1. AQM and Walton were not 5 stars. Also helps when you play on a team full of top 100 kids, does it not? This line of thinking is what i think @DTP was referring to in his post above. We overrate our players and when they don't perform to our expectations we call it development
2. I see you left out Artie who was a first rounder on that list, but i digress. Let me ask you this, Who in your mind should have been first round picks out of all the players drafted that wasn't a first rounder due to lack of development:
2020
Round: 4 / Pick: 140 - LB Shaq Quarterman (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Round: 4 / Pick: 144 - RB DeeJay Dallas (Seattle Seahawks)
Round: 5 / Pick: 176 - WR K.J. Osborn (Minnesota Vikings)
Round: 7 / Pick: 242 - DL Jon Garvin (Green Bay Packers)
2019
Round: 4 / Pick: 119 - DB Sheldrick Redwine (Cleveland Browns)
Round: 5 / Pick: 158 - CB Michael Jackson (Dallas Cowboys)
Round: 5 / Pick: 165 - DL Joe Jackson (Dallas Cowboys)
Round: 6 / Pick: 181 - DB Jaquan Johnson (Buffalo Bills)
Round: 6 / Pick: 204 - RB Travis Homer (Seattle Seahawks)
2018
Round: 3 / Pick: 67 - DL Chad Thomas (Cleveland Browns)
Round: 4 / Pick: 107 - TE Chris Herndon (New York Jets)
Round: 4 / Pick: 112 - RB Mark Walton (Cincinnati Bengals)
Round: 5 / Pick: 139 - DL RJ McIntosh (New York Giants)
Round: 6 / Pick: 210 - WR Braxton Berrios (New England Patriots)
Round: 7 / Pick 242 - DT Kendrick Norton (Carolina Panthers)
2017
Round: 1 / Pick: 29 - TE David Njoku (Cleveland Browns)
Round: 4 / Pick: 113 - DB Rayshawn Jenkins (Los Angles Chargers)
Round: 4 / Pick: 152 - CB Corn Elder (Carolina Panthers)
Round: 5 / Pick: 180 - OL Danny Isidora (Minnesota Vikings)
Round: 6 / Pick: 196 - DE Al-Quadin Muhammad (New Orleans Saints)
Round: 6 / Pick: 215 - QB Brad Kaaya (Detroit Lions)
Round: 7 / Pick: 219 - WR Stacy Coley (Minnesota Vikings)
Round: 7 / Pick: 229 - CB Adrian Colbert (San Francisco 49ers)
Round: 7 / Pick: 240 - FB Marquez Williams (Jacksonville Jaguars)
2016
Round: 1 / Pick: 25 - CB Artie Burns (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Round: 4 / Pick: 124 - S Deon Bush (Chicago Bears)
3. Do you think it is a coincidence that 2 of our most athletically gifted kids over the last 5 years were our only 2 first round picks?
4. Do you think our kids leaving a year early, therefore skipping another year of development, to be a late round pick is player development? Those decisions, while hard to quantify, have an impact of where a kid is drafted. If our juniors stayed maybe we'd have more 2, 3, 4 round and less 5, 6, 7 rounds too.
If you want to say we need to recruit better, i think EVERYONE would agree.
I think the disappointment of our highly recruited players that don't work out is what people remember too often.
Not enough credit is given to guys that far exceeded their recruiting ranking, even if they were late round picks.
We have plenty of overachievers, and how much can be attributed to player development is debatable. But I will say I can't remember anyone ever saying "I really credit Coach A for developing Player B".
Here's where our 2016-2020 were drafted in relation to their recruiting ranking. Again, plenty of overachieving that gets overlooked IMO.