I'm always a bit suss of articles written by anonymous journos, Monty, and that's probably because if you scratch the surface it doesn't quite stack up.
Regardless of how Adelaide got some of their players in, Jenkins was taken at pick 13 (1st round) by the Peptides, Jacobs No. 1 in the rookie draft and Eddie Betts pick no.3 in the PSD by Carltank. Brad Crouch was via a mini-draft deal with GWS and would have likely been a top 10 if not top 5 pick - similar to O'Meara & Hogan - in a 'normal' draft.
Granted, they have done well with the rookie & pre-season drafts but we've been pretty successful in that space too (Sandi, AAJohnno, Duffman, Creepy, DeBoer, Barlow, Spurr). We, however, made a GF without much high end (draft) talent and from memory, only Pav & S.Hill were top 10 draft picks.
But for all their drafting 'success' the Crows have not won anything yet (McClelland Trophies in 2005 & 17 notwithstanding) or even played in a GF since 1998.
And for every Hugh Greenwood there's a Craig Moller. So luck plays a part too.
Don't get me wrong, they're a strong team and after the tragedy of losing their coach the way they did - most (including me) wouldn't begrudge them climbing the mountain in Walsh's honour. Particularly if it's at the expense of 9thmond.
But bear in mind they've only ever had one Prelim in Adelaide - and they lost that to Wet Toast in 2006.