And I do understand your original point about expecting more from a first round pick. To justify where we took him, he is either going to have to achieve the heights as a small forward that Eddie or Cyril have reached, or he has to be able to go into the midfield.
I read once on a Melbourne Football Club forum a guy saying that you should never spend a first round pick on a small forward. His belief was that that type of player can be found later in the draft, if not the rookie draft (he was referring to Aaron Davey at the time). I think he was right, and Butler/George support the theory.
Strongly disagree with both your points. Betts and C.Rioli 2 of the greatest small forwards of all time, certainly in the modern era. Unfairly high marker. If our Rioli is half as good as either of those guys he'll have a wonderful (and justified) career.
You should spend your first round pick on the best available talent and draft to your needs. Aside from the fact that we actually badly needed a small, crumbing forward at the time how about you have a look at the players taken around (our) Rioli's pick. He's miles ahead of them at this stage:
1 15 Daniel Rioli Richmond North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup
1 16 Harrison Himmelberg Greater Western Sydney Mangoplah-CUE RFNL Academy player; Adelaide's bid matched with picks 48, 50, 55 and 59[128]
1 17 Tom Doedee Adelaide Geelong Falcons TAC Cup
1 18 Jade Gresham St Kilda Northern Knights TAC Cup Traded from Sydney
1 19 Ryan Burton Hawthorn North Adelaide SANFL Traded from North Melbourne
1 20 Brayden Fiorini Gold Coast Northern Knights TAC Cup Traded from Fremantle
1 21 Ben McKay North Melbourne Gippsland Power TAC Cup Traded from Brisbane Lions; received from West Coast
1 22 Kieran Lovell Hawthorn Tigers FC TSL
1 23 David Cuningham Carlton Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup Traded from Richmond; received from Gold Coast; received from Greater Western Sydney via a trade in 2012; received from Fremantle in 2011; compensation pick from 2011 (Palmer)
2 24 Ben Keays Brisbane Lions Brisbane Lions NEAFL Academy player; Western Bulldogs' bid matched with Brisbane's next pick[128]
2 25 Josh Dunkley Western Bulldogs Gippsland Power TAC Cup Traded from Carlton; father-son eligible (son of Andrew Dunkley), but Sydney did not match bid[128]
2 26 Kieran Collins Western Bulldogs Dandenong Stingrays TAC Cup Traded from Carlton; received from Brisbane Lions
2 27 Darcy Tucker Fremantle North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup Traded from Gold Coast
2 28 Luke Partington West Coast Norwood SANFL Traded from Sydney; received from Essendon
2 29 Alex Morgan Essendon Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup Traded from St Kilda
2 30 Mason Redman Essendon Glenelg SANFL Traded from Melbourne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_AFL_draftPerhaps Gresham and Burton are at his level.