The NFL draft is going to look a lot different than it typically does this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The league has already canceled its festivities in Las Vegas and while the draft is still scheduled to take place on April 23-25, it remains to be seen how teams will handle the new format.
It could be a virtual selection process, or teams could be limited to the number of people in the war room during the draft. The Rams are still working through their potential plans, one of which is running the draft out of Sean McVay’s house.
McVay said on “The John Roa Show” that he might have some of the Rams’ front office members at his house during the draft rather than working from the team’s facilities.
“We’ve had some calls with the league, and as of right now, what we do know is we are going to have a draft. Exactly what the circumstances are – No. 1, you’re going to follow the protocol by our government and try to do everything we can to try to make sure [we’re] part of the solution,” McVay said. “It might be virtual, it might be a limitation on the amount of people you can have at your facility and you might even see – shoot, we might be doing it out of this damn house. We’ve got some availability and some setups, might have a couple of our other people in the front office come over to the house and we’ll be selecting players from here. We’re kind of honestly navigating through where that will take place and exactly what it looks like over the next couple of weeks.”
It’s not just draft weekend that has been impacted by the coronavirus. The pre-draft process has been hindered, too. Teams can’t bring in prospects for visits, they can’t watch them work out at pro days and they’re unable to do their own medical background checks during those visits.
McVay said the team is adapting but acknowledged that these limitations are impacting the evaluation process leading up to the draft.
“It’s one thing to continue to study these guys, but usually this time is when you’re going on the pro day circuits, you’re able to get that up-close-and-personal interaction,” he said. “Now those calls are FaceTime calls where you’re interviewing players and you don’t have the ability to bring them into your building. Even with free agency, there’s been some delays in being able to sign your guys because you can’t bring them in to pass the physical, to sign the contract. It’s unprecedented, but it certainly gives you a perspective on – you feel blessed, but we’re playing a football game and there’s a lot bigger issues at stake and I think we’re doing our best to adjust and be part of the solution.”
The Rams don’t have a pick until the second round at No. 52 overall, but they’ll be busy on Day 2 of the draft. They also have two picks in the third round, Nos. 84 and 104 overall.