NFL Scouts Can’t Bet the Draft — But If They Could...

What league insiders are saying off the record—and how it compares to the market.

Author

Adam Chernoff
April 14, 2025

Bob McGinn has covered the NFL since the 1970s. Each year, he compiles one of the most detailed draft previews anywhere—now hosted on Tyler Dunne’s Go Long. The full piece runs 104 pages and more than 110,000 words, breaking down the top 10–12 players at every position with extensive off-the-record commentary from NFL scouts and executives.

I read the whole thing and pulled out some of the best quotes that overlap with the betting market and summarized them below. These aren't “picks” from scouts, and I’m not implying they’re betting the draft (that would be illegal!). But comparing what they are saying to sportsbook lines offers another data point to help handicap this market.

I highly recommend everyone check out the draft guide. 

👉️ If you find any of these quotes compelling enough to make a real bet on the draft, consider doing so at BetOnline by tapping or clicking here. They have the best availability and limits right now of any sportsbook.

All quotes below are from the Bob McGinn draft guide. Hundreds more are available in it.

Wide Receivers

Hypothetical bets: 

  • Under 2.5 WRs in Round 1 (+200)

“This receiver group is terrible,” said an NFC personnel man. “Absolutely terrible. There’s nothing here. Guys are going to move up a round or two just because it’s a terrible year. A third-rounder is going to be taken in the first, and a fourth-rounder in the second. That’s how weak this group is.”

  • Tetairoa McMillan (WR1)
    “He’s like a lesser version of (Rome) Odunze,” said a fourth scout. “He was a volleyball player in high school, which you can see in his skills. My goodness, he can high-point the ball, contort his body. He’s not a speed merchant, but if he gets even, he can make plays. They catered to him because all their players left (in 2024). He’s a 16-to-25 type pick.”

  • Luther Burden (WR3)
    “He’s a really good slot receiver that can give you some outside,” said one scout, “but with the character, I don’t know how you can draft him in the first round.”

  • Emeka Egbuka (WR4)
    “He’s a solid second-rounder,” said one evaluator. “There’s no flash to him or anything like that. He’s a second or third receiver. I don’t think he’s a go-to guy. He doesn’t make anything wow.”

  • Isaiah Bond (WR5)
    “He’s first-round talent, but combine character and production, and whether he goes there—I don’t know.”

  • Jayden Higgins (WR6)
    “He’s definitely in the second-round conversation.”

Running Backs

Hypothetical bets:

  • Under 2.5 RBs in Round 1 (-140)

  • Ashton Jeanty Under 9.5 (-250)

“Jeanty is the best,” said one executive. “The rest of these guys, just throw ’em in a bag and mix ’em up and take them all. They’re good. Second-round picks, third-round picks. The order is—they’re pretty much all the same.”

“With it being so deep in the third-to-11 range, you’re not going to take the third guy if you value the 11th guy in that same threshold,” said an AFC evaluator. “You can get a guy later.”

  • Ashton Jeanty (RB1)
    “Draft him first overall and you’re not wrong.”

  • Omarion Hampton (RB2)
    “I’m going to sound crazy saying this, but I like him over Boise (Jeanty),” one scout said.
    Another added: “He’s a tough one (to project). He looks the part. I’d see him third or fourth round. I’d be shocked if he went first or second round.”

  • TreVeyon Henderson (RB3)
    “Helped himself at the combine,” said one scout. “Ran pretty fast. He’s really, really well-liked. He’s undersized. Does he run good? Yeah, but people value other positions more than running backs.”
    Another scout said: “I wouldn’t put him in the first, but because his hands are good enough and he’s a big-play threat, I could see him going in the second.”

Tight Ends

Hypothetical bets: 

  • Tyler Warren Over 9.5 (-160)

“Loveland and Warren are 1–2, in either order,” said an AFC personnel man. “The next three are interchangeable depending on your flavor. You could even throw three more in there as starting dudes. The top five could all make an impact right away. There’s a lot of talent.”

  • Tyler Warren (TE1)
    “When people say he’s going in the top 10, I think Kellen Winslow Jr., Jeremy Shockey, Tony Gonzalez,” said a third scout. “I don’t see him that way. I see him more as a Dallas Clark, a Mark Bruener, a Heath Miller. A really solid player.”
    Another added: “He’s not flawless.”
    A fifth scout said: “I don’t see him being a top-10 pick. He’s a little tight. That’s what bothers me. Just a little stiff to be playing in the offenses we’re playing in right now. He’s nowhere near as good as Bowers.”

