How Joe Judge is Getting Ready for his First NFL Draft as a Head Coach Despite Unprecedented Times

Despite being faced with certain limitations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Giants head coach Joe Judge has been forging ahead with draft preparations and in designing multiple off-season program scenarios for if and when he gets to meet his players.

In one week, Giants' new head coach Joe Judge will be a part of his first NFL Draft as a head coach.

The only thing is he won't be sitting in a plush chair in a second-floor conference room at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center surrounded by his assistant coaches and the team's front office staff. Instead, Judge will be tucked away in the basement of his North Attleboro home, where he's been based due to the COVID-19 stay-at-home mandates.

For the past several weeks, Judge has been participating in draft meetings while also working with his staff in adjusting calendars for the off-season program and finding time for his family, who have witnessed firsthand the countless hours Judge has put into this critical project.  

"I've got a golden retriever sitting on a couch next to me for about 15 hours a day," Judge said. "So right now, she can probably tell you more about who we're taking in the first round than anybody else."

As for his children, Judge said, "I've told my kids that there are times when I need them to get out of the basement. We got a lot of serious work to get done ... I've already talked to them about possibly taking tags off the wall and then organizing different things."

All kidding aside, this upcoming draft is a critical one for the Giants and Judge if he wants to get his tenure off on the right foot.

While general manager Dave Gettleman is the ultimate show-runner for the Giants in the upcoming draft, Judge will fill a critical role in personnel input and will call upon his experience from his days on Bill Belichick's Patriots staff to do so.  

"The biggest thing I take from my time in New England is how to look at the players and find what their strengths are and then see how you can use them to your team's advantage," Judge said. 

"To me, the biggest part of the draft is evaluating the players, not for what they've done in the past for what they can do in the future. You've got to have the four seconds to see how their skillset can add to your team and how you're going to use them."

It's a draft strategy that's perenially replenished the Patriots' roster. Belichick is renowned for his ability not just to find talent but find players with the skills to carry out specific roles on a team effectively.

Judge and the rest of the front office haven't had the opportunity to meet with any of the players in person, or attend many college pro days since the pandemic reached global status and forced businesses to suspend non-essential travel and close facilities. 

The absence of pro days hosted workouts and draft visits (has left Judge with combine results, college film and video interviews as his only resources. 

"I'm very big on body language and eye contact," Judge said. "At least [we] had the opportunity to look at a player in the eyes, ask him a question, and see his reaction. So that's big right there. It gives you a good picture of how they are as far as talking ball, how much they can learn and teach back."

Judge has also used his connections with colleagues in the college ranks to get information on players from specific programs. As a former member of Nick Saban's staff at the University of Alabama, Judge boasts connections with one of the nation's most esteemed producers of NFL talent. 

"We're very fortunate, our staff and me personally, that we have a lot of contacts out there with a lot of these players that have coached them and that we have relationships with coaches that give us honest feedback. 

"To me, it's important to not just talk to someone at that program, but talking to someone you know you can trust at that program that's going to tell you inside now what that player's like as a person, as a teammate and as a player on a daily basis. I spent a lot of time on the phone talking to guys that I have very good, very deep relationships with investigating these players."

Now it's just a matter of how it all plays out next weekend when the Giants go on the clock.