Thursday, April 23rd will mark the start of the 2020 NFL Draft. This draft will be much different than those held in years past, this draft will be held virtually. Among the Coronavirus pandemic, the original plans to have the draft in Las Vegas, Nevada have been changed and moved to a virtual setting to comply with the nations stay-at-home orders.
Roger Goodell sent out a memo to the all 32 teams giving the regulations for this year’s virtual draft. Teams have been advised to conduct their draft with all team personnel in different, separate locations, only able to communicate by phone or internet. There may not be any groups gathering together to complete the draft. All team facilities are to remain closed, so team personnel will have to keep their operations from their own homes.
On Monday, all 32 teams participated in a mock draft to test the system of the virtual draft. John Elway, president of football operations and general manager of the Denver Broncos, said the mock virtual draft, “went smooth, it got off to a little bit of a hiccup when we first started, but other than that it went really smooth.” It is going to be an adjustment for teams to have to go through this process virtually, but nothing about this past offseason has been normal.
Elway thinks that this year’s draft will see less trades and moves than usual because of the inability for teams to communicate as effectively. Without excellent communication, it will be harder for teams to organize trades and move up or down the board. This might mean that teams become more entrenched in their original picks, making the draft much more predictable. On the other hand, pre-draft meetings are usually when rumors begin to start about who will land where, so some of the later rounds might become much more of a toss-up.
Players are also having a much different experience than ever before. Since the NFL has been shut down, players have had to conduct their pre-draft interviews over the internet. But this isn’t even the part that has been most affected about the draft process. Players are obviously not going to be able to walk the stage after they hear their name called, and shake the commissioner’s hand, but they can’t even have the watching party they envisioned either. Players were advised to have less than 10 people in the room, and everyone must be sitting at least 6 feet apart. When asked about the regulations of draft parties, Chase Young, defensive end from Ohio State, and probable first-round pick, said, “I’m still jacked up because my name is going to get called, regardless of anything. So, I’m still excited, I’ll be excited with my family and when my name gets called.”
The NFL draft, while it will be different, is the first real bit of sports news in a long time, and will be exciting. I am excited to see how this virtual system will work.
John Marrs Sports Blog 