Coronavirus Impact Forced Changes To This Week's NFL Draft

Helen Keller wrote in The Open Door that "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." Such is the case for the National Football League and their 32 member teams in preparation and execution of the NFL Draft, which begins Thursday.

The league will enter new and unchartered territory with this year's draft being done virtually because of the coronavirus situation. Teams will not be allowed to work together in draft rooms, and the teams will not have representatives live with the NFL staff like in previous years.

On Monday, the Tennessee Titans held a video conference call between team general manager Jon Robinson and head coach Mike Vrabel along with local media, were both gentlemen took questions for just under an hour on the draft.

While many of the questions revolved around player evaluations and potential scenarios for the draft in this unique situation, the ones that stood out most were of the way the Titans, and all 32 organizations will go about the collective of pulling off this draft.

Of the technological issue presented to teams, communication is the biggest as each team has 15 to 20 people involved in their draft day activities.

Just how will teams and the league go about connecting essential personnel together?

According to Robinson, the league and teams will have "a couple of things in place" and have worked on multiple contingencies.

Robinson mentioned that he would be working off a laptop and three Surface tablets to be able to access pertinent information on players and to share with his staff and for communications with the league.

He and the Titans will have two Zoom conference calls working where Robinson, Vrable, and those who would be in their main draft room can communicate. In contrast, a second conference system will host scouts who, when needed, can communicate with the general manager and staff.

Robinson was asked how things would work as far as communication with other teams for potential trades, saying, "I'll have my phone and cell phone, which is usually how I do it so that part won't be affected."

While there are potential pitfalls in the technology based on how widespread every participant will be around the country, it seems as though the league and each team have plans in place to make the best of an unusually challenging situation.

We'll all find out on Thursday night just how smoothly this whole process goes when the event begins with the opening round.

In the past, there have complaints that only the first round took place on day one; this year, that could be a blessing for those involved.

Should there be any issues in the first round, teams will have time between the end of Thursday's selections and the start on Friday to address those issues and make any necessary corrections, which could be a blessing.

All 32 teams, general managers, and coaches will take part in a mock first-round draft trial run Monday afternoon, to test the plan and so that any remaining questions that might arise can be addressed and planned for ahead of Thursday.

The plans in place, and now we await its execution, and hopefully, this will go off without issue. A lot is riding on this for the league, the teams, and the 255 draft hopefuls who will be waiting hear their names called this weekend.

Follow Greg on Twitter @GregAriasSports and @SIVanderbilt or Facebook at Vanderbilt Commodores-Maven

Add us as a preferred source on Google