Monday open thread: Should the NFL Draft be postponed?

The Coronavirus pandemic has silenced the sports world, and the NFL Draft could be next.

With events around the world being cancelled or postponed due to the disease, the sports culture we have come to enjoy has changed drastically. The NHL and NBA were postponed mid-season, and there are doubts about whether or not they will even complete the season. The MLB, meanwhile, delayed its start, and the entire season is in jeopardy.

The NFL offseason is usually quiet, and it could be even quieter than usual in the coming month. The NFL Draft is the next event on the schedule, but the question remains about whether it will start on time.

The public events have already been cancelled, but as per a memo sent out by Roger Goodell last week, the draft will continue from April 23 to 25. It will likely be moved to a studio without team staff present, which will be a huge change from the floating platform that was originally planned. From a pure event perspective, doing the draft remotely is not a significant concern.

The real problem with keeping the planned date? The lead-up to it.

Numerous Pro Days were cancelled, and coupled with reduced travel throughout the country, scouting players has become a challenge. No longer can small school players or combine snubs get an opportunity to showcase their skills in front of scouts. Meanwhile, injured players cannot get a valuable medical check-up with team doctors. Scout can only rely on footage and previous workouts. Meeting with the prospects is equally important, and now that will have to occur through other means, if it happens at all.

So far, the draft process has been anything but smooth. Is it fair to continue with the event?

Today’s Question of the Day is:

Should the NFL Draft be postponed?

My answer: I have changed my mind on this topic, but I think that it should not be postponed. In a vacuum, the NFL Draft should 100 percent postpone the draft in order to properly reschedule the Pro Days.

The problem? When do you reschedule the workouts? Even if the draft got pushed back by a month, the outbreak will likely get worse by then. It would not be possible to schedule then during April. The benefit of moving the draft back would be to allow for more private meetings or additional film study. However, that would also affect the second wave of free agency, as well as the coaches’ offseason planning. OTAs might end up not happening, but that doesn’t mean that coaches won’t put the time into formulating a game plan for the 2020 season. They will need all the time they can get to assess the players they have on the team.

We will see what the NFL decides in the coming weeks, but at this stage, the draft will continue.