The 2020 NFL Draft will take place as originally scheduled on April 23-25, but it will be held in a vastly different form due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There won’t be any events held in Las Vegas, teams won’t be in one location submitting their picks, and players selected won’t walk across the stage to shake commissioner Roger Goodell’s hand.
Instead, it’ll be done virtually with coaches and general managers at home in front of their own computers and TVs. It’ll be quite the change from the traditional format, but Rams COO Kevin Demoff hopes it changes the draft for good.
He doesn’t find it necessary for teams to submit physical cards for each selection, nor should they have to call a draft center every time. Perhaps this digital overhaul will lead to some changes for the better.
“There are many things that come out of moments like this,” Demoff said, via ESPN. “I don’t know that having to have a card and a call to a draft center are needed protocol in 2020 even in the best of scenarios, so maybe a different way to submit picks is an advancement that comes out of this time rather than something that’s just historically done.”
Rather than calling in their picks to a central draft location and then having a representative bring the card up to the commissioner, teams will now submit their selections online through a secure internet connection. Backup options in case of internet failure include landlines and email communication.
That’s the sort of change Demoff hopes to see, shifting away from how things have been done for years in the past. In today’s day and age, there’s no reason to believe the NFL can’t make internet draft picks work in future years, too.
As for how picks will be announced, that process won’t continue after this year. Goodell will be stationed in his home and making pick announcements from his basement. There will be a virtual fan aspect to it all, emulating reactions from fans after the pick is announced, but it’s impossible to beat a live audience as we’ve had in recent years.
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