• Draft trumps: Insider access to this year's gun prospects
• Who were the top performers at this year's NAB AFL Draft Combine?
THE EVENNESS of this year's NAB AFL Draft pool means clubs will head to the Gold Coast confident they can address a need with any pick in the first round.
The draft crop of 2014 has long been recognised as a strong one.
However, apart from the first handful of selections, likely to include Christian Petracca, Paddy McCartin and Angus Brayshaw, clubs are still working through the available options in the first round.
Many clubs still have four or five options at their respective selections, and will go to the draft in Queensland later this month comfortable choosing any of the players, such is the even level of performance across the season.
"You can have confidence that you'll be able to get a player you really like with any pick in the first round. There's a little bit there for everyone," said one recruiter.
"It's certainly the most open first round I've seen. I can't remember one like it."
Even the No.1 pick is yet to be decided, with Petracca and McCartin still under consideration for St Kilda.
Greater Western Sydney's three selections – pick four, six and seven – will go a long way to shaping the rest of the first round, particularly given Collingwood has already committed to using pick nine on father-son prospect Darcy Moore.
Of the midfielders, Jayden Laverde, Liam Duggan, Paul Ahern, Jarrod Pickett and Jordan De Goey are all in contention as top-10 selections, while Corey Ellis and Lachie Weller won't be far off.
Part of the difficulty in ranking this year's first round of prospects comes due to the hard-to-assess form of the taller players.
While injuries stopped McCartin from a commanding season, the strong-marking and burly key forward was still dominant in the games he played. But Peter Wright, Sam Durdin and Hugh Goddard showed indifferent form at stages, while Jake Lever missed all of the season with a knee reconstruction.
Caleb Marchbank has also played minimal footy over the past two seasons due to back and knee injuries, meaning clubs will need to judge their performance against that of the midfielders who, on the whole, put together more consistent seasons.
St Kilda, Melbourne, Collingwood, Greater Western Sydney, Essendon and Gold Coast all boast multiple selections inside the first round of 21 picks.
