The 2020 draft will be unlike any others in league history. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, drastic changes to the draft format, location and procedures have been implemented by the league.
With the draft's April 23 start date nearing, more details have emerged as to what exactly this year's event will look like.
It was already known that the draft would be done remotely instead of its original venue in Las Vegas but per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, cameras have been installed in the homes of all coaches and general managers across the league in order for viewers to view the event in a semi-normal way.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who usually announces draft selections on stage, will now announce the picks from the basement of his home in Westchester, New York.
Additionally, with the 2020 draft being done “virtually” the league will take some time next week to test run the systems they will use throughout the draft to ensure there will be no problems come draft day.
The league is planning to hold a “mock draft” next week which Rapoport states is really just a systems test but the selections will be made through Microsoft Team and several redundancies are in place in case of error.
Further, the NFL Draft will also originate out of ESPN's Bristol, CT studios and air on NFL Network, ESPN and ABC. It will be hosted by Trey Wingo, who will be jointed by ESPN's Mel Kiper, Louis Riddick and Booger McFarland as well as NFL Network's Rich Eisen, Michael Irvin, Daniel Jeremiah and Kurt Warner, patching in from their homes.
COVID-19 has affected sports across the country and the world. Leagues like the NBA have already had to suspend the end of their season indefinitely. As the NFL season slowly approaches, questions as to how the pandemic will affect the season will become clearer and more apparent.
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