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Jan 29, 2020; Miami, Florida, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell during a press conference before Super Bowl LIV at Hilton Downtown. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Monday's virtual NFL mock draft raises serious concerns

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 4/20/20

While the NFL has largely conducted business as usual during the coronavirus pandemic since the middle of March, the league was forced to change this year's draft to a virtual player-selection process with general managers and other team executives working from home.
On Monday afternoon, the league conducted a virtual mock draft to test things out. It was far from a flawless process.

ESPN's Field Yates explained the NFL's intentions earlier in the day:

The NFL's virtual mock draft featuring all 32 teams is set to take place today at 1 PM EST. It'll be a two-round exercise and give teams a chance to get familiarized with this unique set up. A dry run in advance of Thursday night.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 20, 2020

Today's mock draft order:

Round 1: The original owner of the pick trades to a team 16 slots behind it, who then makes a selection. So, CIN will trade pick 1 to DAL, who then picks. WAS will trade pick 2 to PIT, who then picks.

Round 2: Original owner of the pick makes the pick.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 20, 2020

Fellow ESPN employees Adam Schefter and Dianna Russini reported that glitches and other issues disrupted the virtual mock NFL Draft:

Text from a participant on the NFL’s mock draft that started at 1 pm EST. “Mock draft today already technical glitch w Cincinnatis 1st pick!!! Brutal.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 20, 2020

I’m texting with multiple coaches and GM’s who are on this mock draft call and everybody is saying the same thing which is band width is a problem. There are many communication issues.
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) April 20, 2020

Asked a coach to describe this mock draft “You got the NFL main room-that only main people in the organization can log into, you got 15-20 scouts/ coaches on another meeting. You have to find a way to call prospects after you pick them, sign off on trades, lots of moving parts.”
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) April 20, 2020

On April 16, Gary Gramling of Sports Illustrated wrote about how vulnerable the actual virtual draft is destined to be for would-be hackers. Weeks ago, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh addressed the security of team and league Zoom meetings.

Per ESPN's Jamison Hensley:

"It's a big concern," Harbaugh said during the Ravens' pre-draft news conference. "Hopefully we'll be OK. I really wouldn't want the opposing coaches to have our playbook or our draft meetings. That would be preferable, if we can stay away from that."

As much as sports fans will watch Thursday's virtual NFL Draft because they're yearning for any new and relevant content, some will tune in expecting and hoping for car-crash glitches and miscues that will be remembered long after the current pandemic ends.

ABC, ESPN, and NFL Network will air the NFL Draft starting Thursday night at 8 pm ET.

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