In the new world that we’re living in, many companies have been forced to change the way they do business. There have been numerous Skype or Zoom calls, in addition to an influx of emails.
However, no one ever thought we’d be seeing the NFL Draft taking place in a virtual world.
On Monday, the NFL will hold a virtual mock draft to ensure that all kinks are worked out to make sure Thursday’s rendition goes as smoothly as possible.
“We’re going to do a couple of internal tests and trial runs here, and the league is going to have a mock draft, mock trial run on Monday that we’ll participate in,” said Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn.
The WNBA held its draft virtually on Friday night. Perhaps the NFL could even take some tips from that league after seeing it go off in real-time.
While all of the NFL teams’ facilities have been closed, draft operations have moved to the online world, where individuals have communicated with one another on video calls. The IT departments from each team have been working in overdrive, making sure that everything goes off next week without a hitch.
In addition, there are safeguards in place for the draft in case any technological difficulties happen. The NFL can stop the clock if a team can’t get the pick they want in.
“Three separate team individuals are able to submit the pick, so if there’s an issue at one person’s house, the other team execs could submit,” a league spokesman said. “If a team is experiencing technological issues, the Player Personnel department would be in position to stop the click to ensure a pick is submitted or a trade occurs.”
Lots Of Preparation
Even though the official mock draft takes place on Monday, teams have already begun doing their own versions to make sure they’re as prepared as they can be.
“Obviously, we have a state-of-the-art draft room, an amazing draft room, and we’ll miss that, and we’ll miss the contact,” said Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. “One of my things, as (VP of player personnel) Andy Weidl knows, is before we start the draft, I go around and give fist-bumps to everyone in the draft room, and after we make a pick, having that clapping and everyone is excited and watching the highlights together. We are going to try to do that.
“We are going to try to have all those things that we have there and have those opportunities. Again, we are not excuses for this. There are people who are dealing with a lot worse than we are dealing with, and we feel fortunate that we have this opportunity to improve our football team next week.”
The 2020 NFL Draft was supposed to be one of the biggest spectacles in the history of the league. Las Vegas was set to be the host city this year before the coronavirus outbreak broke all hell loose in the United States.
It remains to be seen when we’ll get back to normal, but you have to believe Las Vegas gets another shot to put on the greatest show we all know they could have.
