Why was Captain Picard sent to the USS Stargazer after graduating?
When he was described as one of the academy’s brightest students?
shareSo where should he have been sent? And, btw, the Stargazer wasn't his first posting. That was the likely the Reliant. He didn't go to Stargazer until several years later, and was the Helmsman. He didn't take command of Stargazer until the Captain was killed. There was a nine year gap until he took command of Enterprise.
All of this is from various episodes, so its as canon as you can get.
You seem to think that because a graduating cadet is bright or brilliant they are automatically assigned to the most prestigious ships. That won't often happen. New ensigns have to be seasoned, regardless of how brilliant they are. Like most kids, and a new ensign is a kid, likely, for humans, about 22 or 23, is likely to be either cocky or dangerously uncertain about themselves. They need to mature to become decent officers.