Emptying the notebook: Best interactions with 2024 NFL draft prospects

From the Senior Bowl to the NFL scouting combine, here are some of the best quotes from a handful of draft prospects in this year's class.

One of the best aspects of the draft process is picking the brains of prospects. Whether it’s at the All-Star circuit or the NFL scouting combine, being able to ask questions about schemes, skill sets, or a player’s journey remains an unmatched, yet critical part in putting the pieces together of the NFL draft. It gives you insight on why teams may like a player, their personality shines through more times than not, and it’s an escape from teams diving deep into their pasts, medical history included.

When I cover these events, most of the interviews I conduct never see the light of day, as my primary focus is talking about prospects who may interest the Philadelphia Eagles for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Past that, though, there’s my own vested interest in particular players, and outside of the questions about who players have met with and how those meetings went, I enjoy picking prospects’ brain to learn more about their usage at the college level and traits they display that stand out.

After combing through dozens of interviews across the Senior Bowl and combine, here are my five favorite interactions from the draft process with the first-round of the 2024 NFL draft less than 24 hours away.

Ennis Rakestraw Jr., DB/Nickel, Missouri

Prior to the scouting combine, Rakestraw was receiving late first-round buzz, with clear speed, athleticism, and the ability to challenge wide receivers at the line of scrimmage and the catch point. He’s a bit on the smaller side though, and has played over 100 snaps at nickel each of the last two seasons.

At his podium, I asked him about the differences between playing as an outside corner vs. nickel, plus navigating the “trash” when trailing wide receivers over the middle of the field on crossing routes.

“I feel like a good technique of a person running the mesh route for me is the tailpipe [technique]. It's something you've got to work in practice and you got to be in the hip pocket of the receiver but that's why we're taught to go under it, because you'll get rubbed a lot on the over routes, that’s why I hurry up and get glued to the hip right away,” Rakestraw explained of defending those routes. “And don't undercut it until you’re close enough to undercut the man right way and correctly or make the quarterback lift the ball and make the quarterback make the perfect throw… don't know give him any easy access.”

I started as a nickel, gaining trust from my teammates accountability and as I speak now, it’s the number one thing I wanted to do when I got to Missouri, then I was a gunner on special teams, then I worked to corner.” Rakestraw added of his ascension in college. “In the nickel for me, it’s kind of like in the NFL because the hashes are so much tighter, everything’s pretty much [going] into the field. So even in the boundary going towards the field, I learned to have great spacing and great leverage and that’s what helps me at nickel.”

Rakestraw finished No. 57 on my Big Board and was my No. 8 ranked defensive back.

Troy Fautanu, OT/OG, Washington

One of my favorite offensive linemen in this draft class, Fautanu is a nimble and athletic linemen who plays with a physical edge. His violent hands, ability to climb and block second-level defenders, and skill as a pass protector who mixes up his pass sets to keep rushers off balance makes him an easy to project prospect who can play at tackle or guard.

I had a fantastic back and forth with him at his combine podium, asking about his snatch-trap move, his development under offensive line coach Scott Huff and more. But two answers he gave me stood out most: moving in space and who he compares himself to.

“I feel like that's something that just really separates me is that my ability to move out in space, whether that's pulling on like a counter play or getting out on a screen or just simply blocking somebody out in space one on one,” Fautanu said of his athleticisim. “I feel like that's where I excel. That's where I think, is one of my strongest like attributes as a player for sure.”

“Personally, I like to watch for Rashawn Slater from the [Los Angeles] Chargers. I just think that me and him are kind of built the same, me and him have similar size. For me, I kind of watch him just because it always feels like he's always in control of everything he does. He's never outside of his body,” Fautanu said of the Chargers left tackle. “And other guys I watch are Penei Sewell. He's got that dog in them. And I feel like that's something that I got. And it's something that I can bring in any team and last but not least, Laremy Tunsil, man that dude’s a technician dude, he does everything the right way.”

He’s my third overall tackle and 12th on my big board. Depending on where he goes, I can see Fautanu becoming an All-Pro and becoming one of the league’s premiere pass protectors in a few years.

Jaylin Simpson, Safety/DB, Auburn

One player who I kept going back to his film to watch more was Auburn’s Simpson, who has a knack for closing on the football as if he was a defensive back, and he was early in his career. Playing safety for the Tigers, Simpson is just 179 pounds and he’d be an outlier even as a safety, which is why I see his path shaping up more as an outside corner or nickel in the NFL.

I got a chance to catch up with him after the first Senior Bowl practice in Mobile, and he broke down what he focuses on pre-snap when facing wide receivers one-on-one.

“I look at what's in front of me and I try to ID formation and whatnot. I just read the receiver as he comes off the ball,” Simpson told me. “But I do like to know, to kind of help myself out that I've gained over the past few years, is that offenses can’t run too many different plays, so I just try to remember a lot of things and just ID what I see in front of me.”

One of my favorite Day 3 values, Simpson checked in at 115 overall for me, and my 9th ranked safety.

Christian Haynes, IOL, UConn

From his dominance as a run blocker on his college film to his outstanding Senior Bowl performance, Haynes went from a potential Day 3 selection to firmly being in early Day 2 conversation. In UConn’s biggest games against Tennessee and NC State, he was at his best; on Days 2 and 3 of Senior Bowl practice, he consistently stonewalled defensive linemen.

What has been most impressive about him is his football IQ, attention to detail, and ultra confidence in his preparation. He has also built a nice relationship with Oklahoma tackle Tyler Guyton, who he trained with leading up to the Senior Bowl and combine.

I asked him during Senior Bowl media day about his approach to blocking defensive linemen with different skill sets and pass rush arsenals.

“I watched a lot of film before coming up here and just seeing ‘Okay, what does this guy like to do a pre snap?’ And then just seeing what their alignment is,” Haynes explained. Am I going to be in a short set is gonna be a short set or be in a longer set, are angled? Just seeing different things, it’s really gonna tell you what they're going to do; I just stayed poised, and stay patient… Don't get overhyped over the name or the school. Just play you and be yourself and be confident in your game.”

Haynes came in as my 43rd overall player and third rated offensive guard in the class.

Javon Solomon, EDGE Troy

In a class that’s top heavy in pass rushers, there’s not many guys I like more than Troy’s Solomon, who earned a 4th/5th round grade for me. At 121 on my big board and 13th rated edge rusher, Solomon is a player who I am betting on to be productive at the NFL level, possessing 33⅞-inch arms despite measuring in at the combine at 6-1, 246 pounds. He’s still too low on my own board for my liking.

The nation’s leader in sacks (16), despite playing at the 4i spot for Troy, plays with tremendous power and leverage, using his levers to get under the pads of offensive linemen. As good of a player he is on the field, he’s an even nicer person off-the-field, allowing me to speak with him for 8 minutes at the Senior Bowl’s media day.

He took me through how he sets up his pass rush plans and what goes through his mind as he’s preparing to get after the quarterback.

“It's all about film, it's all about what you see other guys do that works and how you can build off of it and try to do it better. So when you go into a game you look at a tackle and wonder, you have to let them know that you’re there control the game as much as offense controls what's going on,” Solomon explained. “Whether that is trying to bring power, now he can't just sit down on you because he knows you’re gonna try to run through his face, but then that's when you go around him. You're kind of playing the game. It's a big game going on, but it's a lot of finesse going on when you're trying to pass rush in a way that that adds a lot of versatility to you.”