MELBOURNE recruiting boss Jason Taylor says the Dees will simply take the best available talent with the club's No.5 and No.9 picks at this week’s Telstra AFL Draft, regardless of the type of player they are.

The Demons picked up a second top-10 pick in this year's draft after engineering a pick swap with Essendon during the Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period in October, sending their 2025 first-round pick to Essendon in exchange for the Bombers' No.9 selection.

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Instead of looking at getting a variety of players with their picks, such as selecting one midfielder and one key-position player, Taylor says talent will overrule the position the player plays.

"This year we're heavily focused on best available talent," Taylor said on Gettable Draft Countdown on Monday.

"Over the journey we've sometimes looked at need, but this year we've decided to just pick the best talent."

The likes of powerful midfielders Finn O'Sullivan, Harvey Langford, Sam Lalor, and athletic intercept defender Alix Tauru could be on the table for the Dees at pick five, but Taylor said he hasn't wasted too much time trying to predict which players could still be available.

"You think you've got a fair handle on it, but you can do your head in worrying about it," he said.

"I've softened a bit this year ... it doesn't do you much good."

The Demons have taken two first-round picks in three of the past five national drafts and will do so again this year.

Taylor says adding two more top young talents to a young group that already includes first-round draftees Caleb Windsor, Koltyn Tholstrup and Jacob van Rooyen can help keep the club in the premiership window.

"I think it's critical to a successful list build," Taylor said.

"I was listening to (Brisbane recruiter) Steve Conole earlier on your show and he mentioned about (getting) a group of players in one particular draft.

"Our boys are back this week and you can just see how close that young group is and the more layers you can add onto that quickly can really drive standards and drive harmony, and really strong teammate-ship."

However, Taylor said the club would take a "case-by-case" approach to playing its first-round draftees in season one, citing the different paths trod by Windsor and Tholstrup in their debut seasons.

Windsor played in round one and strung together 19 successive matches before suffering an ankle injury, while Tholstrup managed 10 games after a debut in round five, before playing nine of the last 10 matches.

"You've got to be cautious with new draftees and where they are at physically… a little like last year's players, where Caleb played from the start, really, before he got injured," Taylor said.

"Koltyn was a little bit slower to progress, just learning about his body, and got going towards the end."