Back in January during the run-up to the MLS SuperDraft in Chicago, the chatter about the usefulness of a college draft as a means of building an MLS franchise fired up once again.

As usual, the draft's detractors and skeptics were outspoken, citing the prominence of in-house academies and other development pathways in addition to the allure of choosing one of those options overseas.

Off to the side of that conversation was the FC Cincinnati brain trust. They trumpeted the draft's importance for thier purposes as they had no academy or in-house development pathways.

Don't expect to hear FC Cincinnati complain about the SuperDraft next year or anytime soon based on how 2019's draft class has worked out so far.

In a 2019 season that's seen FC Cincinnati face significant personnel deficits, the club's been richly rewarded for doubling down on the draft and for its diligence in identifying college prospects.

Philadelphia Union traded all of its picks to Cincinnati, which already had picks of its own including the No. 1 overall selection. Again, the skeptics and critics piped up.

The trade was viewed by some as a statement from Philadelphia on the viability of the draft in modern-day MLS/

FC Cincinnati happily took the picks and have used them to buoy a struggling first-year side.

The club opted to select Frankie Amaya at No. 1 overall, Logan Gdula (No. 13 overall), Tommy McCabe (No. 29), Jimmy Hague (No. 30), Ben Lundt (No. 37), and Rashawn Dally (No. 49).

Of those picks, only goalkeeper Lundt hasn't spent time with FC Cincinnati during the MLS regular season.

Amaya's become a fixture in FC Cincinnati's starting XI in addition to a hit with fans.

Ahead of FC Cincinnati's match on Saturday against Houston Dynamo, Rashawn Dally's made two straight league starts.

In theory, Hague, a goalkeeper, exists on Cincinnati's roster as the third option at his position. In practice, though, he's made a number of dress lists comparable to that of presumed No. 2 goalkeeper Przemysław Tytoń.

When both players are healthy, there's little question that Tytoń will dress over Hague, but Hague's acquitted himself well enough for the club to see fit to continue dressing him.

"I think it's very good. I'm happy. They stepped up," interim head coach Yoann Damet said during a Tuesday news conference. "We give them opportunities to play and they took them... I'm very happy with the performances of the rookies."

McCabe, whose MLS debut came in last weekend's 7-1 loss at Minnesota United FC, was the latest strong showing by one of FC Cincinnati's debutant rookies.

Gdula also made his first dress list for the Minnesota match after being recalled earlier in the week from his loan at Hartford Athletic.

Amaya and Hague have been in Cincinnati all season while the others were loaned out.

The loan spells proved to be crucial proving grounds for the likes of Dally and McCabe.

"The USL was a good bridge between them being in college and them being here with us right now," Damet said. "So, I think it gave them some minutes, some experiences in a different environment. I think it was a good way to get one step higher."

That's the extent of FC Cincinnati's development pipeline as its in-house offerings continue to be built out, including its first and much-anticipated academy teams.

The pipeline as constituted today has proved to be more than enough to help the club, too.

At a time when seemingly everything about FC Cincinnati's approach to building its inaugural team has been questioned, probed or outright mocked, the 2019 MLS SuperDraft class is paying immediate dividends.

Some other newsworthy happenings from around the Mercy Health Training Facility in Milford:.

• The practice fields were bursting with activity and players on Wednesday, especially when compared to last week when the club's ranks had thinned to an all-time low.

After not filling out a complete match roster due to injuries and international duty for two consecutive weeks, 17 field players were present and participating in training on Wednesday.

Among the recently returned players were Kendall Waston and Allan Cruz, who rejoined the FC Cincinnati camp Tuesday.

Roland Lamah and Fanendo Adi arrived later during the 15 minutes when media could view training. Both players have missed multiple weeks due to hamstring injuries.

Lamah wore running shoes while Adi wore soccer cleats. It's unclear if they'll be available for Saturday's home match against the Houston Dynamo.

• Waston on Wednesday discussed the ongoing CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which he, Cruz and fellow FC Cincinnati teammates Alvas Powell and Darren Mattocks (Jamaica) participate.

Costa Rica crashed out of the competition last weekend. A loss to Haiti in the final match of the group stage put "Los Ticos" in the undesirable position of facing regional power Mexico in the first round of knockout matches.

Mexico advanced past Costa Rica on penalty kicks. Haiti proved its group-stage triumphs weren't an accident and plowed forward to meet Mexico in the semifinals.

There, the Haitians lost to Mexico on a penalty kick in extra time.

Curacao, the Dutch Caribbean island nation, also narrowly lost to the Americans, 1-0, in a knockout-stage match and missed its chance to turn the tournament upside down in the same fashion as Haiti.

Waston said the overall strength and depth of the CONCACAF region has been on display throughout the Gold Cup.

"Everything has been more equal now," Waston said. "Everything is getting harder and... at the end, it doesn't matter where you play or (if) they don't have any professional league, for example, like in Curacao. But at the end, you see they have great players."

The Gold Cup continues at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday with the United States-Jamaica semifinal. The winner advances to play Mexico in Sunday's final.