The coronavirus pandemic is changing the NFL draft. There will be no gathering of owners, coaches, general managers, scouts and other team staffers. That group typically comes together in what is called a war room, where teams make draft decisions. It’s typically a hectic process, with NFL teams calling one another to make trade offers. The team that’s on the clock has to make a decision, weighing trade offers along with deciding on the different prospects on the board. But with the NFL practicing social distancing, team staffs have to manage these challenges while working apart.
That could make for an interesting — and even more chaotic — draft. But some general managers are doing what they can to prepare for the rigors of a virtual NFL draft. Here’s a look at a few different in-home war rooms.
49ers GM John Lynch
An impressive and organized space in San Francisco.
My at-home war room is almost like I’m at the @SAPSports Performance Facility. Thanks to our IT and video teams + our scouts and coaches we’re ready for the #NFLDraft this week. #IGYB pic.twitter.com/ytuZKY9Bk4
— John Lynch (@JohnLynch49ers) April 20, 2020
Bears GM Ryan Pace
Here’s what Pace told Bears.com about his in-home war room:
“I basically have two XOS computers with downloaded video on them,” Pace told ChicagoBears.com. “My third computer is my Microsoft Surface tablet that I’m doing all my reports on and I can access our scouting database and all our Skype interviews. And then I also have an iPad.”
“By the time this process finishes we’ll have done 100-plus Skype interviews with college prospects, each one lasting an hour,” Pace said. “With the inability to have the 30 visits at Halas, we’ve done a lot of things that I think going forward in future years that we’ll take advantage of.”
“During the draft there will be someone from IT here, just if something happens,” Pace said. “But I don’t expect that. We’ve got a lot of fail-safes and fallbacks and preventative measures in place.”
Chargers GM Tom Telesco
L.A. is monitor city, apparently.
If you were an NFL GM like Tom Telesco, what would your home “war room” look like for the #NFLDraft?
For me, I’d probably be working two laptops, and iPad and… wait for it… a pair of master big boards on paper with a red and black pen. I’m a little old school. pic.twitter.com/7IwLMkoupf
— Ryan Heckman (@RyanHeckmanFS) April 15, 2020
Giants GM David Gettleman
OK, what are we doing here? This is supposed to be a technology-driven, virtual draft and Gettleman is working with one laptop and a binder. He is looks like the this-is-fine meme. But what can we expect from him. He may be second-to-last only to Bill Belichick in computer literacy.
#Giants GM Dave Gettleman working from home during the coronavirus pandemic #GiantsPride pic.twitter.com/WVpwy0fl2h
— Giants Today (@NYGToday) April 13, 2020
Chiefs coach Andy Reid
The photo is at 2:30 in the video.
#NFL GMs have been posting pics of their home #NFLDraft war rooms, much to our delight:#Chiefs #Chargers #Giants pic.twitter.com/HEWQZIgCaT
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) April 16, 2020
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