NFL Draft Delay on the Table?

have publicly commented their support for delaying the draft. The reasoning was that most of the final work of the scouts is done at the end of March and April. I call bullshit. Most of the hay is in the barn. There are a few players that teams would like to check out further (Tua's health). But for the majority of the players in the draft, the closure of facilities isn't going to affect their draft stock.

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of trade-down scenarios, could be lethal. :)

Already came out and said they aren't moving the draft even though the GMs wanted them to.

In comment 14850000 Big Rick in FL said:

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Already came out and said they aren't moving the draft even though the GMs wanted them to.

I have also read that, though I cannot remember if it was on espn.com or si.com.

In comment 14849997 Big Blue '56 said:

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of trade-down scenarios, could be lethal. :)

Big Blue '56: Too funny!

In comment 14850000 Big Rick in FL said:

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Already came out and said they aren't moving the draft even though the GMs wanted them to.

The difference is that a few GMs are now publicly stating their preference for a delay. If the vocal minority becomes a vocal majority, then the NFL may indeed delay the draft. But as it stands now, the draft won't be delayed nor should it be.

In comment 14850003 jeffusedtobeonwebtv said:

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In comment 14850000 Big Rick in FL said: Quote: Already came out and said they aren't moving the draft even though the GMs wanted them to. I have also read that, though I cannot remember if it was on espn.com or si.com.

Schefter reported it 2 days ago.

This is 2020. You can do everything you want via technology. This is just old school football people not willing to adapt and calling for more time. Most of the scouts work is done already.

In comment 14850012 TommyWiseau said:

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This is 2020. You can do everything you want via technology. This is just old school football people not willing to adapt and calling for more time. Most of the scouts work is done already.

This isn't an issue of "technology."

The potential problem revolves around, "...player physicals, gathering psychological testing, getting further verified information about the players..."

In comment 14850018 M.S. said:

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In comment 14850012 TommyWiseau said: Quote: This is 2020. You can do everything you want via technology. This is just old school football people not willing to adapt and calling for more time. Most of the scouts work is done already. This isn't an issue of "technology." The potential problem revolves around, "...player physicals, gathering psychological testing, getting further verified information about the players..."

Have an independent doctor do physicals on every prospect and ship the results to teams. Not that hard

If you project the daily number of deaths out 4 weeks from now, it could be in the range 10 and 20k per day, maybe even higher.

I can easily see the draft postponed. At this stage it's unlikely we have a pre-season and possibly a full regular season.

In comment 14850021 TommyWiseau said:

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In comment 14850018 M.S. said: Quote: In comment 14850012 TommyWiseau said: Quote: This is 2020. You can do everything you want via technology. This is just old school football people not willing to adapt and calling for more time. Most of the scouts work is done already. This isn't an issue of "technology." The potential problem revolves around, "...player physicals, gathering psychological testing, getting further verified information about the players..." Have an independent doctor do physicals on every prospect and ship the results to teams. Not that hard

Every doctor in my city has essentially shut down for all but sick visits only. Even then you wait in the parking lot - there are no waiting rooms. There is nothing elective, no physicals, etc... nobody is traveling either.

Add to this that every NFL facility is 'closed'.

I'd be surprised if you're going to have GMs and Scouts talking to each other in separate locations and then Skyping the picks in to the NFL.

In this climate - They almost have to push it back.

NFL teams always want more information, but I saw a recent NYG video that suggested their team of doctors had already done physicals on all the players who attended the combine.

So they alreay have enough medical info, combine interviews and scouting reports to select players. And of course with today's technology including Skype, conference call aps, etc, the NFL can run a draft without requiring anyone to be in the same room.

But I think the problem could well be optics. With the NBA, March Madness, NHL, MLB, the olympics, cancelling all or part of their season/event(s)... it would look bad for the NFL to continue business as usual.

I'm not saying that they SHOULD delay the draft. I'm just saying that it might look bad to hold it during a global pandemic, while thousands are dying.

this is actually "needed" right now. The arguments the GM's have are flawed. Nobody has an advantage and the play field is completely level.

The Country needs something distracting and the league can provide that. A few more weeks of BS analysis isn't changing anything.

The league shutdown all facilities to make it even for all teams. The DRAFT is happening!

Everyone is working from home but they feel they can't get it done? That is BS.

In comment 14850021 TommyWiseau said:

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In comment 14850018 M.S. said: Quote: In comment 14850012 TommyWiseau said: Quote: This is 2020. You can do everything you want via technology. This is just old school football people not willing to adapt and calling for more time. Most of the scouts work is done already. This isn't an issue of "technology." The potential problem revolves around, "...player physicals, gathering psychological testing, getting further verified information about the players..." Have an independent doctor do physicals on every prospect and ship the results to teams. Not that hard

You may have missed the news the last few weeks, but the medical community is a little busy right now

Logistically, there’s no way they can start having hundreds of prospects go for doctors visits, or doctors go make house calls around the country, over the next few weeks.

there is a level playing field. Everyone has equal amounts of time to plan and prep for the draft, regardless of "when" is it. Delaying it means nothing. So I don't understand those who are calling for a delay.