  • Colston Loveland (TE2)
    “I think Loveland has a bigger upside as a true Y than Warren, but it may not emerge for two, three years.”

Offensive Tackles

Hypothetical bets:

  • Kelvin Banks Under 13.5 (-160)

  • Armand Membou Over 6.5 (-375)

“You go through these rosters,” said an AFC personnel exec, “these linemen are pathetic that are playing in the NFL.”

“This is a mixed bag,” said another. “If you talk to 10 people, you get 10 different orders. There are very few left tackles. There are some very good right tackles, and some tackles that will probably end up playing guard. There’s depth, and a bunch are gonna go because they’re hard to find.”

“There are no Ogdens, Bosellis, Walter Joneses. But in today’s football, these guys go in the top 10, top 15, or top 20.”

  • Kelvin Banks (OT2)
    “He’s not perfect, but he’s got the size and strength to both block in the run game and protect the passer. If he fails at left tackle, he’ll be a right tackle. He has the most value (of the tackles).”

  • Armand Membou (OT3)
    “He’s a hell of a right tackle. Some might think he can play on the left side, but he’s never done it. He’s a first-rounder even though he’s kind of a right tackle only. He’ll be fine at right tackle. I don’t think he’ll ever have to slide inside.”

  • Aireontay Ersery (OT4)
    “If he’s in the first, he’ll be the 30th pick—as a right tackle.”

  • Josh Conerly (OT5)
    “He’s just getting by on his guile and craftiness. He’s going to start and be a good player.”
    “Both their tackles were really up and down all year,” said a third scout.
    “He’d be on my all-overrated list,” added a fifth.

  • Josh Simmons (OT6)
    “If he didn’t get hurt, I’d probably have him over Campbell,” said one scout.
    Another added: “The knee will drop him. Patellar tendons can be longer than ACL. Removed from consideration by one team for makeup issues. Another team expressed serious reservations.”

Interior Offensive Line

  • Tyler Booker (OG1)
    “He’s a pretty safe bet to be the first guard,” one scout said. “He has the most solid foundation. He may be more of a gap-scheme than a wide-zone type. He’d be our starting right guard yesterday. Guards typically don’t go in the first round—but he will.”

  • Jonah Savaiinaea (OG2)
    “He’s a borderline first-rounder.”

  • Donovan Jackson (OG3)
    “I have him as a second-round pick as a left tackle and a Pro Bowl player as a guard.”

  • Grey Zabel (C1)
    “The Senior Bowl has had a good run of small-school offensive linemen—Terron Armstead, Ali Marpet, Cody Mauch, Quinn Meinerz,” said one scout. “Why Zabel’s going high is because people are trying to make him a center.”
    “I gave Mauch the same grade,” said a third scout.

Quarterbacks

  • Under 2.5 QB’s in Round 1 (+340)

  • Shadeur Sanders Over 8.5 (-300)

“The league has just lost their way,” said a seasoned NFL executive in personnel. “We can’t be honest with ourselves anymore because everybody needs them. This is the most overblown group of quarterbacks. Every last one of them is overrated and inflated. Wherever they end up, they’re half a round to a round overrated.”

  • Cam Ward (QB1)
    “Tennessee has to pick this guy (at No. 1).”

  • Shedeur Sanders (QB2)
    “He is the flashiest, most overhyped game manager I’ve ever graded. There’s no way on this earth he should go in the top three. He’s a second- or third-rounder, at best—and he’s gonna go top 10?”

  • Jaxson Dart (QB3)
    “I don’t believe this hocus-pocus about putting him in the first—but stranger things have happened. We all know that.”
    “He reminded me of a mini-Drew Lock or Gardner Minshew. One of those wildish throwing dudes that do enough to entice you, but ultimately aren’t that great. Somebody will take him second round.”

  • Tyler Shough (QB4)
    “He ran 4.6. He throws it well. He’s mature. He’s from the quarterback camps. He’s helped himself the most of any of these guys.”
    “If Dart goes second round, Shough’s going third or fourth despite the injury history. He’s just unlucky. He’s no throwaway. I think there’s something to Shough.”

  • Jalen Milroe (QB9)
    “He has the highest ceiling because of the athlete and how fast he is,” said one scout.
    “But the throwing stuff—he’s a couple years away.”
    Another added: “He just can’t play quarterback in the NFL. Just has no feel for the game. He can’t throw. Not accurate at all. He can run, but as a runner, he doesn’t have any feel. He just runs straight into things.”