Roger Goodell will be announcing draft picks from his basement as the NFL patches together a virtual draft unlike anything pro sports has seen
- The 2020 NFL draft will be held virtually.
- Commissioner Roger Goodell will announce picks from his basement, 32 teams will join a Microsoft Teams channel and teleconference call to make picks.
- Draft prospects will be filmed at home for reaction shots and interviews.
- Teams have expressed concern about privacy and digital security online and about their ability to draft with limited information on the prospects because of changes to the pre-draft process.
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The NFL is patching together the 2020 draft virtually, and it will be unlike anything pro sports has seen.
The league decided to go forward with the draft as scheduled, despite the sporting world being shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, with team facilities shut down, and league personnel told not to gather in a public space, all of the teams will be drafting from home.
NBC Sports' Peter King reported some details on how the draft will play out.
- Commissioner Roger Goodell will be announcing first-round picks from his home in Westchester County, New York.
- Team personnel will all be situated in their own homes. King reported that the New Orleans Saints front office, for example, will have two teleconference calls: one with their GM, coach, college scouting direction, and football operations vice president, and another with those four individuals, plus all of their other scouts.
- There will be a "private and encrypted" Microsoft Teams channel for each team's "designated drafter" to enter to make picks. They can also call the NFL's VP of player personnel, Ken Fiore, personally to make picks. There will also be a teleconference call with all 32 teams, each one muted until it's their pick, to announce their picks. If they do it through the Microsoft Channels chat, Fiore will announce the pick on the teleconference call.
- The league distributed 58 cameras to draft prospects to film themselves during the draft. There will be reaction shots, and then interviews after they are picked.
- A performer of "some fame" will sing the national anthem from their home.
It's unclear how ESPN will go about broadcasting the draft.
There will be technical concerns that come with the new setup. Security has been a concern for teams, as teams want to avoid the risk of being hacked and having draft plans publicized.
The several lines of communication are meant to protect against WiFi issues, though King reported that one coach said internet connectivity is the No. 1 factor.
King also reported that Atlanta Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff would have an IT employee on hand in case of technical issues.
In the bigger picture, some teams are concerned about the quality of their draft picks, given that the coronavirus has changed the pre-draft process. Pre-draft scouting, workouts, and interviews have been scratched or been done online, forcing teams to rely on video calls and prospects' college tape to make judgments.
As Los Angeles Chargers GM Tom Telesco told King, the draft is not actually "virtual."
"They say it's a virtual draft. I don't really get that. Nothing fake about it. It's the real deal for us."
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