As NFL scouts flock to campus, Big Ten players seek to catch their eye

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — (AP) — NFL scouts filled an entire row of the Michigan Stadium press box to get a look at some of the top prospects in the upcoming draft when the Wolverines beat Southern California two weeks ago.

The NFL had representatives from 13 teams and three franchises sent two people to the marquee matchup.

The talent evaluators were easy to spot — most had binoculars to get a closer look at players. Some had stopwatches next to laptops, iPads and notepads. Rosters with numbers circled highlighted individuals of particular interest.

The defending national champions have a pair of players, cornerback Will Johnson and defensive tackle Mason Graham, projected to be selected among the top five while defensive tackle Kenneth Grant and tight end Colston Loveland are expected to be first-round picks.

“Yeah, I'm aware of it, but I don’t take too much from that because it's obviously a mock draft for a reason," Graham said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I want to be top five by the end of the season."

Johnson, meanwhile, said mock drafts are a source of motivation for him.

“If I can go No. 1, that's what I want to do,” he said, sitting in Schembechler Hall near a display of Michigan's Heisman Trophy winners.

Colorado's two-way star Travis Hunter, who plays receiver and cornerback, is widely viewed as the presumptive No. 1 pick to kick off the NFL draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 2025. Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders, son of coach Deion Sanders, might be selected second overall.

Candidates to be among the first players off the board include quarterbacks Cameron Ward of Miami, Alabama's Jalen Milroe, Georgia's Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers of Texas. Arizona receiver Tetairoa McMillan and defensive ends James Pearce of Tennessee and Mykel Williams of Georgia are also highly touted prospects.

LSU has a few first-round prospects in offensive tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones Jr. along with linebacker Harold Perkins Jr.

The Southeastern Conference will be shooting to have the most first-round picks in April for the second straight spring and fifth time in six years.

In 2023, the Big Ten matched the SEC's total of nine first-round picks.

The Big Ten has a shot to have bragging rights in the next draft with possibly four Wolverines and a quartet from Ohio State: defensive linemen Tyleik Williams and Jack Sawyer, receiver Emeka Egbuka and cornerback Denzel Burke.

Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter and safety Kevin Winston along with Minnesota offensive tackle Aireontae Ersery have the potential to be picked among the first 32 players.

Michigan's terrific trio on defense gave scouts what they were looking for while Loveland missed the game against the Trojans with an injury.

Grant did a swim move on his first snap to get past USC's right guard and stop running back Woody Marks at the line of scrimmage, and sacked Miller Moss in the second quarter.

Mason tackled Marks on a third-and-1 later in the first quarter, forcing the Trojans to punt, and finished with six tackles to tie for the team high in the game.

Johnson jumped a short pass toward the sideline, intercepted it and returned it for a touchdown against USC. It was his second pick-6 this season and the third of his career, setting a record at a school where Pro Football Hall of Famers Charles Woodson and Ty Law were are among the all-time greats at the position.

Michigan had 13 players selected in the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit. The total trailed just three schools since the event went to seven rounds in 1994, including Georgia's 2022 national championship team that had a record 15 players picked.

Michigan makes every effort to be accessible for NFL scouts traveling to Ann Arbor, allowing them to watch practice film and game film. Director of player personnel Albert Karschnia and other staff members are made available to teams looking to learn more about the kind of people the team’s top players are off the field.

“It’s great for recruiting, but it’s also just great for our kids for them to see (the scouts),” coach Sherrone Moore said. “There’s definitely a motivation, an internal motivation as a player. It’s just like when your family’s watching or you’re playing in a game or you look over there, you see those patches, you see the NFL logo. So you know you’re always being watched and we tell them, but now they always know.”

Johnson would most likely have joined J.J. McCarthy, drafted No. 10 overall by Minnesota, in the first round of that draft if he was eligible.

NFL teams are only allowed to draft players who have been out of high school for three years, a rule former Ohio State star running back Maurice Clarett challenged in a 2003 lawsuit. He was initially ruled eligible by a U.S. District Judge in New York ahead of the 2004 draft and a court of appeals later ruled against him.

Even though players have freedom of movement in the transfer portal era, they still can't enter the draft after their freshman or sophomore seasons.

“Yeah, it crossed my mind a little bit after seeing all my coaches leave and (teams) saying they would take me if I was available,” Johnson told the AP. "I was like, `Man, I’m ready to go.

“I've known it’s always been this way and I want to be here for my teammates. I got some things that I still want to accomplish while I’m here.”

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Follow Larry Lage at https://twitter.com/larrylage

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