🏈 This Unique NFL Draft Has A Familiar Feel

Even though the 2020 NFL Draft will be remote, it’s still the same draft we know and love — just with a twist. [View in browser]( In today’s FOX Sports Insider: The 2020 NFL Draft has been forced into unique circumstances, but there’s a familiar feel to the event ... the baseball world celebrates Jackie Robinson Day, even without games being played ... and we try to predict who will be the first QB, RB, and WR picked in the Draft. Next week’s annual NFL Draft selection spectacular is already locked in as one we will never forget. It will be an NFL Draft with all kinds of differences, due to all the combined factors of our current times, with so many tweaks and changes and alterations that it will be more noteworthy when you stumble across a part of it that is actually the same as normal. No glamorous location and bright lights. No proliferation of designer suits and screaming fans. No Roger Goodell shrugging off the boos and extending a hand to future stars or busts. Instead, Goodell will be in his home’s basement, and the entire thing will take place in an electronic world. [STORY IMAGE 1] The best forms of entertainment you can find right now, especially those that pertain to sports, are the ones that are completely virtual and yet 100 percent real. The Draft is precisely that. It is a bona fide event, one that has been staged since 1936. It grew from a meeting room with a blackboard in a Philadelphia hotel into a showpiece filled with glitz and pomp, yet has now by necessity been boiled down into a form built to weather the restrictive realities of the coronavirus. Yet for all the readily apparent differences, and there are many, there’s an odd familiarity to this year’s event. It feels like the world’s most important fantasy draft, in that for once you get to reflect on the rather wonderful thought that NFL general managers might have to deal with the same distractions and roadblocks that you do when it is time to pick players with your buddies just before the start of each season. Will a team’s future be sent down a rocky path because the internet suddenly starts acting up, or the GM’s mind is pulled away by his wife asking how much longer this darn thing goes on for? Probably not; the NFL has taken every possible precaution to make sure this goes off without a hitch, of course. But it is fun to imagine. (No AutoDraft back-up feature here, by the way.) There are no war rooms this time around, either, no physical ones, anyway. If you are a GM and you’re going to have a good draft, you’ll need to make sure your setup is on point and your technical prowess is at least up to a workable level. [STORY IMAGE 2] In that way, it is a pretty fascinating reflection of life at present — the need to adapt and rethink and do things differently, the need to find a way to get things done despite the obstacles. GMs get rewarded handsomely for being smart and resourceful all the time. I, for one, kind of love the fact that they are being tested in this way, although the reason for it is obviously awful. “You can go one of two ways here,” Las Vegas Raiders GM Mike Mayock told ESPN. “You either embrace it and say, ‘This is pretty cool that we're really just going to watch film and trust who we are as evaluators and trust in who we want in our building.’ Or you can kind of look at it and say, ‘Well, I don't have verified medicals, and I don't have verified 40s, and I don't have verified height, weight, speed,' and panic about it. And I think we kind of, as a team, as a building, we've collectively said, ‘We're going to embrace it.’” Truly, that’s the spirit. On Apr. 6, the NFL sent a memo to every team, advising that the Draft would be carried out “in a fully virtual format” and must be conducted “entirely outside of their facilities.” [STORY IMAGE 3] That means each of the 32 teams will be connected via a single video conference, using a reworked Microsoft Teams application, and will also have an established broadband connection with members of the league office. Picks can be selected directly through that league connection, with telephone and email options serving as a fail-safe. Each decision maker is permitted to have an IT specialist present in their home to deal with any problems regarding connectivity, while video equipment has been shipped to 58 prospects so that they can be a part of the broadcast. Those are just the details. The upshot is that 255 players will still be chosen. Some of them will prove to be stars, some will be functional, others may not see a single minute of NFL game time. Yet the thrill of each pick will still be there, for the players, for the teams, and for us fans. The entire experience has the potential to make you feel like you’re a part of the process in a way unlike any other draft, save perhaps those you’ve actually held in your living room or on your laptop. There are no workarounds. The New Orleans Saints planned for a while to get their braintrust together in a brewery, not for the purpose of turning the thing into a big old party but to have a collective space allowing for togetherness with appropriate distancing. No more. Everyone is going to be separated. [STORY IMAGE 4] The Philadelphia Eagles, for example, would typically have GM Howie Roseman, head coach Doug Pederson and owner Jeffrey Lurie in the same room on draft night. This time they will be at their respective homes. “We have to operate the way the situation is presented to us,” Roseman told the Eagles website. “No excuses. We have prepared for this and we're going to make sure we work hard to coordinate everything.” The same is true for the players. “As different as this is, I think the hardest part is just finding places to work out and train,” FOX Sports’ Matt Leinart said. “That’s kind of half the battle. But I think a lot of it is the same. Everyone’s just going to have to trust the tape. What you put on tape the last couple years is what a lot of these teams are going to go off of.” It is the same draft. It has just been given an