ESPN NFL analyst/reporter Adam Schefter joined this week's 'Attack Each day' Harbaugh podcast to discuss the NFL draft and U-M's top prospects in it.
He gave a projection on where he thinks each guy will go, while also explaining the best and worst case scenarios for defensive end Rashan Gary.
Jim Harbaugh:
"As a player [getting drafted], my thought was how I'll have a new city to live in after the weekend. I wanted to make whichever team chose me great, and there was a calmness about that.
"I'm excited for our guys looking to make that journey. They'll have opportunities to be NFL players, and teams will be lucky to have them.
"I've seen our guys working out around the building for the last four months, so it'll be nice knowing what their next path is."
Adam Schefter:
"Gary could go as high as No. 6 to the Giants, but then there are other GMs telling me they need to do more work on him in case he slides to them in the 20s. I would guess Devin Bush will go before Rashan Gary, because that just seems to be the sense I'm getting.
"You could put Gary anywhere though because he has so much upside, and all it takes is one team who likes him.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder — I've had some teams tell me that the guys who go No. 18 through No. 32 will be ones who some teams had second or third-round grades on.
"Players get themselves into the first round of the draft though — I don't believe agents determine where players go, and I think players go where they're supposed to.
"Like I said, Gary could go as high as No. 6 to the Giants, but I don't think he slides much beyond 15.
"Bush goes anywhere between 10 and 15.
"[Chase] Winovich goes bottom of the first round, or early to mid-second.
"[David] Long is maybe a third-rounder.
"[Karan] Higdon is a fourth or fifth-rounder and will make a roster and have an impact.
"I haven't heard much about [Zach] Gentry, so I can't really give a projection."
Jim Harbaugh:
"Quite a few [NFL teams reach out to me about our players]. It's not always the same guy when teams reach out. I can't say I've ever been able to pinpoint where a guy is going to go with teams calling me before the draft.
"My basic thought when teams are here talking are trying to get guys as low as they possibly can, so they can maybe get them in the following round. They're trying to do what's best for their team.
"Rashan runs in the 4.5s and is 280 pounds, and will be drafted in the top-10 — it's comical to me when people think he might not be.
"There are obviously outliers, but guys usually don't slide a huge amount and they go about where they're expected to.
"In 2013 at San Francisco, we wanted to take a corner and narrowed it down to five — and they all wound up being gone when we picked at No. 30 or so.
"It's important to keep your focus and intensity going all three days as an NFL team. There's intense preparation on Day 1, but the next day is game day again. It carries over into free agency acquisitions as well. Those draft rooms get smaller as you get into the second and third day.
"Get someone you really want and believe in, and it's very similar to recruiting — you want to bring in guys who want to be there.
"Some agents overpromise and when it doesn't pan out, someone else usually gets the blame.
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