The pandemic has limited exposure for scouts and front office personnel across the league.
It’s going to be a busy weekend for the Los Angeles Rams and the other 31 teams in the NFL, but perhaps not as busy as it usually is this time of year. All 32 clubs have to trim their rosters down to 53 players from the current limit of 80, which some teams have already begun doing.
But the modified and condensed offseason has made it difficult for coaches, scouts and personnel people to evaluate players from other teams. There have been no joint practices or preseason games, which limits the exposure of players who could be cut before the season.
As a result, McVay expects there to be less roster movement than usual this weekend.
“That’s a good question. I’m not sure exactly. I know the league is working through all that stuff,” McVay said this week when asked if the pandemic will impact scouting. “I’m not exactly sure how those guys (scouts) will be affected. There’s so many different parameters in place and I can only be where my feet are planted. But, it definitely affects being able to what the normal preseason allows being able to scout the other 31 teams’ guys. This is where you truly rely on a lot of your draft preparation with some of the draftable guys or college free agents if they do become available. That’s why I kind of mentioned earlier, I would imagine there will be less movement in terms of roster shuffling than what the last few years has been, just because of the limited exposure you have to other team’s rosters.”
After the season begins, teams will get more exposure to players around the league. Could that lead to a spike in trades? Possibly, especially with how much more common they’ve become in recent years.
McVay said in-season trades won’t be impacted as much as waiver activity and free-agent signings because of the game tape scouts will gain as the season progresses.
“That’s a good question. I think it’s a little bit different just because you’ll at least have some inventory to go off of for this year. I don’t expect that to be affected as quite as much as the initial releasing of the rosters and what people’s 53 look like.”
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