Aidan Hutchinson is set to be one of the first NFL Draft picks, but he still thinks he has 'so much more room to improve'

• Aidan Hutchinson said he's ready for the 2022 NFL Draft, and whatever comes after it.
• The Michigan edge rusher is set to be one of the top picks off the board on Thursday night.

Aidan Hutchinson has had himself quite a few months.

In his standout senior season at the University of Michigan, he set a new single-season sack record with 13 and helped lead the Wolverines to their first win over arch-rival Ohio State in nearly a decade.

By the time the season was over, the defensive end had played himself into contention as one of the top potential picks of the 2022 NFL Draft, with some analysts projecting him as the first overall pick off the board.

But on the eve of the draft, Hutchinson has fielded plenty of questions about his potential to be the first pick.

"I'd say a question that I get a lot is 'How bad do you want to go No. 1?'" Hutchinson told Insider. "Everybody asks me. It's a cool question to get, but I've gotten that one a ton."

Hutchinson spoke with Insider while promoting his partnership with Courtyard by Marriott, which hosted an event the night before the draft featuring Hutchinson and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford swapping football stories and surprising a few fans in attendance with VIP tickets to the draft.

Hutchinson may not yet even be a rookie, but he's already promoting like a pro, and was sure to slip in an "Official Hotel of the NFL!" before we moved on to the rest of our conversation.

Despite all the talk and speculation in the months leading up to the draft, no draft pick is official until a name is submitted. Two days before the first round, Hutchinson said he was in the dark just like the rest of us.

"I wish I did. I wish I knew a little more. It would definitely take a little pressure off," Hutchinson said.

"We'll see on Thursday. I know as much as you do."

If he was bluffing, he has one heck of a poker face.

While being taken with the first overall pick obviously would be a huge moment for Hutchinson, where you are taken matters just as much, if not more, than when you are taken, and for Hutchinson, there are some advantages to potentially dropping to second overall to the Detroit Lions.

"I think it would be cool to stay around Michigan and be close to my family," Hutchinson told Insider. "I'm sure it'd make the transition to the NFL easier. I think there's a lot of positives either way."

But no matter who takes Hutchinson, whether it be the Jaguars, the Lions, or any other team on the board, one thing he was insistent on was that his best is yet to come.

"I'm just going to be a sponge of information," Hutchinson said. "I know I'm not even close to my potential as a football player. I think I have an extremely high ceiling. I have so much more room to improve as a football player.

"Whatever team picks me is going to get a person that is consistently trying to learn and get better."