get the ball, they give the ball back to the defense every time. We need some creative solid mids. Riley, Fortune and get some better defensive mids and we will be better next year.
Number one thing, having a press resistant DM a la Nagbe. It’s the one thing that opens everything else up offensively. If we can’t do that, we need to create a tactical system that allows a pass to a CDM that immediately goes *sideways* to a player facing upfield, essential using two people to turn up field past the initial press.
Look forward to seeing him in person on Wednesday – if he can continue this level of play (and perhaps more), then GK position is set for years to come.
He should be starting from here on out. We need to play the youngsters to see what we have for 2026. 2025 has already been a lost cause for weeks.
It’ll be interesting to see how Deila manages that. If Deila is in a position where he feels like he’s coaching for his job at this point, he may make decisions in the name of job preservation versus looking beyond this season.
“He’s like an extreme father figure in my life,”
He’s not just old, he’s extremely old.
Said in jest from someone that is older than Brad.
Hibbert definitely played great. Can’t even blame him for the goal since that was due to Atlanta’s inability to defend set pieces. A lot of strong hand saves, which is great to see.
Proud of Hibbert for how well he played in his debut. I still believe that Hibbert is the future of the GK position in Atlanta and should get every opportunity to earn the starting spot in 2026. Between Hibbert, Jonathan Ranson, James Donaldson, and a handful of talented young guys currently in college, our GK pipeline is looking pretty strong.
Hibbert will turn 21 in August and is under contract through 2028 if we pick up all of his options. His salary as a SuperDraft pick keeps him in a Supplemental Roster spot, so he doesn’t count against the cap. If he can be our starter and be at least above average, that is massive value in how we allocate cap space. In 2026, I’d like to see Hibbert as the starter with a couple of older backups who can help him develop. I’d also like to see Ransom under contract with the 2s with an automatic promotion to HGP in 2027 or 2028.