Instead of Vegas, as originally planned, the NFL Draft is set to take place remotely for the first time ever, and NFL franchises are being forced to make some pretty significant changes to their typical draft day workflow to follow social distancing guidelines.
During a mock draft earlier this week to test the remote setup, some issues arose early, starting with the Bengals #1 overall pick, but reports indicated that things got much smoother beyond that.
Still, many programs are taking extra measures to make sure things run as smooth as possible. Take the Detroit Lions for example...
With this being such new territory for all teams, many are hoping for a future 30-for-30 special on how teams are handling the unique situation. This morning, Ravens GM Eric DeCosta provided an excellent look inside his home Draft Room setup and how they've adjusted things as an organization to make sure the next few days of the draft go as smoothly as possible. DeCosta points out how they're handling their draft board differently, how they installed a new phone line into to handle trade talks, and how he has a designated setup to talk with head coach Jim Harbaugh and other key support personnel as well as the draft marches on. There are a number phones and computer screens set up around the room, and some books piled up to help layer the screens a bit. Take a look at DeCosta's setup below. The first round of the social-distancing NFL Draft will start tomorrow night at 8pm EST and can be seen on ABC, ESPN, NFL Network.