If next week's draft had feelings, you would want to give it a hug. All year long we've heard about how weak, shallow and ordinary it is. It's been a rough nine months.

Piecing this list together was challenging because a thin draft often also seems to be an even one. The key generally seems to be how early things open up, and this year they split early.

The top group is good. There's plenty of talent in there and they can do a lot of things well. As always, pushing one or two players up meant letting others slip to a spot that looked way too low.

This isn't a mock draft and, for me, Jacob Hopper and Jacob Weitering have been impossible to separate from start to finish. With Hopper bound for the Giants as an academy player, the Blues are lucky they haven't needed to decide between them.

Hopper gets things started. He is rugged and tough, the sort of player who will burrow his way out of a stoppage with two players hanging off him and still find a way to get the ball away.

Weitering is competitive and able to control what's going on around him, simultaneously. His composure in the contest is something and he looked ready to be playing for an AFL team in April.

Both boys will lead, in different ways. Weitering is perceptive; he sees things. Hopper will carry people with him. Both want to be great and have the drive to go with it. They understand the game, and will do whatever they need to do for their team.

There's a few not far behind them. Callum Mills is one of several top prospects to have missed a lot of footy this year but it's hard to find flaws in him and he did more than enough last year. Plenty of people would have him at No.1 on their list.

Josh Schache is next, and behind his smile is a quiet determination. He wants the ball in his hands, he loves lining up for goal with the game paused and all eyes on him. For good reason: he rarely misses.

Wayne Milera proved at senior level that he is far more than just brilliant. Aaron Francis dominated games. Darcy Parish has evolved, broadened his game and put together two excellent seasons. Eric Hipwood isn't only exceptionally athletic, he wants to get involved in everything. Matthew Kennedy is at ease off the ground and unflinching on it.

From there, it gets tougher. It feels like there are a lot of players in the group - particularly once you get past that first 14 or 15 - who have a quality or two that will get them a chance. They have some clear standout traits that are impressive enough to have a strong chance of holding up at the next level.

Some of them didn't quite squeeze into this list: the quick, competitive Brandon White, the pacy David Cuningham, the tough Bailey Rice and Jack Silvagni, who is really just getting started and who has some handy genes. Alex Morgan, Mason Redman, Callum Moore, Ben Crocker, Aidyn Johnson and Gach Nyuon are among the others who have good/athletic/interesting things to offer.

The question is whether they have enough of everything else they will need, or whether their flaws will end up swamping the good stuff and making it hard for them to make the most of the things they can do very well. And for all their qualities, the same thing applies to this group of 30.

Sam Weideman is a natural forward who attacks the ball, but has been held back by stress injuries for the best part of two seasons. Charlie Curnow can run and run - will he end up in the midfield? Can he end up in the midfield, and if he doesn't, is he quick and tall enough to be a key forward?

Will Josh Dunkley's incredibly hard-working nature help him get a touch quicker and sharpen up his kicking? Rhys Mathieson is as hungry for the ball as anyone in this draft. He wants it, he goes after it and more often than not he gets it. How will he go balancing that honest instinct with being part of an AFL midfield that works to more complicated plans and asks for a little more? Clayton Oliver came home in a hurry. How much more powerful will he be when he gets fitter?

And what of Ryan Burton. Eighteen months ago he looked on track to be talked about in the very top bracket of this draft. He hasn't played since then, suffering a horrible leg injury late in the 2014 season and spending this year working his way through a long rehab program. At what point does what the recruiters have seen of his talent make him impossible to leave sitting there?

These sorts of questions are asked about the players in every draft, and the good thing about an even group is that opinions on individuals can vary so wildly that clubs end up getting one or two players they had ranked a lot higher on their list. There's bound to be plenty of annual disbelief about players reaching certain selections next week, but the best part about this draft might be waiting a couple of years to see which subjective late pick jumps up to surprise everyone.