MAKE it official – Bailey Smith is the recruit of the year so far. And the second-best recruit is his replacement.

Smith's arrival at Geelong from the Western Bulldogs has been met with every type of fanfare possible, but it has been driven by the midfielder's performances, which has him among the mid-year Brownlow Medal favourites.

AFL.com.au has ranked the new recruits at their clubs based on AFL Player Ratings, only including those who have played a minimum of three games at their new club.

That leaves 24 recruits being ranked according to the Player Ratings, which has Smith on top with a 15.7 score. That is clearly the best Player Rating of his career, beating the 11.8 ranking in 2021 when he blitzed in the Dogs' finals series.

But next in line is Matthew Kennedy, who the Dogs landed on the final day of the trade period as part of the four-club deal that saw Smith head to the Cats, Jack Macrae go to the Saints and Kennedy arrive at the kennel.

The former Blues and Giants midfielder is rated just slightly below Smith at 15.6, with Macrae then coming in next with a 14.6 rating, his best output since 2021.

Big-name Fremantle signing Shai Bolton is placed in fourth position on his rating, while West Coast pair Jack Graham (fifth) and Liam Baker (ninth) are also in the top-10 of the best performed recruits this year.

Adelaide duo Alex Neal-Bullen and James Peatling have held up their end of the bargain as recruits, while Carlton's Nick Haynes has overcome a shaky start to life at the Blues to be ranked as the eighth best recruit of 2025 so far. The ex-Giants defender's 10.7 Player Rating is his best since 2016.

Hawthorn made a huge splash in last year's trade and free agency window with the signings of Josh Battle and Tom Barrass, but both are ranked outside the top-10 recruits this season and are both down on their Player Ratings from last season.

Blue-turned-Eagle Matt Owies ranks lowest of the group (AFL Player Rating of 4), with new Giant Jake Stringer (4.9) just ahead.

The best value trades or free agents need to take into account the deals – both in monetary terms and what the club gave up in deals – but purely from a statistical point of view, Smith, Kennedy and Macrae are leading the way.

Order only includes recruits who have played at least three AFL games at their new club