WESTWOOD — The journey of going through the NFL Draft can be a long and challenging process for any football player, looking to make their childhood dream come true as they interview, work out, and meet with teams across the NFL.
Former UCLA offensive tackle Garret DiGorgio, had two words to describe the process. "Speed Dating."
"I can't necessarily say which team had a specific interest in me because it's hard to tell," DiGorgio said, "All these guys are trying to get a tale on everybody, and people moved up on their draft board, and see who they want to bring in."
Digrogio and his teammate, Gary Smith III, have both been busy as they have transitioned from life outside of UCLA football and prepared for the NFL Draft.
The two have gone through the process of meeting with almost every NFL team at the East vs West Shrine Bowl last January in Frisco, Texas, to attending the NFL Scouting Combine two weeks ago in Indianapolis, Indiana, to participating in front of scouts again at UCLA's Pro Day on Wednesday morning.
"You turn almost into a flow state where you're not really thinking about it too much, where you're just spitting information off to them," DiGiorgio said. "You take them through your life story, some of your hardest experiences, some of those little things that if their is anything about you, they need to be worried about."
Smith III said he spoke to some of his former UCLA teammates who have gone through the process to help him approach it, including former UCLA and current Indianapolis Colts edge rusher Laiatu Latu.
"I talked to every guy who went to the east and west, every guy who went to the combine, 'what they ask?' They were all just giving me (advice) and stuff like that," Smith III said. "That's what family is for, and that's what we're here to do, help each other."
As he's gone through this journey, Smith III said NFL scouts were focused on learning how he moves, his quickness, and also his personality.
Initially, scouts thought he was more of the focused kind of player. In his own words, they actually found out that he is a "Pretty cool cat."
For DiGiorgio, he said this process has been a mix of nervousness and relaxation, and like Smith III, he has relied on speaking to former teammates, including Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman John Gaines II.
Gaines II was taken in the fourth round with the 122nd pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.
While Gaines ll plays guard and DiGiorgio is an offensive tackle, he can relate pretty similarly to Gaines II, as he is projected to be a mid-to-late round pick.
"I feel they give me pretty good insight for informals, and meetings with the scouts or anything else in terms of medicals and what else going into," DiGiorgio said. "It was going to be a process of series of events, and we just had to step into it with the right mindset for all of it."
The biggest takeaway he's had from scouts is wanting to know how versatile he is willing to be, as they view him as a swing player who could move around from center to guard and tackle on both sides of the ball.
"I just think that is going to be my role going into the league and that's what's going to keep me in the league at a long time, being able to play multiple positions," DiGiorgio said.
Now that DiGiorgio and Smith III are done testing, working out, and interviewing with scouts, their plan moving forward is to stay in shape and have fun until the NFL Draft.