How COVID-19 Affected NFL Groupthink

Take a stroll on your favorite social-media app for about 10 minutes and you’ll get an advanced education on the idea of groupthink.

You either conform or suffer the punishment of public shaming by those who find comfort in an echo chamber and are disdainful of critical thinking or dissent. No topic is immune either, everything from the real-world dangers of political ideology to the more mundane discourse surrounding sports is in the same boat.

The NFL Draft is a particular hot spot where fans feel comfortable making blanket assessments about players they’ve never seen and self-proclaimed draft experts who saved up the 99 cents to pay GoDaddy transform themselves into Ron Wolf.

Groupthink isn’t just for the amateurs, though, and lead NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah dropped an interesting 9-to-5 curveball on how the 2020 draft may be more unpredictable due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The virus that has most of America in a stranglehold and on lockdown interrupted draft season in a dramatic fashion and affected preparation all over the league with the cancellation of most top-30 visits and pro days, one of the final puzzle pieces before teams assemble their respective draft boards.

“I believe we'll see less groupthink in the draft this year,” Jeremiah explained, ironically on social media. “At pro days, coaches and scouts (from different teams) spend so much time around each other and they end up forming a consensus on players. Not the case this year. Some will be shocked at how high/low these guys go.”

We’ve heard the same thing at SI.com in recent weeks with widely varying views on certain prospects who are expected to be first-rounders, particularly Utah State quarterback Jordan Love, cornerbacks C.J. Henderson of Florida and A.J. Terrell of Clemson, and Baylor receiver Denzel Mims, the latter of which could be in play for the Eagles at No. 21 overall.

“I think when you look at Denzel Mims ... he’s in that late one (first round), early two (second round) category,” said veteran ESPN analyst Mel Kiper during a recent conference call.

Mims himself confirmed to a Philadelphia-area radio station that the Eagles have been doing quite a bit of homework on him.

"I believe so," Mims told WIP when asked if the Eagles have shown the most interest in him. "I talked to them a lot. At the Combine, the Senior Bowl and even after. After the Combine, I've talked to them a lot (in a virtual fashion).”

It only takes one and the hiccup to all of that could be Las Vegas general manager Mike Mayock, the Philadelphia-area native and former NFL Network draft guru who marches to the beat of his own drummer and rarely cares about others validating his thoughts.

When most pegged Clelin Ferrell as a late first-round pick last year after a far more conventional draft season, Mayock took him at No. 4 overall.

A league personnel source tells SI.com that Mims has at the very least piqued Mayock’s interest this time around at No. 12 overall.

Throw that up on Twitter and put your helmet on.

The groupthink world believes the Eagles could trade down from 21 and still get Mims but don’t be startled if you get that surprise on draft night.

John McMullen covers the Eagles for SI.com and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every day on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, Every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio, and every weekday on ESPN 97.3 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen