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When you’ll be watching the 2020 NFL Draft on your couch at home like you have been doing every year before, the Cincinnati Bengals and every other team will be doing the same.
Multiple representatives from different teams told ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter that they’ll be preparing to work entirely from home during the draft. Though it is not an officially mandated policy from the NFL yet, it is to be expected that every team will follow suit and the draft will be 100% virtual.
High-level officials from multiple NFL teams are now preparing to do the April 23-25 draft virtually, from home, away from their team facilities, league sources tell ESPN. Awaiting final decision from NFL on an unprecedented draft.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 4, 2020
When he announced that the draft would go on as scheduled, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell informed teams that they would have to prepare to conduct the draft away from team facilities. You’d have to think teams have already set up contingencies in the days leading up to this report.
What does this mean for the draft that we didn’t already know? Not much. The concept of “War Rooms” isn’t very practical when every human in the country is expected to keep six-feet of separation between one another. So instead of inside looks at general managers, coaches and scouts working with each other in a shared space, we’ll get talking heads and highlights.
Virtual communication will become critical for every team now that decision-makers won’t be able to converse in person. No matter how many more obstacles appear, the Bengals’ ability to draft Joe Burrow with the first-overall pick will not be in jeopardy. That innate certainty the Bengals have is arguably even more valuable now.