The NFL has roughly two weeks remaining to work out all of the details of its upcoming virtual draft, and new concerns are popping up every day.
In order to follow the social distancing guidelines that are in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, team executives and staffers have been instructed to not gather together at any point during the draft. Instead, they must use electronic communications to share information and decide which players to select. In order for everything to run smoothly, those executives may need help from IT workers setting up equipment and software. That is a concern for team personnel and the IT workers themselves, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
A concern has emerged in recent days: There are certain coaches and front-office staffers reluctant to have their IT employees in their homes for fear of the virus spreading, and vice versa; some IT employees are concerned about going into other homes to equip them for the draft.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 8, 2020
Obviously, holding a virtual draft means there could be technical issues at some point. Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports that the NFL is basically planning to address those problems on the fly.
Amending this: If there’s a trade going down and there’s an major technical issue (e.g. power outage at a GM’s home), the league will use discretion to allow for more time. But again, no formal timeouts, no added time and enough ways to get the pick in to allow for normal flow. https://t.co/Y8eeqTp8L0
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) April 8, 2020
Those who are less tech savvy may need assistance before or during the draft. That could potentially mean people coming in contact with one another, which is what health officials want to avoid.
There is reportedly also concern that some teams could have an unfair advantage because of the circumstances. No matter what the NFL does, there are going to be issues both before and during the draft.
