NFL imposes more restrictions on scouting draft prospects

I wonder if the league will increase the nightly interview time allotment for clubs. And if they do, hopefully Dave stocks up on Red Bull and coffee.

if the Giants will still give out their psychological tests this year? Seems like if they wanted to do it, it would have to be over zoom

Ouch. That's gonna hurt a lot of prospects with teams probably paying it safe this year.

hodgepodge nature of all of this makes little sense.

Teams can practice and play against each other, actual physical contact, face-to-face breathing on each other, but heaven forbid they have dinner with a prospect or watch film with him?

are conducted via Zoom?

We have Jettsons technology today, why not use it?

To have 32 teams travel all over the U.S. for pro days instead of having the prospects travel once to the combine and go through the proper protocols. The combine can be spread out longer if need be.

To me, the number one thing is medicals. The number two thing is having that interaction with the player. The interaction can happen over zoom even though it isn't the same. How are these medicals getting done? That was the main reason for the combine (cutting costs for teams on travel and medicals). They have one set of doctors perform the necessary tests and all 32 teams get the results. Are there going to be no medicals for teams or are these players going to have to take multiple exams for teams?

I've read the NFL plans to get a team of doctors vaccinated who would then conduct medicals and provide that info to all teams. Although I think it's still in the planning/make it up as you go stage.

What a crock of shit.

In comment 15131660 Giantsfan79 said:

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I've read the NFL plans to get a team of doctors vaccinated who would then conduct medicals and provide that info to all teams. Although I think it's still in the planning/make it up as you go stage.

How? If these players aren't in one location How is that getting done?

to limit the amount of information you receive. Or the only kind you'll have,will be what we tell you.

So someone may get drafted,who they claim is 6'3".Than he shows up at training camp,and he can barely see over the Kicker.

Whoops,sorry about that

In comment 15131663 robbieballs2003 said:

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In comment 15131660 Giantsfan79 said: Quote: I've read the NFL plans to get a team of doctors vaccinated who would then conduct medicals and provide that info to all teams. Although I think it's still in the planning/make it up as you go stage. How? If these players aren't in one location How is that getting done?

You can have 1 doctor assigned to a region (or in states with a large number of prospects you will have multiple doctors) and all draft eligible players will get evaluated by NFL physician

Run around means he won't have his necessary equipment needed. And are prospects expected to travel to different states to get this done if it is done by region? The great thing about the combine is there is one set of doctors conducting the exams so all prospects and teams are on an even playing field. Once you start getting multiple hands on these players there is inconsistencies. And that is my point. How much can you trust these medicals if you really don't know the doctors?

After watching the NFL complete a 16 game season on time.
What gives here???

In comment 15131627 Eric from BBI said:

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hodgepodge nature of all of this makes little sense. Teams can practice and play against each other, actual physical contact, face-to-face breathing on each other, but heaven forbid they have dinner with a prospect or watch film with him?

One is an absolute necessity in order for the league to function, the other is not. The league allows exposure where it is unavoidable and limits it wherever possible. Any function that can be conducted via Zoom rather than person to person is preferable. Practices and playing require person to person contact, interviews do not. Where danger can be avoided, it should be.

We need football players, based on game film and experience. Not combine workout wonderboys.
And we have drafted recently from Alabama,Clemson,Penn state, Auburn,Georgia etc. So we have scouts and contacts who know this years best prospects and what they did couple of years ago.

In comment 15131631 ATL_Giants said:

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are conducted via Zoom? We have Jettsons technology today, why not use it?

How would you pass the mashed potatoes?

In comment 15131627 Eric from BBI said:

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hodgepodge nature of all of this makes little sense. Teams can practice and play against each other, actual physical contact, face-to-face breathing on each other, but heaven forbid they have dinner with a prospect or watch film with him?

Optics ....

In comment 15131627 Eric from BBI said:

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hodgepodge nature of all of this makes little sense. Teams can practice and play against each other, actual physical contact, face-to-face breathing on each other, but heaven forbid they have dinner with a prospect or watch film with him?

If I had to guess I'd say the NFL is likely relaxing its "bubble" for the offseason and in response is ramping up social distancing protocols.

In comment 15131697 FGiant said:

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We need football players, based on game film and experience. Not combine workout wonderboys. And we have drafted recently from Alabama,Clemson,Penn state, Auburn,Georgia etc. So we have scouts and contacts who know this years best prospects and what they did couple of years ago.

I’d be perfectly happy if all our draft picks came from these schools ... plus maybe Miami, Florida and Ohio St.

In comment 15131627 Eric from BBI said:

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hodgepodge nature of all of this makes little sense. Teams can practice and play against each other, actual physical contact, face-to-face breathing on each other, but heaven forbid they have dinner with a prospect or watch film with him?

The league using COVID-19 as an incentive to hand out even more fines to players and coaches left and right?

Oh, wait. That's not plausible.

In comment 15131765 Route 9 said:

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In comment 15131627 Eric from BBI said: Quote: hodgepodge nature of all of this makes little sense. Teams can practice and play against each other, actual physical contact, face-to-face breathing on each other, but heaven forbid they have dinner with a prospect or watch film with him? The league using COVID-19 as an incentive to hand out even more fines to players and coaches left and right? Oh, wait. That's not plausible.

