There could be an argument out there that young players in MLS took a step forward in 2018.

Whether it was the sale of Alphonso Davies to Bayern Munich, or the increased influence of domestic youngsters in the league, the tides are shifting in the North America domestic league. Youngsters like Chris Durkin, Jaylin Lindsey, Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty, Aaron Herrera, Brooks Lennon and Chris Mueller were all among the players to see decent minutes last year.

Previous MLS Top 50 Prospects rankings: 2018 | 2017

That was in the back of our mind in coming up with our annual assessment of top 50 Homegrowns and signed draft picks entering the 2019 season. With the MLS calendar starting anew this weekend, there is no better time to run the rule over the league's best and brightest up-and-comers.

Simply put, which ones are the best? And what makes them great? When all is said and done, which one has the potential to be the best pro?

Over the course of the week, we're rolling out 10 top players per day counting down from No. 50 to No. 1 on our list. The rubric is simple. To be considered for our top 50, players need to be born in 1996 or later, been signed to the league via either the Homegrown mechanism or through the draft and have played 500 or fewer minutes of first division soccer.

Bottom line, with this list, we're taking stock in the next wave of talent.

Be sure to check back here throughout the week as we update this page up until the start of the 2019 MLS campaign. And for your reference, we've included our player pool of 50 on this page.

Top 50 Rankings: Nos. 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1

Just Missed: F Santiago Patino (Orlando City), M Michael Baldisimo (Vancouver), F Andre Shinyashiki (Colorado Rapids) M Aidan Daniels (Toronto FC), D Matthew Real (Philadelphia Union), M Anthony Fontana (Philadelphia Union), D Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids), F Brandon Vazquez (Atlanta United), M/F Ema Twumasi (FC Dallas), F JJ Williams (Columbus Crew), D Tristan Blackmon (LAFC)

2019 Top 50 MLS Prospects

Brenden Aaronson

Ayo Akinola

Efrain Alvarez

Frankie Amaya

Isaac Angking

Theo Bair

Jon Bakero

Cole Bassett

George Bello

Tajon Buchanan

Gianluca Busio

Handwalla Bwana

Andrew Carleton

Mathieu Choinière

Simon Colyn

Cade Cowell

Omir Fernandez

Jesus Ferreira

Tyler Freeman

Matthew Freese

Gilbert Fuentes

Justin Haak

Siad Haji

Matthew Hundley

Aboubacar Keita

Jean-Christophe Koffi

Cameron Lindley

J.T. Marcinkowski

Erik McCue

Benji Michel

Benjamin Mines

Callum Montgomery

Trey Muse

John Nelson

David Ochoa

Noble Okello

Donovan Pines

Paxton Pomykal

Justin Rennicks

Bryan Reynolds

Thomas Roberts

Miles Robinson

Dayne St. Clair

James Sands

Joseph Scally

Brandon Servania

Mason Toye

Julian Vazquez

Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal

Eryk Williamson