Analyst/Associate Difference Between Banks

Is there actually any big difference in terms of quality between an analyst from a top group at a good bank versus someone from a not-so-good group at a mediocre bank or from a middle-market bank?

I'm curious how this translates to first-year associates. Are the ones from the good groups/banks better performers initially?
I can't tell much of a difference between analysts/associates from different banking backgrounds (everyone seems sharp), so I'm curious about how others perceive it.

I recently worked with a friend on a model (something not related to our groups), who is apparently a strong performer in his group ,and his model had multiple mistakes and his quality of work was not good (which surprised me). That interaction got me curious on the actual quality of analysts based on bank and group quality and if there is actually a major difference.