EXCITING forward Chris Yarran heads Carlton's draft class of 2008, but coach Brett Ratten is confident every player selected will bring something special to the club.

Yarran was widely touted as one of the most talented players in the draft pool and Ratten was delighted to snag the youngster at six before further bolstering the club's running stocks with Mitch Robinson, Rhys O'Keefe and Caleb Tiller. 

"The kids that we've brought to the club are very exciting for us. We've added a lot of run to our group and a lot of class as well," Ratten said.

"We took the point of view that we wanted the best kid there at six and talent-wise we thought Chris was nearly at the top of the tree. He has so much class, but also from a needs point of view we thought we needed another dangerous forward, whether he was tall or small, and hopefully he can pull a few people away from Fev.

"From a needs point of view we covered a lot of areas and we've got a pre-season pick."

Recruiting manager Wayne Hughes agreed Yarran would add plenty to the Blues' forward mix, but said his talents didn't stop there.

"I've been watching him for three years now; he's a very dangerous forward, but we think he'll turn into a midfielder," Hughes said.

"He's had a few injuries, but when he's really fit he looks to be a quick inside midfielder who uses the ball beautifully. You could make a case for a lot of players in this draft to be the No.1 player picked today and Chris would be in that category."

Popular pre-draft opinion had the Blues dialed in to going after a tall defender, Vic Metro's Michael Hurley was often mentioned as a target, but key position prospects were overlooked entirely.

"We thought Michael was a very good player and maybe if Chris was gone we might have taken him, but we've got a few tall defenders who we've put a bit of time into in Mark Austin and Paul Bower," Ratten explained.

"So maybe we have to back a few of our own to grow and stand up. Michael Jamison's only 20 so hopefully those boys can stand up and we can also be a bit more dangerous in our front half."

The availability of Robinson, a prolific ball winner who won the Harrison Medal at the championships and was named All-Australian, at Carlton's second selection (No.40) surprised everyone including Hughes.

"Everyone always says they're surprised when a player is still there at a certain pick, but we genuinely were surprised [when he was there at 40]," he said.

"He'll be very surprised [we picked him], we hadn't even spoken to him after the draft camp, but we genuinely didn't think that he'd be a player that would be available at 40.

"We'll go and have some time in the Apple Isle and have a chat to his family."

Hughes noted O'Keefe was a half-back flanker capable of playing through the middle with an exceptional kick while Tiller was capable of playing forward or back but, as a 17-year-old, would be given plenty of time to mature.

Ratten remains hopeful of snaring former Demon Chris Johnson in the pre-season draft where the Blues will have pick four.

"I think it would be great if we could get him," he said.

"He's trained with us, he's overcome a hip injury, so he's only trained for the last week with the team, but it would be good if he could stay with the club now."