INDIANAPOLIS — Conner Lew was halfway through his freshman season of high school, happily playing tackle on the offensive line and preparing for a trip to the beach with his family. Then, his coach pulled him aside.

"My head coach was like, 'Hey, like can you snap a football?' And I was like, 'Well, I've never tried, but you know it's good timing. We're on bye. I'll go down to the beach," Lew recalled Saturday during the offensive line media session of the NFL combine.

His family was vacationing in the panhandle, a Gulf beach where the sand is notoriously thick and fine, allowing for little to no traction.

"You're trying to snap; there's no friction. I mean, snapping on sand obviously is a lot more—I don't know if it's harder, but it's a lot different than snapping on turf or grass," laughed Lew as he told the story.

"My little brother was the quarterback, and my uncle was in front of me, and we kind of simulated the game. I'd snap first, make sure I got that, and then start progressing to snap, stepping, and then trying to block my uncle.

"It made it a lot more difficult on the sand, but I mean that's one of my favorite stories to tell because that's where it all started."

He's been a center ever since—save his freshman spring at Auburn when he cross-trained at guard for a short time—and has turned himself into one of the best in this year's class. Pro Football Focus lists Lew as their second-highest-ranked center this draft cycle.

"I emphasize the small details when it comes to the mental side of the game," Lew explained. "Being able to take the load off the quarterback, the guard, just allows them to handle the other part and control the calls, protection, alert calls in the run game, stuff like that, that's what I take pride in."

Lew is still young, currently only 20 years old, and won't turn 21 until the preseason. But the maturation that comes with being the man in the middle of the line, the nucleus on whom the quarterback and other nine players are depending, has molded a prospect that is ready for the next level.

"When I first got to college, I was always growing up and leaning on the veteran guys, kind of learning what I could from them. So I think that's probably going to have to be a big part of what I do to transition into the NFL," said Lew.

"But stuff like that is kind of what makes me feel like, 'OK, I'm ready, I can do this.'"

The starting center suffered a torn ACL in October of 2025. He told reporters on Saturday that he and his doctors felt confident he'd be ready by training camp. That does, however, leave a portion of the offseason when he would be unable to practice with his team and quarterback, should a team need Lew to be the starter as a rookie.

But for the man who has played early and often his whole career, finding chemistry with a new quarterback is not a huge concern.

"As simple as it sounds, it's just preparation and repetition, practicing, just finding the small things that get you guys on the same page faster."

The result? A competent, confident, talented young center ready to plug into any offensive line.

"As soon as we break the huddle, they know Connor Lew is their center. He's got the box under control. He's got the calls down," he promised. "I can worry about the defensive structure, the secondary, and the final checks, but just being able to take that load off of them mentally."

Bell on making it out, and meeting Dan Morgan

When Markel Bell left Cleveland, Mississippi, to go to the University of Miami, he made a promise to himself.

"I always tell myself I can't go back to my hometown to Mississippi without no receipts," the offensive tackle shared Saturday during the NFL combine.

"Man, I've got to go do it. I got to be the one to go get after it."

Bell isn't the first person from his very small hometown to make it to the NFL. The talent-rich town has sent Pat Coleman, Ken Lucas, and Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack to the league, among others. But Bell left to do more than make a name for himself.

"I want to take care of my family. I want to build an empire as well too."

Doing that will require getting into the NFL. And for Bell, having a semi-familiar face in meetings this week has made the whole process easier. Because when he interacted with the Panthers, he had a fellow Miami man in the room, in general manager Dan Morgan. The two were able to interact earlier in the season as well when Morgan was inducted Miami's Sports Hall of Fame.

"I feel even more confident going to the interview and just knowing I have a Miami Hurricane that comes from where I just came from, been on my shoulders, he knows the distraction that down there as well too, so it's cool."

Zuhn saw Scourton's potential early

It didn't take long after Nic Scourton transferred from Purdue to Texas A&M for Aggies offensive lineman Trey Zuhn to guess where Scourton was headed next.

"I knew the sky was the limit for him," Zuhn shared Saturday as the 2026 offensive line prospects met with media.

Scourton only spent one season in College Station, but it was enough for Zuhn to see what the pass-rusher was capable of doing to an opponent, mostly because he did it against Zuhn every day in practice.

"I loved going against him every single day in practice. He was just an awesome motor, deep bag of moves, I just loved battling against him every single day," the lineman said.

The Panthers drafted Scourton in the second round of the 2025 draft, and he quickly became a major contributor on defense. After Patrick Jones II suffered a season-ending injury, it was Scourton who took over as the starter. He finished his rookie season tied for the most sacks on the team with 5.0 total.

