Just inside off Georgia Street and hardly 45 minutes after the sun rose on Indianapolis, the question-askers filed into a high-ceiling exhibition hall with eight podiums lined up one-bye-one. The interviews are held in the Indiana Convention Center, where scrums gather beneath each stage in a crowded whirlwind and at the very end of the row was Bo Nix.

The former Auburn and Oregon quarterback had walked out just after 8 a.m. Friday morning and just behind LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy. All projected first-round draft picks.

The crowd waiting for Daniels was large. The crowd waiting for McCarthy was big. And for Nix, a much sparser gathering.

In a way, these media interviews can be telling of how a player is viewed. The NFL Combine brings together reporters from all 32 professional teams, several college beat writers and local media. No player drew a bigger crowd all week than Caleb Williams, the expected first-overall pick.

And in that room on this Friday morning, Bo Nix was third. Maybe that’s indicative of his stance among the potentially six or seven projected first-round quarterbacks.

No matter, Nix didn’t look at those crowds. He walked down the row — past Daniels, past McCarthy — walked up to the steps to his interview.

“What separates you,” a reporter asked him.

“I do think there’s a lot of great talent in this draft,” Nix responded. “I think there’s a lot of quarterbacks that somebody could find going really high. But I go back to the processing. Back to the preparation. I think we all can go out there and spin it pretty good. I think we all can go out there and make throws. That’s the common thing I think we all share, but sometimes the uncommon thing is the intangibles we may possess. I feel like when it comes to processing and preparation and passion for the game and your love for the game and the intensity that you bring, I think I bring those at a really high level. At the end of the day, I’m going to go out and compete and put everything I got out there so I can win the game.”

Nix isn’t flashy and that’s certainly not his point. I didn’t matter where the crowd was in the Indianapolis hall. It’s diplomatic to not critique Auburn or Oregon or show a favorite for any of his future employers. Only to break a smile when talking about how he might get to see himself in a video game.

He held his poise with the cameras and iPhones pointed at him. He frequently faced questions from NFL reporters on whether he met with whichever team they covered. His answer was simple — prepared — in that he’s met with each team but didn’t want to share details of his meetings. That part of his NFL Draft preparation is private.

His answers came compared to other quarterbacks with snippier confident responses or more revealing details. Nix knew not to tip his hand. That preparation he describes in his game shows through his preparation to speak on the record.

This is the stage where Nix shows who he is without pads. Nix’s focus is purely ball. The only question he said he “loved” was technical, about his play specifically inside the redzone.

He’s been around long enough — through three years of college football at Auburn and two at Oregon — to understand how to approach this position, this job interview for the most scrutinized position in a most scrutinized sport.

Where Nix stands among the group of quarterbacks, he’ll take the field with Saturday at the NFL Combine is not determined by the vastly more cameras pointed toward Williams, Drake Maye or Daniels. What will separate him on the field?

Nix is throwing during his NFL Combine workout. It’s in contrast to several of the names projected to go at the top of the first round who are choosing to sit out entirely.

To Nix, the decision to throw comes from what he describes as his love for football and his love to compete. Yet away from the camera, it may have to do with how much Nix knows he has to prove.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]