Designating who was successful immediately after a draft’s conclusion can be a foolhardy proposition. In many cases, we won’t know who “won” or “lost” until years after the fact, when many late bloomers finally start to pan out, project players either sink or swim, and underrated prospects make a name for themselves.
But these kinds of exercises aren’t entirely fruitless. We assign pole positions to some franchises because some draft outcomes are apparent.
