The NFL did a dry run in advance of its first “fully virtual” draft and experienced some snags. In fact, there was a technical glitch right from the get-go during the Bengals’ simulated No. 1 pick, according to one source who spoke with ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
Meanwhile, multiple coaches and GMs told Dianna Russini of ESPN.com (on Twitter) that bandwidth issues were also causing problems. This does not bode well for the NFL’s attempt at a fully virtual draft this weekend.
The major issue of the virtual draft appears to have occurred near the beginning. After what appears to be a notable hiccup, the mock draft went smoothly, per John Elway (via The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala, on Twitter).
The COVID-19 pandemic induced the league to commit to a virtual selection event, and Roger Goodell put the kibosh on criticisms of this decision. GMs, head coaches and other execs will be stationed separately across the country. The NFL initially had stipulated that teams could assemble war rooms of up to 10 staffers — so long as they followed social distancing guidelines. However, the league quickly pivoted to the fully virtual format.
While the league plans to be flexible with issues that may crop up beginning Thursday night, it is not a good sign the trial run produced them so early. Teams have 10 minutes to make picks in the first round. The NFL opted not to extend that clock.
how terribly, utterly, predictable.
*gasp* No way!
If we could put emojis on here, I would give a facepalm to this.
I mean it would be actually worth reporting if there WASNT any glitches.
That’s why these dry runs are scheduled. This is unprecedented times for everyone, so I’m hard pressed to give the league grief about this.
These are indeed unprecedented times but video conferencing has been around much longer than the virus and it is not rocket science. The XFL made it work and your 12 year old son or nephew could probably make it work too.
That’s just ridiculous.
NASA has been using video conferencing since the space missions of the early 60s. It’s obviously a more sophisticated procedure now but the underlying concept and theories behind it haven’t changed.
The nfl isn’t nasa dude
You are 100% correct. Thank you.
Kind of the point of a dry run. Shouldn’t be that difficult to make the pick and then gave the studios take it from there
Hackers can’t wait for Thursday.
Hardwiring will help with that lag…
Back in the day it was only done via phone. They have fallback options I’m sure. The only thing getting in the way is the “production/televising” portion.
Back in the day we had cholera outbreaks.
I guess tech workers are not essential personnel. But liquor store bag boys and the WWE are
If liquor stores were shuttered, thousands of people would go into withdrawal and end up requiring bed space in hospitals. It’s a tragic, toxic side effect to the society we’ve created.
We’re not closing the liquor stores.
I know, Sam. That was kind of my point.
thankfully I bought those 37 bottles of bourbon! should be good till May!
The WWE is only considered essential because Linda McMahon promised to spend $17 million via her Super PAC in the state of Florida this election. It’s corruption at its finest with Ron DeSantis at the core.
Way to bring politics into a sports forum. You nuts are everywhere.
I’m stating a fact. I’m not bringing politics in out of nowhere. There’s a reason WWE is considered ‘essential’ and it is 100% because of open corruption. Sorry if I offended you, snowflake
He didn’t. Al did.
The draft shouldn’t even be televised IMHO. All the essential functions of the draft (calling, announcing, etc.) can be accomplished without a livestream video feed. Calls can be made just as always, and reporters can still provide a (slightly more delayed) update on the draft progress.
Yeah, screw fans who need an outlet during stressful times.
Read a damn book. Jesus.
Are you still whining?
Interpreting every even softly antagonistic statement thrown your way as “whining” usually equates to either a limited intellect or a severe lack of substance. In your case I fear it may be a two’fer
Yeah, a dry run is down to work out the kinks. If you think it’s a pre-teen on Zoom level of complexity, you probably only use the primary colors for crayons, too.
That dang internet dial up connection the Browns use in Cincy is the problem. Trying to save pennies wherever they can
Reportedly, teams have ten minutes for their first round picks this year. Cleveland, however, will have four hours so their carrier pigeon can deliver the selected player’s name.
It would be interesting to know how the pick makes it to Goodell in a normal draft – do they call it in, fax it in, text it in or use some other method?