It’s almost a yearly tradition – comparing the newest crop of draftees to stars past and present. 

That's the task Champion Data has carried out in the 2017 AFL Prospectus, using their data to come up like-for-like players in the AFL. 

To do so, Champion Data uses information about how each player is involved in games.

There are three key areas – statistics, the area of the field each player is in (either defence, midfield or forward) and the state of the game (either forcing a turnover, at a stoppage, or in general play).

These comparisons were carried out before the JLT Series, and the first look at draftees in the AFL system after a pre-season.

Champion Data player comparisons, National Draft 2016

Jy Simpkin: Luke Breust and Charlie Cameron
Declan Watson: Jeremy Laidler and Dylan Roberton
Josh Williams*: Billy Hartung and Brent Harvey
Nick Larkey: Rory Lobb and Tom Boyd
*Yet to play

Simpkin has flashed glimpses of his immense potential during his two pre-season games. Described as ‘the boy with the dancing feet’ by AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan, it was on show against Hawthorn and the Giants.

Declan Watson and Nick Larkey, key position prospects at either end of the ground, also got their chance against quality opposition earlier in the JLT Series.

How accurate will these Champion Data player comparisons turn out to be?