Not only is it implausible, it's absurd.

Yeah, because the Washington Capitals weren't just fined $100,000 for hanging out together in a hotel room because the COVID will get them there but not on the ice, the sanctuary locker room or at the airports or on the planes when they travel to games.

Talk about absurdity.

is that the 2021 draft is going to be nuts. Lots of guys under-scouted. Some guys who opted out in 2020. Some guys are going to be way overdrafted and there will be a ton of busts. Other guys are going to turn out to be "unheralded" steals later in the draft because there wasn't enough information or film on them.

Prediction: BBI will be a rage-fest because this or that high draft pick isn't as goo as some other team's mid-round pick. But anyone who looks around the league will see that happening to everyone. It's gonna be a weird year.

Like if you decided to go to Mom's for Thanksgiving because you thought it was really important to see immediate family. But then you decided to skip Uncle John's and Aunt Edna's because that's less important and why press your luck?

In comment 15131771 Route 9 said:

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Yeah, because the Washington Capitals weren't just fined $100,000 for hanging out together in a hotel room because the COVID will get them there but not on the ice, the sanctuary locker room or at the airports or on the planes when they travel to games. Talk about absurdity.

Ask yourself this question: Which of the following is not required in order to complete a hockey season?
a) multiple players on ice at the same time
b) multiple players in the locker room at the same time
c) multiple players traveling from city to city on the same plane
d) multiple players hanging out in a hotel room at the same time

What part of "some exposure is necessary in order to play the games and some exposure is not necessary in order to play the games" do some of you not get??? It's a pretty simple concept if you're thinking objectively without any preconceived bias.

The combine last year during the pandemic why can’t they have it now. It makes no sense.

In comment 15132022 cokeduplt said:

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The combine last year during the pandemic why can’t they have it now. It makes no sense.

I looked up the dates of the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine: Feb 20 - March 2. No comparison between then and now. More to the point, the pandemic was exploding in late-Feb/early march. When everyone flew in, it looked one way. By the time they left, it looked another way.

To be fair, hardly anyone understood what was coming. Some epidemiologists did, I guess, but not the general public. I was still going to my office in early March. I remember thinking on a Monday "I might have to work from home" and by Wednesday saying "I can't go to the office anymore." I did, reluctantly, the next day (March 12) for a 1-on-1 meeting, and that was it. Within 5 days I went from "I guess I should pay attention" to "Time to hunker down." That was when all the toilet paper, hand soap, hand sanitizer and bottled water (!!??) flew off store shelves in about 36 hours.

If the NFL had known on Feb 15 how bad things were going to be in March, the NFL might have called off the combine. This year we're in the middle of the crisis, the virus is all over the country, and there's a new, more contagious strain spreading. That's why they're not flying people in from all over the country for a large, non-essential gathering. You can have a draft and a season without a combine. Next year things probably get back to normal, or something close to normal. This year, nope.

Means a guy like Waddle will fall off the 1st round board for a team like the Giants who cannot afford to have a player who may have a lingering ankle injury or knee injury. So they'd be drafting blindly.

In comment 15132077 section125 said:

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Means a guy like Waddle will fall off the 1st round board for a team like the Giants who cannot afford to have a player who may have a lingering ankle injury or knee injury. So they'd be drafting blindly.

Not true. There will still be pro days and physicals for all prospects. And it's not like prospects nursing injuries can't go to local doctors for a medical exam and then have the results emailed to each team. For things that require person to person contact there will be person to person contact, for things that don't require person to person contact, it will be forbidden. That's the litmus test you should be applying to the league's social distancing protocols.
p.s.--One thing that may be missing is the second chance if a prospect has a bad day or is hobbled on the day his team's pro day is scheduled.

In comment 15132085 Milton said:

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In comment 15132077 section125 said: Quote: Means a guy like Waddle will fall off the 1st round board for a team like the Giants who cannot afford to have a player who may have a lingering ankle injury or knee injury. So they'd be drafting blindly. Not true. There will still be pro days and physicals for all prospects. And it's not like prospects nursing injuries can't go to local doctors for a medical exam and then have the results emailed to each team. For things that require person to person contact there will be person to person contact, for things that don't require person to person contact, it will be forbidden. That's the litmus test you should be applying to the league's social distancing protocols. p.s.--One thing that may be missing is the second chance if a prospect has a bad day or is hobbled on the day his team's pro day is scheduled.

Milton you are missing the point. NFL teams have their doctors not random one. Not all doctors are the same. Not all opinions are the same. Have prospects go to their own doctors and send results doesn't mean much. Until a team gets their own doctors on opinions on the kids or NFL approved doctors at the combine where the Giants know them well then teams are still going to knock down players for injury concerns on their board. That is just how it is going to be. Teams seemed to play it safe last year with the draft and I think it'll be even moreso this year. You cannot have your team doctors make every pro day. And if the doctors are flying all over the country they'll have to either be quarantined for X amount of days or run the risk of getting covid. Teams will have to pick and choose specific players they want to focus on during this time but there is no way they get trustworthy medicals on all these athletes.