Draft goes back to virtual basics

Logistics share the spotlight with players

From his home in the New York City suburbs, Roger Goodell will handle perhaps his most visible annual chore — announcing draft picks.

Visible, but virtual.

Not since the NFL draft became a televised event in 1980 has it been stripped to the basics like this year’s proceedings will be.

Beginning tonight, as a safeguard against the coronavirus pandemic, adhering to medical and governmental advice and restrictions, selectors will work from their homes. Prospects will be at their homes, too.

Goodell, who ordered all team facilities closed on March 26 and has extended that ban indefinitely, won’t be sharing hugs with Joe Burrow or Chase Young or any of the other first-round picks. He will offer congratulations remotely, but otherwise this will be the barest of drafts.

And certainly not the easiest.

“Everyone is really particular about how they go through the drafts, right?” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff says. “They want to have the draft rooms. They want to have all the technology. It takes a lot of people taking a lot of deep breaths on it, as you can imagine.

“Again, I really believe most teams are quite set and I would say from our standpoint, though technology is going to have to switch and we’re going to be asked to work out of our own homes, I feel like we have such a really sound personnel department. We feel honestly if this was moved up 10 days ahead and we had to draft out of the back of a shed, we’d be prepared to capitalize on it and do an adept job

this time