The development of young players, in any sport, is a crap shoot. That is the phrase that is often attributed to the NFL draft — and any other draft, for that matter.
But even in sports that do not typically have a draft, the same principle of not knowing which young talent will produce prominent and constructive players persists.
Take football in Europe. Chelsea currently have 29 players out on loan. Much has been made of their rather egregious loan policy, but their plans are smart ones. Chelsea’s thinking is simple: young players are cheap to buy and pay, why not acquire as many as possible on the off chance that one or two develop into stars, thus increasing our odds of finding the talent that translates to the senior game.