Drafts

I know it is more complicated than this but, in a nutshell:

In baseball, even the best have to wait years before they are drafted and/or signed as amateurs before they play in the majors...if even.

In football, you go right to the highest level or, generally, get cut.  Yeah there is Canadian football or an indoor league or even a few outdoor leagues but, basically, no organized minor league system.

In hockey, if I have this right, you get drafted and then some people make it right to the highest level but most have to pay their dues before getting called up.   Still, it is probably shorter than in baseball.

In basketball, which is why I am thinking about this tonight, maybe 20-25 guys per year get added to the NBA.  although they draft 60.   The rest get stored in the developmental league or play abroad.

So, to me, it looks like football is the top place to be if you want to go right from school to the highest level.  Maybe this is because the attrition is so much greater in football so there is constant turnover that doesn't exist in other sports.   I mean, in the NBA, maybe 1/12 of a team's roster, on average, consists of a guy drafted that previous year.  Not a lot of opportunities.

When the NFL is talking about 6th round draft picks maybe making a team and the NBA is saying the 35th highest draftee is likely going to play in a developmental league, that is saying something.  And baseball? Fa-get-aboud-it.