10 potential breakout players for the 2018 MLS season

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FRISCO, TX – JUNE 27: FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon (22) looks to pass the ball during the game between FC Dallas and Colorado Rapids on June 27, 2017, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, TX. (Photo by George Walker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

3. Reggie Cannon, FC Dallas

FC Dallas’ historic collapse last year occurred for a multitude of reasons, a subject we won’t dive into too much today, but one of the most important was a stagnant group of players. New blood didn’t arrive, so malcontents and ill-fitting players festered as the club dropped points every week. This never should have happened to a team with the youth resources that Dallas have.

One could reasonably worry about whether these problems have been sufficiently solved for 2018, but one new Homegrown player is sure to contribute in 2018: Right-back Reggie Cannon seems to have won the starting job in preseason. Cannon, 19, started in the CONCACAF Champions League and played well.

He’s played exactly one career MLS minute — a brief cameo at the end of a September 2017 draw against the Red Bulls — just barely qualifying him for this list. A solid defender who is comfortable on the overlap, Cannon will play on a backline of Matt Hedges, Anton Nedyalkov and Reto Ziegler. Here’s hoping he keeps the starting job over Maynor Figueroa and Atiba Harris.

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