These are the collegiate players FC Cincinnati will be watching ahead of the MLS SuperDraft

Pat Brennan | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption MLS All-Stars react to FC Cincinnati acquiring Fanendo Adi Following the 2018 MLS All-Star Game, multiple players reacting to United Soccer League side FC Cincinnati's acquisition of noted MLS goalscorer, Fanendo Adi.

Is it too early to be thinking about Futbol Club Cincinnati's draft prospects for the 2019 Major League Soccer SuperDraft? Eh, probably.

The majority of the college players FC Cincinnati will consider for the draft have only just recently opened preseason camp, so there's not much to analyze and scrutinize about this coming season's crop of draft prospects.

And while FC Cincinnati might have already formulated some kind of rough outline for a SuperDraft strategy, things change.

Trade or other opportunities could present themselves and, basically, there's no telling at this stage where FC Cincinnati will actually end up drafting. Maybe they won't draft at all and instead will trade away the rights to their SuperDraft picks, although they're currently slated to have the No. 1 overall selection at the 2019 SuperDraft in Chicago.

Basically, there's a long way to go before we get to the point where prognosticating can be done in an effective and meaningful way.

What is appropriate at this time in terms of evaluating the draft landscape is widening out your view of NCAA Division I men's soccer and surveying the ranks of players FC Cincinnati will likely be examining throughout the autumn and early winter months.

The Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) always offers a good starting point for novice college soccer fans in terms of which programs and players to watch with its annual watch list for the Hermann Trophy, the highest individual honor presented annually to the top male and female NCAA Division I soccer players.

The watch list was released last week and helps cull the massive herd of college players down to those most likely to receive top consideration for the MLS Combine and SuperDraft.

Like a lot of MLS personnel rules, the SuperDraft isn't as straightforward as drafts are in other leagues simple because soccer affords young talent many avenues into the professional ranks.

Last year, MAC Hermann Trophy winner, Jon Bakero of Wake Forest, participated in the MLS Combine and entered the draft. He was eventually picked by the Chicago Fire with the No. 5 overall selection. Pretty straightforward stuff, and not unlike the path that's taken by athletes in other sports in America.

But the two Hermann Trophy winners that preceded Bakero – Ian Harkes (2016, Wake Forest) and Jordan Morris (2015, Stanford) – managed to bypass the SuperDraft.

Another caveat is that the watch list is based on the prior season, so few underclassmen are highlighted.

In 2018, the No. 1 overall SuperDraft pick was Joao Moutinho, a freshman out of the historically-strong Akron Zips program. In addition to being a freshman, he was selected four picks ahead of Bakero.

So, the eventual Hermann Trophy winner doesn't necessarily need to be on the watch list.

The watch list might not hold all the answers, but it's a good starting point for those interested in following the SuperDraft closely and how FC Cincinnati will continue to build its MLS roster.

The 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy watch list

(Name - class year, position, school (hometown))

Joris Ahlinvi - Junior, M, Florida International (Saint-Aubin des Bois, France)

Mertcan Akar - Junior, GK, Old Dominion (Cologne, Germany)

Nathan Aune - Senior, D, Seattle (Arlington, Washington)

Jakov Basic - Senior, M, Massachusetts-Lowell (Zagreb, Croatia)

Tucker Bone - Senior, M, Air Force (Granite Bay, California)

Niklas Brodacki- Junior, F, Central Arkansas (Norrkoping, Sweden)

Antonio Bustamante - Senior, M, William and Mary (Springfield, Virginia)

Drake Callender- Junior, GK, California (Fair Oaks, California)

Kyle Clinton - Junior, D, Georgia State (Havant, England)

Alex Cosmia - Senior, D, North Carolina (Vancouver, B.C.)

Mark Forrest - Senior, F, Lehigh (Douglassville, Pennsylvania)

Allen Gavilanes - Sophomore, F, Marist (North Plainfield, New Jersey).

Brandon Guhl - Junior, F, Butler (Houston, Texas)

Andrew Gutman - Senior, D, Indiana (Hillsdale, Illinois)

Jimmy Hague - Senior, GK, Michigan State (Walled Lake, Michigan)

Jack Hallahan- Junior, F, Michigan (Redditch, England)

Erik Holt - Junior, D, UCLA (San Diego, California)

Jean-Christoph Koffi- Senior, M, Virginia (Potomac, Maryland)

Daniel Krutzen - Senior, M, Albany (Lanaken, Belgium)

Janos Loebe - Senior, F, Fordham (Kierspe, Germany)

Brendan McDonough - Senior, D, Georgetown (Matthews, North Carolina)

Zac McGraw - Junior, D, Army-West Point (Torrance, California)

Garrett McLaughlin - Junior, F, SMU (Edmond, Oklahoma)

Benji Michel - Junior, F, Portland (Orlando, Florida)

Rey Ortiz - Junior, M, Portland (Acapulco, Mexico)

Elliott Otmani - Senior, F, Rider (La Ciotat, France)

Santiago Patino - Senior, F, Florida International (Orlando, Florida)

Brian Saramago - Junior, F, Loyola Maryland (New Hyde Park, New York)

Andrew Shinyashiki - Senior, F, Denver (Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Davis Smith - Sophomore, F, Massachusetts (Amherst, Massachusetts)

Jonny Sutherland - Senior, GK, Clemson (Chester, England)

Faouzi Taieb - Junior, D, UC Santa Barbara (Marseille, France)