Scouting young players with so many variables at stake is a tough business. Accurate talent assessment is perhaps even tougher.

We do our best, but there’s no doubt it’s an inexact science. Pulling apart what makes a great young player great and what contributes to one who might flame out earlier? A difficult ask in even the best of circumstances, but there are glimmers and flashes of light that can give indications. A threaded through pass featuring incredible vision here, a heady recovery on the flank to deny a goal-scoring opportunity there and you’ve got the foundations of a pre-professional resume.

That’s something we do every day here, and in this series I’m peeling back the curtain a bit on the process.

This is the first installment of a recurring series I’ve titled Scouting Report. In each series, I’ll take one of our top-ranked players and take you through four key categories of what, in my estimation, makes him a bonafide pro prospect. Each time I’ll cut along four categories: technical ability, soccer IQ, physical attributes and potential and assign an F to A rating.

Our first player up to the examination table? LA Galaxy academy fullback John Hilton. You might know him more colloquially as Xuxuh.