The 2021 edition of the MLS Draft is set to go ahead on January 21.

This despite the fact that all but a handful of college programs played in the fall, which predominately featured ACC teams and a few others.

MLS announced a list of 176 players eligible, which featured an interesting group of names. Included in it are players that competed in the 2019 college season, but went on to sign contracts with USL Championship or League One teams. It's unclear how exactly that will work, as it will be dependent on each player's contract and whether or not that they structured to let them leave for a training camp opportunity for an MLS shot.

As an example, Josh Bauer signed a deal with Birmingham Legion, but a source confirmed that it is structured to allow him to compete for a spot on an MLS team. The other players to watch in this scenario are all included in the TDS Top 50: Joshua Penn (Indiana), Daniel Steedman (Virginia), Nicky Hernandez (SMU) and Aedan Stanley (Duke). At the very least, players like that could have their MLS rights drafted at some point.

Three Generation adidas signees were also introduced, as Philip Mayaka, Calvin Harris and Daniel Pereira make the jump from ACC programs. All three will require international roster spots, but could develop into quality players in the league. Surveying the talent pool, there's not a Daryl Dike-level talent in the mix either -- none of these players jump out as potentially attracting interest from overseas teams. Andrea Ueland could potentially join the GA class prior to next week's draft.

Below is the Top 50 rankings for the draft, compiled in consulation with The Soccer Syndicate.

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