During my almost 20 years of covering the NFL, I have been fortunate to cultivate numerous sources and establish deep friendships. One person who finds himself in the middle of that Venn diagram is an NFL scout that used to patrol the same college sidelines I did when I was a local sports reporter in Buffalo. That working and personal relationship grew to the point he now gives me a few minutes right before each draft to pick his brain with my random questions and takes. Why this close to the draft? According to him, all the hard work is done. That conversation happened Wednesday morning. Here are my biggest takeaways:

Fill up on the Gluttony of Guards

• I asked what position group has the chance to surprise us with the most talent when we look back at this draft in a few years. His answer was guard, with a caveat that the guys we currently think of as G/T combos mostly end up lining up on the interior of the offensive line. He doesn’t name names, but there are several guys currently seen as both that fit this description:

1. Peter Skoronski, Northwestern
2. Cody Mauch, North Dakota State
3. Andrew Vorhees, USC
4. Ryan Hayes, Michigan

• He added that there are a few guys we are penciling in at center that could easily become starting guards as well. The names that came to mind here are:

1. Olu Oluwatimi, Michigan
2. Steve Avila, TCU
3. Luke Wypler, Ohio State
4. Jarret Patterson, Notre Dame

Plethora of Pass Catchers

• I asked, what position would you most likely wait on in this draft. This answer/conversation was the bulk of our chat. Whether it is wide receiver or tight end, he loved the idea of waiting outside of round one for WR and round three for TE. It was obvious from our talk that we agree Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba is WR1. The line that stuck out to me the most was that in this draft he would rather have three darts to throw picks 50-150 to take a WR than one dart in the first round that isn’t JSN. I followed up with, “Is there a WR draft this one reminds you of,” he said the 2019 WR class, not in the style of WRs, but in how much talent could come from the mid-rounds. I went back and looked. That draft was loaded at WR from picks 50-150.

via Pro Football Reference

• The conversation around TEs was very similar to that of WRs. The one big difference was that he believes the mid-round guys are going to be very team specific. For the Bills, the names that popped to mind were: 

1. Luke Schoonmaker, Michigan
2. Tucker Kraft, South Dakota State
3. Zack Kuntz, Old Dominion

Meat in the Middle

• Our chat inadvertently focused a lot on offense, but I did ask where he thought defensive tackles would go in this draft. He worried that once one of the “second tier guys go, the dam is broken.” The first tier is one guy, Jalen Carter of Georgia. So, who could be in that late first, early second group to get sucked up in the tide?

1. Bryan Bresee, Clemson
2. Mazi Smith, Michigan
3. Calajah Kancey, Pitt
4. Keeanu Benton, Wisconsin

Jack in the Box

• For the sake of BillsMafia, I did ask one question about a specific player and that was to give me a sentence about Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell. The reply was short and sweet when it comes to what Buffalo needs. “He has a motor for days, and his intellect is even better than his engine. If you’re in the market for a stand-up, off-ball linebacker, you could do much worse than Jack Campbell.”

2023 NFL Draft Injury Impact: Iowa LB Jack Campbell

Wishbone Wildcard

• I asked, what is the wildest thing you think could happen in this draft that would stun those of us outside of the NFL draft community. He didn’t disappoint in saying that, while it isn’t likely, it also wouldn’t shock him if more running backs went round one than wide receivers. This was the last question I asked, so it was after we had already established that JSN is a level above the rest of the group, and he views the next crop to have a high upside. If we agree that Texas’ Bijan Robinson is going in the first, you would need at least one more guy to make this scenario a reality. The most obvious answer is Jahmyr Gibbs from Alabama. If two WRs went in round one, you’d need a third RB to come off the board, and that is a tough one for me. There are only a few names that intrigue me as possibilities:

1. Zach Charbonnet, UCLA
2. Devon Achane, Texas A&M
3. Tyjae Spears, Tulane

Obviously, this is all just conjecture at this point, and how the board unfolds will tell the story of how each player/position is selected. That said, it is fun to get a little insight from inside the room on an NFL team this close to decision time.