EVERYONE can recall exactly what pick Brisbane selected Logan Morris at. Joel Freijah is another steal at pick No.45. But don't discount Archie Roberts when it comes to the best value pick of the 2023 Telstra AFL Draft. 

After earning All-Australian selection playing for Vic Metro and playing in premierships for the Sandringham Dragons and Haileybury College that year, Roberts slid across both nights. 

Most recruiters had him in the 15-30 range, most likely a late night one pick. Almost every club interviewed him at the Combine. But he tumbled.

Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd coached him in school football and implored his old team to take him. After picking Nate Caddy at No.10, the Bombers then selected Western Bulldogs Next Generation Academy product Luamon Lual at No.39. With their third and final pick at No.54, Roberts was still available. 

The half-back played the first 14 games in the VFL in 2024, but since being picked to make his debut against Fremantle in round 21 that season, Roberts has played 32 games straight. 

In that time, the 20-year-old has been one of Brad Scott's most reliable performers.

Last year, Roberts finished second in the Crichton Medal behind six-time winner Zach Merrett and sixth in the Telstra AFL Rising Star, where playing for a team that finished the season with 13 straight losses hurt his chances of polling more votes. 

This year, Roberts has risen to another level across the first six rounds, averaging 30 disposals per game (equal seventh in the AFL) at 76.2 per cent kicking efficiency, 5.4 rebound 50s (No.12) and 510.6 metres gained. 

Roberts amassed a career-high 42 disposals – six days after setting his previous personal best of 37 on Easter Sunday – 15 marks, 11 intercept possessions, nine rebound 50s and 658 metres gained, becoming the youngest ever Bomber to touch the ball 40 times in a game.

He also became the third player ever to amass 40-plus disposals, 15-plus marks and 10-plus intercepts and the third player ever to have 25 touches and 10 marks in a half. 

So how does Roberts compare to his draft class?

Morris is the only premiership player drafted in 2023. He has two medals at home after playing an important role in 2024 after being selected at pick No.31 before starring in 2025, when he booted 53 goals to stamp himself as a star of the present and a superstar of the future. The 21-year-old plays his 50th this weekend and already has 85 goals to his name.

Harley Reid (pick No.1) has been on the back page of the paper more than the rest of this class combined. Last year he finished third in the John Worsfold Medal, but he is starting to emerge as a premier midfielder in year three. 

Dan Curtin (No.8) and Connor O'Sullivan (No.11) both finished top five in the 2025 Rising Star after impressive second seasons in the AFL, while Colby McKercher finished seventh in the Syd Barker Medal last year and Nick Watson is exploding right now, showing why he was the shortest player ever taken with a top-five pick. 

The Western Bulldogs selected Bailey Dale at pick No.45 in 2014 and he is a two-time All-Australian. They used the same pick on Freijah almost a decade later and right now he is averaging the most rating points per game from the 2023 crop. 

Lawson Humphries is slightly older than this group after making his debut at 21, but since late in the 2024 season, the West Australian half-back has become a lock under Chris Scott and enhanced his status in the game in AFL Origin in February with his polish off both feet. 

Hawthorn also selected Calsher Dear at pick No.56 as a father-son pick and have found a long-term player. The young key forward has already stood up in big finals, but has started 2026 out of the senior team due to the stack of keys at Sam Mitchell's disposal.

Essendon didn't nail many of its picks between 2017 and 2022, but it has struck gold with its final pick in the 2023 draft. Cale Hooker is the best player selected at that pick in the modern era, but Roberts is chasing him now.  

Those close to Roberts believe being a draft slider has driven him to succeed. Now he looks destined for a long career, despite being taken at a pick that has averaged just 33.5 games in the history of the draft.