Firstly, great post. I'll answer in dot points to make it easier.

1. I assume you mean 69 games (3 seasons + 3 rounds) and there are more than a few on here calling for Bolts head this season with some even saying they used to believe but now they don't all after 3 rounds of games we would not have been penciled in to win anyway.
2. I hate to break it to you but the rebuild we have done probably makes us less than an expansion team because we have had to do a few things different:
a. We couldn't just get rid of the whole list in one draft because we just didn't have the picks for quality young talent.
b. We had to add discarded players from other clubs to temporarily patch experience holes of the delisted less talented players we had in the hope these discards would support the kids. Some worked some didn't and most have now moved on.
c. We did not have the luxury of the expansion clubs to bring top A grade talent to top up our list i.e. Ablett, Shaw, etc.
d. We did not have extra salary cap space either to do the above.
e. Finally we had to do it over 3 years gambling on fringe and discarded players to help us through the rebuild of the list.
3. Yes we now do have a lot of talent but it is all young and inexperienced. Time will fix this.
4. I can only assume you mean the injuries in the 2017-2018 offseason. It will just mean a 1 year delay in team development hopefully.
5. We had to delist those players, they were not up to AFL standard and unfortunately the upgrades were not either. But when you're on the bottom you have to take risks on these fringe/discarded players. Our list before Bolts and SOS was so bad and shallow it was embarrassing that it was allowed to get this way. Part of it was the Judd, Daisy contracts and a few others that pushed out quality players like Betts etc.
6. I totally agree about the new rules, we're screwed in the middle, a reason why I thought we should of grabbed Barlow as a level head in the middle to help direct the kids and at worst a good player in the VFL. But again that would be another risk.
7. Yes and no on trading our no.1 pick. It might have been a bit of a gamble that both clubs would finish closer to each other on the ladder but I think you'll find it's more that we are going to trade it for an established A-Grade midfielder. Let's hope we have one locked in already.
8. As far as our deficiencies go, yes we do have them but we still have a few key injuries that will address a few of these. But I think they just need more time playing together and more experience in the middle. I'd like to see more of Ed, Murph or even Lang when he returns in the middle to help the kids over the next few rounds.

It's not all doom and gloom yet though. If we are winless by the end of the year with little or no injuries then I'll help raise the white flag with you.

I'm not sure how many players have come back from double ACL's and still had an impact?