You don't have the same expectations buying a honda as you do a ferrari.

Perhaps if you compare it to Little League. I would expect more from the first player drafted in a Little League baseball draft than the last few left.

On the other hand, you should have similar expectations if you are making the comparisons in a top professional league where everyone is an elite athlete. McLaren-Honda has a similar level of competitiveness as Ferrari in Formula One, do they not?

Draft status expectations are media and fan biased. Coaches undoubtedly have far more access to the individual athletes and see them as such. Individual athletes. They shouldn't care when, where, or how a player was acquired. They should only want the best performer available to them on the field.

BS.

Then why have rounds at all?

Why not draw names out of a hat instead??

Because it wouldn't be a "draft".

I "expect" many players picked high to do well. I also "expect" some not to do well. Same with all rookies whenever they are acquired. Each team selects who they hope to be the best for them when their turn arrives in a draft. They hope their pre-draft evaluations are correct, but there is no guarantee and no one will know how it turns out until later. "Later" varies greatly from player to player, however, it seems.

Nothing is a guarantee. In fact most 1st rounders probably don't pan out.

They're still considered a wasted pick.

Period.

That is an absolute. No guarantee, for sure. Nobody knows what to "expect" until until the eventual success or failure is realized. That sometimes takes several seasons.