There’s a great stat floating around where they look at the average games, b&f’s, aa’s and then top 5 players from all drafts in last 15-20 years.
Basically, it says 1-5 has a much higher probability of success from 5-10 and then it falls off a cliff from 15.
15-40 are really where recruiters earn their money - it’s a bit like close games where how well the research and then select on the night can make the difference which is why richer clubs are more prepared to swap high first rounders for low second or even high third rounders and then back in their development teams to finish off that work.
I think there an over emphasis on high picks with most premiership clubs nailing the rookie draft in particular or taking players from other clubs with limited opportunities and making them high impact role players
Off the top, Georgie, Bakes, Shorty, Grimes, Nank, Broady, Graham, Pickett and even Soldo are premiership players from being low draft/rookies or traded.
That’s where flags are really won.