ESSENDON'S top pick Andrew McGrath has already made a positive impression on his teammates, according to Bombers defender Mark Baguley. 

McGrath, who became the club's first ever No.1 choice at November's NAB AFL Draft, has identified February's JLT Community Series pre-season competition as his target for debuting for the Bombers. 

And Baguley said the attacking small defender's first month at the club had already shown his capabilities. 

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"He's a super young kid, Andy. He's really polite guy and straight away you can tell he's a classy footballer in the way he moves around the field. He really loves his footy as well so he's great to work with," Baguley told AFL.com.au.

"He comes to training every day and wants to learn, and he wants to play footy early in his career. He's been training well and is a super athlete as well so I think he'll have a good career." 

The Sandringham Dragons product shot up the draft board with a brilliant under-18 season that saw him co-captain Vic Metro to its division one Under-18 Championships title and then star in the Dragons' run to the TAC Cup premiership. 

Before the draft, recruiters viewed him as one of the prospects most likely to be able to step into senior football right away and perform. 

Baguley said it was difficult to know if the club's historic first No.1 choice would be able to break into the Bombers' starting line-up early next year but that the signs were positive. 

"It's hard to tell at the moment – we haven't done much match-play at training just yet. But he looks classy when he's got the ball, he's a nice mover and he's got all the tools to be an AFL player," he said. 

"I'm not sure how early that will happen but I'm sure he'll play some sort of AFL footy in his first season." 

Despite finishing the 2016 season spending the majority of his time as a midfielder, McGrath has been training with the Bombers' defensive group.

Baguley, who was elevated to Essendon's vice-captaincy after 12 of the club's players were hit with season-long suspensions, has watched McGrath closely but won't be overbearing with advice.

"You don't want to swamp him with information. He's got a lot of development coaches to work closely with. But if he's keen to come up to me and ask for help then I'm more than happy to help," the 29-year-old said. 

The Bombers will kick-off the pre-season competition with a clash against Collingwood on Thursday, February 16.