Do it by video and get it done.

this a few weeks ago, and said its my belief that the Giants have a competitive advantage this year because they have 4 picks in Round 7.

Over the past 5 years, the draft has had an average of 41 players a year that were NOT invited to the Combine, but were still drafted.

All teams should have MOST of the information they need to slot their interest in any of the 335 Combine players. I say MOST, because it isn't just Tua that didn't work out because he was recovering from an injury- it was actually several dozen players that didn't work out and were expecting to work out at their Pro Day.

Right now, Agents are working with their clients and actually filming Pro Day workouts (pretty much a player or 2 and a cameraman on a college field) and sending the video to all 32 teams.

I am sure if we could see a Draft Board of every NFL team, it would be quite similar for their top 200 players. But I would also venture that each teams list varies widely beyond that.

Lets face it, when teams hire assistant coaches, they hire guys they have worked with before. As we watch teams sign Free Agents these past 2 weeks- again they are often signing players they have coached before.

That "comfort level" is not going to exist with the back end of this years draft. Almost no Pro Days, almost no Top 30 meetings at a team facility. Team scouts have met these players, but often not our coaches.

I don't think that Joe Judge is any different than any other newly hired Head Coach-they want to build a team with their guys.

Last year, NFL teams made 32 trades involving 7th round picks. And the return for each trade was VERY minimal.

If the draft date does not change, I believe its an advantage to have 4 picks in Round 7. It will be years before we know the answer, but I believe that the Giants should not trade any of those picks and can grab at least 2 players that will turn out to be solid team additions.

I know that the percentage of Round 7 picks that make a roster and have good NFL careers is minimal over past years. But I think this year will be different-coronavirus different.

Take some chances. Rely on your scouts who were in the field last fall. Rely on your new assistant coaches who were college coaches last year. Rely on your team doctors and discuss solid players that became question marks because of missed time with injuries.

If a player is not one of the 255 drafted, he and his Agent can largely control the team that he signs with as an UDFA. With 4 picks in Round 7, the Giants are in complete control to take some chances.

In comment 14850089 JohnB said:

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there is a level playing field. Everyone has equal amounts of time to plan and prep for the draft, regardless of "when" is it. Delaying it means nothing. So I don't understand those who are calling for a delay. Do it by video and get it done.

I want the draft to go on as scheduled but I don't believe there is a completely level playing field.

Some States have stay at home lockdown orders while some do not. Even though the NFL has closed their offices it's my understanding teams who are not under stay at home, lockdown could gather ten of their top draft guys into some sort or draft war room, while those on lockdown couldn't.

I'd imagine if a team could operate in a draft war room environment they'd have an advantage over teams who have to have those same type of individuals all in separate places. Just from a communication stand point alone they'd have an advantage.

With the whole NFL shut down you can’t even have a war room set up. There’s a reason that teams have those names up on the wall, and have their entire scouting and FO groups in that room. Even the logistics of getting multiple calls for a potential trade gets more complicated.

When 6 of the 7 GMs polled asked for it to be delayed, they’re saying that they can’t do the job as effectively under the current circumstances. There is absolutely no reason the draft has to proceed as planned, aside from likely pressure from the networks, and fans who look forward to it.

I’d rather my team get it right than get it now.

In comment 14850075 jvm52106 said:

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this is actually "needed" right now. The arguments the GM's have are flawed. Nobody has an advantage and the play field is completely level. The Country needs something distracting and the league can provide that. A few more weeks of BS analysis isn't changing anything. The league shutdown all facilities to make it even for all teams. The DRAFT is happening!

Why not just enjoy the extra time /w family and kids as the distraction???? Since most folks are WFH at the moment or simply home ...

In comment 14850113 yatqb said:

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With the whole NFL shut down you can’t even have a war room set up. There’s a reason that teams have those names up on the wall, and have their entire scouting and FO groups in that room. Even the logistics of getting multiple calls for a potential trade gets more complicated. When 6 of the 7 GMs polled asked for it to be delayed, they’re saying that they can’t do the job as effectively under the current circumstances. There is absolutely no reason the draft has to proceed as planned, aside from likely pressure from the networks, and fans who look forward to it. I’d rather my team get it right than get it now.

I agree with this. The concept of video conference for the draft sounds fine on the surface, but it ignores the logistical nightmare the country is facing right now.

