[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Shadow Knows

NFL teams don't just draft on talent, they draft on immediate position need and scheme suitability, so Mel Kiper's attempts to divine who'll be taken with which pick is entirely separate from his own assessments of players' platonic talent level. OSA's analogue isn't Mel Kiper, it's the organizations that run the NFL combine. Its function is to grade players, not forecast who will draft them.

Even if one essentially fanwanks that OSA is actually supposed to be a stand-in for Baseball America or something, it can't even be said to portray that correctly. Because baseball teams don't draft for immediate position need or employ wildly divergent personnel schemes, the eventual draft order correlates quite well with the aforementioned platonic talent rankings. This is evident by looking at BA's pre-draft rankings.

When 99% of the world rates Johnny Fastball in the top 20, Grizzled Scout will not see the 96-MPH heater and sharp slider everyone else sees and think "garbage." He may rate Johnny 33rd overall, but he will not peg him as a 33rd-round talent. There isn't unanimity, but there *is* consensus. The game should capture that.

This. Plus, I like the use of "platonic" here.