This week’s Homegrown Watch, which profiles a selection of the academy’s most promising future MLS talent, is focused on a pair of defenders with first team bonafides and a contest winner plying his trade outside his catchment area. If you’re interested in building from the back, this week’s HGW is up your alley.

D Jackson Farmer, Vancouver Whitecaps

On Feb. 17, the Whitecaps rolled out their first ever WFC2 signings. There were only three on the initial player swoop, and Farmer was among them. The Whitecaps have done an admirable job building through one of the league’s only true residency academies, allowing players to stay with host families and subsidizing their stay as one might expect from a college scholarship. In Carl Robinson, the senior team has a coach willing to prioritize that development to create a visible pipeline from an academy that’s routinely one of the league’s best to a first team that’s gotten increasingly younger.