Because you started fairly late in last season, you didn't have much scouting information.
that should be incorrect. BB adds some info for teams that arrive later on...
I recall getting a decent amount of info when I started playing, and in fact the scouting I did was already going towards the next season, so normally I shuold have gotten any info at all. Last season, for which I did scout the entire season, I got as much, or maybe a little less info.
So it is in my belief that BB gives teams who didn't had a chance of scouting properly a scouting of 10k/week, for the weeks they where not in the game yet, to prevent an unfair situation during the draft.
The original player has been through the draft last season - so he knows how much information he had (whether or not that was "not much" or a "decent amount").
I started toward the end of Season 2, playing the final 3 regular season games. I had not found the scouting setting until after the draft list had been prepared.
In season 3, I had 10k early on, but then dropped that back to 5K, and I had about same amount of information as Season 2 - so the default may be 5K/week.
For a team in a league with a lot of bots or inactive teams, 5K is probably sufficient. You'll know of several 5's, and with other teams picking randomly likely to get a couple.
On the other hand if you spend a lot more so that you know not only which is a 5, but an A+, and his position, and you draft 16th, someone else is going to blunder into him.
This season with a filled league (and more revenue from a higher division), I've bumped my investment to 10K. Currently I would have the 15th pick, so I might bump it up to 20K. Simply to make sure I get a 4 or 5 for my 1st round pick.