The Bombers have struggled to find a permanent small forward in recent seasons.

They may choose to address the vacancy later in the draft, or hope the rapid development of Irish recruit Conor McKenna continues its trajectory.

But if they use a second round pick on a small forward, Daniel Rioli would be an excellent recruit.

He’s a talented player who showed glimpses throughout the season.

His Draft Combine results were excellent.  He won the 30 metre repeat sprints, finished top five for the 20 metre sprint and clean hands test and was in the top seven for the three kilometre time trial.

“He came home with a bit of a flash towards the end of the season,” Draft expert Callum Twomey said.

“He performed well on Grand Final day in the curtain raiser for the Allies.  Then he had a great week at the NAB AFL Draft Combine and also before that had kicked four goals for the North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup. 

“He’s shown across the year that he can play as that small, crafty, creative forward.  Obviously the blood lines are exceptional, he’s got some of that toe and zip that Cyril (uncle) does.”

Daniel Rioli could prove to be a handy second round pick.

Ryan Burton also has a bit of x-factor but his form is harder to get a read on.

After playing SANFL football in 2014, the teenager was struck down by serious injury this season.

When fit he’s a 191-centimetre player with a good aerial game.

“Ryan is a confident young player who has unfortunately missed a lot of footy over the last two years,” Twomey said.

“He’s been out for about 13 or 14 months with a badly broken leg and a knee problem which he hurt in August 2014.  He hasn’t played since then but his recovery is going well. 

“I think if he had have stayed fit throughout this year, he would have been talked about as a top five pick.  I think he’s shown enough to be picked in the top 30 picks, it’s just a matter of which club takes a little bit of a gamble.”

Ben McKay is a key defender who would complement Essendon’s existing tall defensive stocks.

“He can take a grab down in defence - and I’ve seen him dominate a couple of games at centre half back - but he can also shift forward,” Twomey said.

“He’s tough, really likes taking the game on and likes crashing packs.  He’s nicknamed ‘Buckets’.  The Bombers have lost a guy nicknamed ‘Buckets’, maybe he’s a possible replacement.”