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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL Draft won’t have its usual look this year.
Originally planned to take place starting April 20 in Las Vegas — which could have outdone any of the previous locations in terms of hype and crowd potential — now the draft will take place with coaches and GMs quarantined to their own houses, partaking via electronic communication and video.
Still, the draft will go on as planned, there just won’t be players walking out on stage to receive a jersey from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
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But many will still participate. 58, in fact.
The NFL announced Monday that the league would hold a “fully virtual” draft due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. League and club facilities are set to remain closed indefinitely to ensure the NFL is in compliance with current novel coronavirus regulations, and therefore clubs were advised to prepare to conduct the draft outside of their facilities with personnel advised to be in separate locations, using phone and the internet to communicate.
Among those who were invited to be a part of the virtual draft is two former Michigan players, both of whom are likely to be selected in the first three rounds: center Cesar Ruiz and SAM linebacker/DE Josh Uche.
Ruiz has made many recent first-round mocks, coming in the tail end, but others see him as being a potential early second-round pick.
Uche is anticipated to go sometime in day two, in either the second or third-round.
While Michigan with two players is certainly not the most of any school, given there aren’t many high-round players anticipated to be selected, it’s not only solid for the two Wolverines who get to participate, but it’s an indicator that both will be early selections in the draft.
LSU leads with eight players participating in the virtual draft, while Alabama has six, Oklahoma has four, and Auburn, Georgia, Clemson and Ohio State each have three.