NFL's Practice Draft Hits Some Technical Glitches, As League Prepares For Virtual Draft
BOSTON (CBS) -- Anyone who's ever been a part of any event or meeting that relies on dozens of people using the internet knows that almost nothing can ever go smoothly. Even the mighty NFL is not immune.
And so, when the NFL conducted its mock draft on Monday ahead of the real deal on Thursday night, it was not particularly surprising to learn that the league and its general managers ran into a snag or two.
Precisely when that trouble started, though, was a bit concerning.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported early Monday afternoon that the league had problems during the "mock draft" process for the very first pick of the event.
Schefter relayed a text from someone who was participating in the process: "Mock draft today already technical glitch w Cincinnatis 1st pick!!! Brutal."
ESPN's Dianna Russini added some details on the process, which apparently involved 32 unmuted lines and some connectivity issues.
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
Russini followed up that report to note that things eventually smoothed out.
"After the start, its running smoothly. Its quiet actually on the call"
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) April 20, 2020
Text from another Head Coach on mock draft.
That being said, the process itself is going to require quite a bit of work from the involved parties in every team's front office.
The "picks" made on Monday were solely made for the exercise of going through the process, as teams were allowed to draft former players while also executing make-believe trades.
Obviously, with the country following stay-at-home advisories during the COVID-19 outbreak, the draft cannot take place as it normally does. The league kept the draft on its normal date, while moving it online. The NFL has stated that it will loosen its strictness on the time limit for each pick during the real draft in the event that a technical issue delays a pick or trade from being made on time.
The real thing will begin Thursday night, for the first round of the draft, followed by rounds two and three on Friday and rounds four through seven on Saturday.