In comment 14850113 yatqb said:

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With the whole NFL shut down you can’t even have a war room set up. There’s a reason that teams have those names up on the wall, and have their entire scouting and FO groups in that room. Even the logistics of getting multiple calls for a potential trade gets more complicated. When 6 of the 7 GMs polled asked for it to be delayed, they’re saying that they can’t do the job as effectively under the current circumstances. There is absolutely no reason the draft has to proceed as planned, aside from likely pressure from the networks, and fans who look forward to it. I’d rather my team get it right than get it now.

I know the league has shut down all team facilities so teams can't have a war room set up at team facilities but what's stopping some teams who aren't on statewide lock down stay at home orders from gathering ten or so of their top draft guys someplace else, like a private home?

Unless the league extends its facility shutdown to include anyplace and prohibit the gathering of draft guys in one place, teams not on state stay at home lock down will have an advantage over those that are under those orders.

will suffer, I don't see a reason why they couldn't do draft remotely.

Even after the signings - can do a lot of OTA stuff, except for the walk thrus

But I'm torn because I do need the distraction of the NFL Draft, but it obviously won't help the Giants get quality players. They need to be able to examine these prospects physically and interview them to see what they're getting.

Also, it doesn't help the Giants because teams will shy away from prospects with potential health problems (i.e. Tua), so, for example, if a team is choosing between Tua and a positional player, they may opt for the latter.

But I heard it on good authority from a tiny handed orange guy that America will be back open for Easter.

This is the video I mentioned in my previous post.

It's a short video that details how the Giants' medical staff evaluates players at the combine.

NYG Med Staff - ( New Window )

Said he suggested (and confirmed its not being moved) to extend the draft, draw it out. Take your time and do the virtual fun thing. All day long rounds, 1 round a day, etc.

The GM's want to delay it to do more physicals of players. That is nonsense

I think its arguable the conditions are unlikely to be better a month or two later for holding the draft. Some of the same problems will still be in effect. So why delay?

draft can be done remotely. But as someone said, it's a question of optics, especially if the number of deaths has soared a month from now. I think there's a real possibility there won't be any more sports this year.

than a month away, pretty safe to assume that round 1 will still be Thursday 4/23. At this point, logistically, they probably would have needed to postpone it/get another date in order to start setting things up.

They could extend the time on the clock to 30 minutes to account for the logistical issues. But encourage teams not to take all that time unless needed. Do one round per day and start each round earlier in the day.

about this last month of work before the draft to assert that it’s unnecessary, in contrast to what the professionals involved (at least those who have been questioned l) almost unanimously state. A little chutzpah there, I suggest.

Why even go there??? No politics idiot.

In comment 14850161 Gruber said:

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But I heard it on good authority from a tiny handed orange guy that America will be back open for Easter.

his only chance to recoup a significant portion of the revenue lost by shutting down their Draft event venue is to hold the Draft remotely while it is the only sporting event on the planet.

The viewership with everyone captive in their homes will be off the charts.

In comment 14850547 Torrag said:

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his only chance to recoup a significant portion of the revenue lost by shutting down their Draft event venue is to hold the Draft remotely while it is the only sporting event on the planet. The viewership with everyone captive in their homes will be off the charts.

I hope you're right, but I'm predicting that the draft date gets moved.

Once again the optics of the NFL holding the draft and being the ONLY professional sports league that did not move their games/event would make the NFL look incredibly insensitive. Especially with massive unemployment and the death toll (potentially) reaching 6 or even 7 figures world wide.

I think the NFL will wait until America goes back to work and the restaurants, bars and hotels open up again.

The standard rules of revenue-driven decisions won't apply during a global pandemic.

Considering how starved everyone is for sports content, even a virtual/teleconference draft could be a be ratings winner.

I don't think it applies to an unattended event which affords no risk to anyone.

In comment 14850722 Torrag said:

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I don't think it applies to an unattended event which affords no risk to anyone.

I think it absolutely applies, because holding an event (even an unattended one) during a global pandemic while so many people are dying would make the NFL look incredibly insensitive.

If the NFL holds the draft on schedule and the pandemic is still not under control, it would also send a dangerous signal that America is "back to normal".

I guess we'll see what they decide to do in due time.

Hopefully all this passes sooner than currently predicted and we can all go back to worrying about the Giants' picks.

In comment 14850086 mfsd said:

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In comment 14850021 TommyWiseau said: Quote: In comment 14850018 M.S. said: Quote: In comment 14850012 TommyWiseau said: Quote: This is 2020. You can do everything you want via technology. This is just old school football people not willing to adapt and calling for more time. Most of the scouts work is done already. This isn't an issue of "technology." The potential problem revolves around, "...player physicals, gathering psychological testing, getting further verified information about the players..." Have an independent doctor do physicals on every prospect and ship the results to teams. Not that hard You may have missed the news the last few weeks, but the medical community is a little busy right now Logistically, there’s no way they can start having hundreds of prospects go for doctors visits, or doctors go make house calls around the country, over the next few weeks.

Yet Noah syndergaard had his TJ surgery today.