almighty makeover, because it had to be that way. It will be compelling drama and almost certainly be unique, unless it somehow proves so successful that they do it again like this. Yet it will still have the glow of familiarity. It is a fantasy draft, without the fantasy. Life-changing picks, at a time when life has changed. A virtual event, with real repercussions. Or, more accurately, a real one, virtually delivered. [STORY IMAGE 5]( Here’s what others have said ... Marcus White, NBC Sports: “The 49ers and the rest of the NFL are taking a page from your fantasy football team. All 32 teams will be in a mock-draft lobby of sorts when the NFL holds a virtual walkthrough of the draft on April 20 — three days before the first round is set to be held — in order to suss out any potential tech issues, 49ers president Al Guido revealed in an interview with Brian Berger on the ‘Sports Business Radio’ podcast. One can dream that a buttoned-up NFL executive — who isn’t technologically challenged — would follow in the footsteps of Mock Draft Ruiner Stefan Heck by making some truly inane picks, but Berger clarified on Twitter that the mock draft will ‘re-do’ the 2019 draft.” Reggie Bush, FOX Sports: “It’s a very different time period for everybody, not only just these kids. But I got a chance to interview (Wisconsin RB) Jonathan Taylor and caught up with him to see what he was doing and how he was handling the situation. And one of the things he said was that he was trying to find a place to work out, anywhere and everywhere. If it was a random hill, if he was doing pushups and situps in his hotel room. This is kind of the state of preparing for the NFL Draft now. It’s very different. And I believe that this is now the time period where we’re going to see a lot of these young guys’ character on full display, because nobody’s there to hold your hand. Now, it is on you. We’re going to find out real soon what kind of person you are.” Kevin Seifert, ESPN: “What if a team does miss a pick? It's possible the NFL could finesse a late submission, but it has not confirmed any such allowance. Normally if a team misses its pick, the next team is eligible and can jump ahead. The initial team jumps back in line as soon as it can. This actually happened in 2003, when the Minnesota Vikings' time expired as they were trying to trade out of the No. 7 overall pick. In the ensuing confusion, the Jacksonville Jaguars submitted a pick for quarterback Byron Leftwich, and the Carolina Panthers chose offensive tackle Jordan Gross. The Vikings finally got their card in at No. 9, selecting defensive tackle Kevin Williams.” [IN OTHER WORDS] - Jackie Robinson Day is a day to be celebrated regardless of circumstances. [MLB.com’s Alyson Footer has your complete guide]( to everything baseball has planned for today, despite there not being games. - Speaking of the Draft, [Bleacher Report’s Chris Roling analyzes]( the seven most likely draft-day trades, including a certain Bengals QB heading to New England. - Even as they prepare to possibly win a title, the Lakers have an eye on Anthony Davis’ free agency. [And according to the OC Register]( it sounds like Davis has made up his mind already. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( We know all about MJ’s killer instinct and his competitive drive, which will be on full display in ESPN’s upcoming documentary on the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, The Last Dance. But we don’t always get to see the softer side of Jordan. This video is a good reminder of His Airness’ power as a role model for kids — and a nice bit of nostalgia, too. Did you see that television? Oh, how far we’ve come. [VIEWER'S GUIDE] FOX Football NOW (FS1, 8 p.m. ET) Rams head coach Sean McVay and top Draft prospect Jonathan Taylor join the show to answer your questions, and Jay breaks down all the latest news around the NFL. WWE NXT (USA, 8 p.m. ET) What a night this should be, as Finn Balor resumes his rivalry with Imperium, the interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament begins, The Velveteen Dream and Adam Cole presumably have a little chat, and The Queen’s reign over the women’s division continues. Wednesday Night iRacing (FS1, 7 p.m. ET) Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Adam Alexander call all the virtual race action, featuring a whole slew of new cars from UMP Modifieds to Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs, and Ford GTs on two separate courses. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( D’Andre Swift 1st RB drafted, Jerry Jeudy 1st WR drafted, Joe Burrow 1st QB drafted: +155 Our Jason McIntyre is diving deep into draft wagers as the big day draws ever closer, and today, he has his mind on a few positional favorites that could add up to a nice parlay: “We know Burrow is definitely the No. 1 QB. I am 75% certain that Jeudy will be the first WR drafted, even though some teams may have CeeDee Lamb first on their board; Jeudy is a -120 favorite to be the first receiver drafted, for what it’s worth. I’m 50% certain that Swift will be the first RB taken, and I think he’s actually undervalued because of what happened to Georgia’s offense last season. In fact, he’s a -212 favorite to be the first RB drafted. So if the conventional wisdom holds, I think +155 on this could make you very happy.” A new FOX Sports app and website is coming. [Click here]( to be notified when the reimagined app is available. [WHAT THEY SAID] "The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done." — Arnold Palmer [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download the FOX Sports app for live scores and streaming [App Store]( [Google Play]( Available on: [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] [tvOS] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] Forwarded this message? [Sign up](. Amazon, Fire, and all related marks are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2020 FOX Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. 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