I think most of us on here believed he was going a regular member in our Best 22 when we got him in the trade period as that extra big-bodied midfielder in the lineup, but somehow didn't seem to work out and outside a couple of games in 2020, hasn't really set the world on fire for us.
Was a bad decision by our behalf to get him from Adelaide, to be completely honest, no it really wasn't by the club because even though he hasn't been that regular member of our AFL team, he didn't cost a whole heap for us (via draft-hand/cost) to get him and helps provide that mature depth with Mathieson in the midfield of our VFL side and helps develop the next future crop of midfielders stuck in the reserve levels for us (Robertson, Sharp, T.Berry, E.Smith, etc). Without Mathieson & CEY in that midfield of our VFL for us as such, we would basically having 1-2 year players in the midfield for us all the time and that wouldn't be overall good for their development at all without those experienced players helping them with their craft.
The other thing as well that we have to remember is that if CEY was part of our Best 22 constantly throughout the past 2 years, someone like Robertson would have be missing out on constant AFL level footy and therefore could have requested a trade back home to WA for greater opportunities as a result in the future, given the fact Robertson will have a MUCH higher ceiling in the future at AFL-level (in terms of ability and skills) compared to CEY and would get really good offers from Fremantle & West Coast to play for them in their midfield.
So of course it would have been nice for CEY to be Best 22 for us but at the same time, it isn't the biggest problem in the world having him and the other mature/fringe players (Lester, Cockatoo, Mathieson, etc) play in the VFL team and hopefully help and develop the next generation of players at our club in the long-term future for us, while young superstars like Robertson, Prior & K.Coleman continue to gain crucial minutes in the AFL to be crucial players for us in the future as well.
Like Fagan always says to us in the media every year though: Players win Matches - Squads win Premierships
I am not sure most saw him as part of the best 22. Personally I saw him most likely as a top 25 or so player who could come in and provide solid minutes when needed. He did have potential to be best 22 on a best case scenario and his big body made him a punt worth taking. At worst I saw him as a big body in the reserves that would help the younger mids develop by taking the physical pressure off them.
I didn't have any issue with us picking him up as I thought he would be a nice squad player. It has not worked out like that and the length of his contract looks bad in hind sight.