The 2020 NFL Draft will be unlike any other before, and almost certainly any future editions too. No pro days, no in-person meetings, no team meetings in a conference room to sort out the big board and draft priorities, all as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The draft itself will take place from random living rooms across the country as teams are forbidden from assembling in offices.
Coach Matt Patricia and the Detroit Lions are ready for the challenge.
“We always prepare for whatever we need to do from a work standpoint, from a job standpoint, whether it’s camps or the draft,” Patricia said via the Free Press. “We’re going to be ready to go for whenever the NFL decides we need to do that, so that’s what we’re pushing towards.”
The Lions have implemented video conferencing and virtual meetings, just like many other businesses. It’s quite different for interviewing prospects and establishing a consensus in the (now virtual) draft room, but Patricia said the Lions are making it work in a pinch.
From the Free Press,
“In the football world, we are very face to face … we have a lot of meetings, group meetings, and being able to watch film and be able to discuss topics in kind of that boardroom setting has been a little bit of a different challenge for us.
“But certainly there’s different apps and software out there that we’re using right now to be able to kind of do those things, which is great and so we can stay on top of the work that needs to be done.”