It is possible to identify candidates with low skills but high potential who can be trained. But most hiring managers are too lazy and incompetent to do this so instead they take the easy route of filtering based on education and work experience. Back in the early days of computing before it was really taught in most universities, IBM used to hire programming trainees based on the results of an aptitude exam. This worked pretty well and a similar approach could still be used today.

I am - on paper - a new grad, but I am [demonstrably] outperforming not only everyone on my "level" in my org, but most at the level above me.

This sector's obsession with YOE as a metric of skill and thinking that nearly every new grad is useless is insulting.