Best Defensive players by Season Rating in J1 League

The best defensive players in J1 League, ranked on Field Insider.

Best defensive goalkeepers in J1 League Best defensive defenders in J1 League Best defensive midfielders in J1 League Best defensive attackers in J1 League Best players in J1 League Most in-form players in J1 League

At a glance

S. Nakamura of Sanfrecce Hiroshima is the standout for raw talent across players in J1 League, with a Field Insider Rating of 57, and R. Kojima has been the form player this season, grading 71.6, and Léo Ceará leads the scoring with 21 goals.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: R. Kojima has improved his Season rating most, up +58 on last season, while G. Ota's scouting Rating has risen fastest, +10.3 over the same span. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, T. Hayakawa of Kashima is the most valuable name in this group at 22.8.

Kyoto Sanga · 24/25→25/26

Most improved

R. Kojima+58SsN

Kashiwa Reysol · 24/25→25/26

50 players · ranked by best defendersCustomise →

	Player	Team
1	T. Koga Centre-back	Kashiwa Reysol	27	69.2	69189.5%	504.6%
2	H. Taniguchi Centre-back	Tokyo Verdy	26	56.6	5779.1%	4811.6%
3	H. Araki Centre-back	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	29	53.8	5488.1%	3913.2%
4	W. Harada Full-back	Kashiwa Reysol	30	52.4	52110.4%	3312.1%
5	S. Sasaki Full-back	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	36	50.6	5124%	220.5%
6	N. Ueda Centre-back	Kashima	31	50.1	5016.8%	3416.4%
7	G. Shōji Centre-back	Machida Zelvia	33	46.8	474.5%	2515.8%
8	R. Handa Full-back	Gamba Osaka	24	45.5	4666.1%	577%
9	T. Yamakawa Centre-back	Vissel Kobe	28	44.8	4513.7%	4417%
10	M. Høibråten Centre-back	Urawa	31	44.3	4435.9%	3117.6%
11	D. Okamura Centre-back	Machida Zelvia	29	43.9	448.4%	3811.1%
12	G. Sakai Full-back	Vissel Kobe	35	43.4	439.6%	1810.7%
13	I. Drešević Full-back	Machida Zelvia	29	43.3	4317.2%	3523.2%
14	T. Shiotani Full-back	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	37	43.1	437.5%	1529%
15	B. Nduka Centre-back	Yokohama FC	30	43	4368%	3320.4%
16	Danilo Boza Centre-back	Urawa	28	42.5	4381.6%	4330.6%
17	R. Koike Full-back	Kashima	30	38.3	38790.7%	335.4%
18	K. Nagato Full-back	Vissel Kobe	31	38	38151.7%	2911.6%
19	J. Sumiyoshi Centre-back	Shimizu S-pulse	28	38	38331.8%	3914.4%
20	H. Ishihara Full-back	Urawa	27	36.7	3749.8%	4411.4%
21	D. Tagami Centre-back	Fagiano Okayama	33	35.3	35330.5%	215.9%
22	Matheus Thuler Centre-back	Vissel Kobe	27	35.3	3524.4%	4520%
23	K. Hayashi Defensive midfielder	Machida Zelvia	25	34.9	3536.8%	544.6%
24	S. Nakatani Centre-back	Gamba Osaka	30	34.6	3513.3%	3424.5%
25	D. Fukazawa Centre-back	Tokyo Verdy	27	34.2	34185%	3911.1%
26	Y. Maejima Full-back	Avispa Fukuoka	28	33.2	3312.2%	3617.5%
27	Y. Tatsuta Centre-back	Fagiano Okayama	28	32.7	33341.9%	381.3%
28	K. Nono Full-back	Kashima	24	32.4	3219.8%	5311.8%
29	M. Ito Centre-back	Yokohama FC	33	32.4	32200%	1813.3%
30	Y. Suzuki Centre-back	Kyoto Sanga	33	32.3	3225.2%	244%
31	S. Fukuoka Centre-back	Gamba Osaka	30	32.3	3219%	3321.7%
32	H. Sugai Full-back	Kyoto Sanga	27	32.1	32767.6%	4713.1%
33	Kim Tae-Hyeon Centre-back	Kashima	25	31.4	3178.4%	527.6%
34	A. Fukumori Full-back	Yokohama FC	33	31.4	3185.8%	1738.1%
35	K. Shimbo Full-back	Yokohama FC	23	31	31	51
36	K. Yamazaki Centre-back	Yokohama FC	30	31	3120.2%	2725.5%
37	S. Hasukawa Centre-back	Shimizu S-pulse	28	30.9	31483%	3812.8%
38	K. Anzai Full-back	Kashima	31	30.7	3125.5%	2732.6%
39	A. Sasaki Full-back	Kawasaki Frontale	26	30.6	3132.5%	508.6%
40	K. Kurokawa Full-back	Gamba Osaka	29	29.7	3019.3%	3723%
41	Y. Miyamoto Centre-back	Kyoto Sanga	26	29.4	2918.5%	50±0%
42	S. Fujiwara Full-back	Albirex Niigata	30	29.2	2936.9%	3126.6%
43	M. Tashiro Centre-back	Avispa Fukuoka	33	29.1	2937.3%	1842.2%
44	T. Shichi Centre-back	Avispa Fukuoka	32	28.9	29750%	2014.4%
45	Y. Suzuki Full-back	Shonan Bellmare	32	28.9	2926.6%	2426.9%
46	K. Sato Full-back	Kyoto Sanga	26	28.6	2917.2%	473.1%
47	T. Kamijima Centre-back	Avispa Fukuoka	29	27.7	2824.2%	3225.1%
48	S. Takagi Full-back	Shimizu S-pulse	24	27	27	51
49	Diego Defensive midfielder	Kashiwa Reysol	30	26.8	271.1%	2926.5%
50	T. Deng Centre-back	Yokohama F. Marinos	29	26.4	2627.5%	3123.9%