"I knew he was different the first couple of times we went against each other in one-on-one pass rush," added Zuhn. "And he's definitely taken off, and he's got so much, so much more left to do."

Leaving college behind? Kind of.

The beauty of an NFL locker room is that it brings together people from all walks of life. Different cultures, even different countries at times, different socio-economic backgrounds, religions, state allegiances, and more.

It also brings together guys from different colleges.

In today's age of the transfer portal, it's rare to find a guy who spends more than one year at a school, let alone his entire career. But for those who become enmeshed in the culture, it creates a lifelong bond that colors so much of their passion around sports. And in the SEC, some of those college football rivalries run especially deep. It creates an interesting caveat in acclimating to a locker room.

Take the Auburn offensive linemen for an example. If one is drafted by the Carolina Panthers, they would be tasked with protecting not only an Alabama quarterback but also an Alabama Heisman winner who was 3-0 against the Tigers.

"Alabama quarterback," pondered Auburn offensive lineman Dillon Wade, who spent three seasons with the Tigers, of potentially protecting Bryce Young. "I think we can set aside our differences? I don't know."

But surely there has to be a diplomacy strategy, right?

"That's a good question," answered Georgia tackle Micah Morris, who went 1-1 against Bryce Young, with the win being a National Championship.

"I mean, he's on my team now, so it's the league," continued Morris. "It's a professionalism. So he's my quarterback. I'm protecting with my life just like he was (Georgia QB) Gunner (Stockton)."

Auburn lineman Jeremiah Wright (five years at Auburn) echoed the sentiment.

"I mean, when you kind of get to that point, I know the rivalry stuff go out the window for me, just being out there. I got to protect for the quarterback, no matter what school you went to. Just kind of being out there, just be dominant, and also just building that bond and relationship with those guys, have fun, compete, and, like I say, enjoy the process."

Which is the proper response overall. But if given the opportunity to poke a little fun at the Iron Bowl rivalry with Bryce Young or any other Alabama player, Dillon Wade promised he would take it.

"I mean, I will coerce with you," he allowed, before adding, "but it has to be known that Auburn is a more superior school to them."

The Bulldogs methods to staying strong on the field

Georgia football has made a reputation for itself on being tough and nasty. That starts up front on the offensive line. Two starters have found ways off the field to up their production on the field.

For Micah Morris, it starts in the weight room. Granted, that's where a lot of players (particularly linemen) feel their game is changed. But Morris didn't want to simply focus on reps. He wanted to push his body as far as it could go, and he did.

"My favorite story would definitely be the first time I hit the Platinum Club because I was the first one ever," he recalled Saturday.

The Platinum Club is Georgia football's marker for when a guy completes one of the weight room's more punishing tasks.

"It was a 160-pound dumbbell, you had to do incline reps with that, at least eight," explained Morris. "I was able to do that my sophomore year, and then this past year I got two stars by my name now because I hit it twice, but the last one I did was with the 180s."

The weight room is just a flex (pun intended), though, if it doesn't translate to the field. Morris has seen the payoff, though, over the last few years.

"For the offensive line position specifically, I would say just understanding that the upper body movements are essentially just like your punch," explained Morris. "So the way you bench press, the way you do your single arm lifts, and things of that nature are just like punching.

"And then squats, that's basically your three-point stance coming out and explosive power that translates to power clean as well. So I feel like it's all correlated."

Monroe Freeling takes another approach, but with successful results. He practices yoga.

"This was back in like my freshman year of high school," he started, settling into the story about how his mom—a yoga instructor—got him into the habit. "COVID started and so we were all just cooped up in the house and my mom just kept on preaching to me like you got yoga, you got to yoga, and I was just like, you know what, I have nothing going on, I have no motion, nothing, so I'm going to go ahead and try it out and honestly like at first I wasn't really sure because I was tight.

"I hadn't done any stretching, and the more I did it, the more I realized how beneficial it was."

Freeling is considered one of the top tackle prospects in this year's class (PFF has him listed as their third-best tackle), and one can't help but wonder if it's partly thanks to his bend when facing pass-rushers and ability to stay healthy and therefore on the field.

"Honestly, yoga just really helps with injury prevention. I think it's huge on just kind of getting comfortable in compromising positions and just being flexible," Freeling explained. "And also like the mindfulness part. I think being mindful of your body and how you feel is really important on how you stay twitchy and play fast on the football field.

"I've had times in games where I've been in some pretty compromising positions, but I've came out OK, just because of my flexibility."