Why the mistakes in professional drafting?

"Successful drafting? It's all about volume" -- Bill Barnwell/ESPN

There's plenty of time to gather information from as many people as a general manager wishes to contact, as much videotape as ever could want to be viewed, various 'tests' as well as in-person interviews -- so why are there so many 'failures in drafting' in the NFL as well as NBA?

It seems reaching because of need can't be the primary or solitary reason (unless a general manager is doing so with every selection which seems doubtful).

The answer: call it the you-don't-know-what-you-have-selected-until-he's-signed-and-in-camp" syndrome. Despite trying to learn everything there is available to know, there remains so much to be determined. Gauging competitive fire and reaction to adversity is an 'inexact science' if you will as is how someone will react when hundreds of thousands of dollars are suddenly in his bank account.

Plus, there's not only determining who has room to grow in body and skills versus who has maxed out as well as who will put in the time and effort in attempting the reach of full potential.

There simply isn't a science to it. It can't be worked out in a lab or on a super computer. Call it the human factor, the immeasurable, on both ends of the equation for which no algorithm can be determined.

Professional drafting is similar to that of signing high school and junior college recruits to four-year schools but a lot less money, methods as well as meticulous effort go into the latter. Yet that works out about the same, too.