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https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2021/...g-pandemic-turn-2021-nfl-draft-wild-wild-west
Personnel from the NFL teams in attendance at the 2021 Senior Bowl in late January were spaced 30 feet apart inside the convention center in Mobile, Alabama. Tested for COVID-19 in advance, they were separated from draft prospects by walls of Plexiglas, with each meeting lasting only 15 minutes.
That's just one example of NFL scouting during the coronavirus pandemic, described once as "visiting someone from jail [because of the dividers]" while going through a "speed dating" process.
"You kept your masks on. Some guys spoke very low, so you had to ask them to talk louder. It was unique, but the access was better than we'd had all year," said one area scout for an NFL team with a top-10 pick of the Senior Bowl.
Added an AFC general manager: "The Senior Bowl was very important because that was pretty much the only opportunity to meet with a guy in person, face-to-face and have a conversation. It's the only chance to feel his energy."
Three days before the 2021 NFL draft (April 29-May 1, ESPN and the ESPN App), scouts have suggested buckling up for an event full of twists and turns. The reason: This scouting year was far from normal, so why would the draft be any different?
"It's going to be a crazy-*** draft. Just watch," said a scout from a 2020 playoff team. "After the 12th pick, I feel like it's going to be the wild, Wild West regarding who teams pick. I know scouts who have wildly different grades on players than I do, even more than normal. Less interaction means less groupthink and more surprises. If a team loves a player, they're going to jump the gun to get him."
ESPN spoke with more than two dozen scouts, executives and coaches over the past few months to gauge how scouting has been different because of the pandemic. The lack of access to players, college sources and uncertainties in evaluating players who opted out of the 2020 season were themes, as were concerns about medical evaluations and the difficulty of digging deeper into players' character and work ethic.
"It feels like we know less about this class of players than any class in recent memory," New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said. "Just because of the COVID restrictions, the restrictions on scouts getting into campuses -- as well as the fact that there were fewer games played in college football this year."
But it wasn't all negative. A large number of NFL personnel relished focusing more on game tape than combine testing. A few enjoyed the "new normal" and hope many of the scouting strategies remain, post-pandemic.
"The technology forced us to realize that the way we approach the game is antiquated. Now you can see that we can have a productive draft or free agency without being face-to-face," an NFC personnel executive said. "We were all taught that you've got to grind 24/7, but the pandemic taught us to be more efficient. The teams that adjusted quickly were successful."
"It also helped you have a better work-life balance. You have to know how to do it both ways -- old-school and new-school. You have to be able to scout if somebody pulls the plug on the internet."
Every team was impacted, for better or worse, based on how their scouting departments adapted.
Personnel from the NFL teams in attendance at the 2021 Senior Bowl in late January were spaced 30 feet apart inside the convention center in Mobile, Alabama. Tested for COVID-19 in advance, they were separated from draft prospects by walls of Plexiglas, with each meeting lasting only 15 minutes.
That's just one example of NFL scouting during the coronavirus pandemic, described once as "visiting someone from jail [because of the dividers]" while going through a "speed dating" process.
"You kept your masks on. Some guys spoke very low, so you had to ask them to talk louder. It was unique, but the access was better than we'd had all year," said one area scout for an NFL team with a top-10 pick of the Senior Bowl.
Added an AFC general manager: "The Senior Bowl was very important because that was pretty much the only opportunity to meet with a guy in person, face-to-face and have a conversation. It's the only chance to feel his energy."
Three days before the 2021 NFL draft (April 29-May 1, ESPN and the ESPN App), scouts have suggested buckling up for an event full of twists and turns. The reason: This scouting year was far from normal, so why would the draft be any different?
"It's going to be a crazy-*** draft. Just watch," said a scout from a 2020 playoff team. "After the 12th pick, I feel like it's going to be the wild, Wild West regarding who teams pick. I know scouts who have wildly different grades on players than I do, even more than normal. Less interaction means less groupthink and more surprises. If a team loves a player, they're going to jump the gun to get him."
ESPN spoke with more than two dozen scouts, executives and coaches over the past few months to gauge how scouting has been different because of the pandemic. The lack of access to players, college sources and uncertainties in evaluating players who opted out of the 2020 season were themes, as were concerns about medical evaluations and the difficulty of digging deeper into players' character and work ethic.
"It feels like we know less about this class of players than any class in recent memory," New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said. "Just because of the COVID restrictions, the restrictions on scouts getting into campuses -- as well as the fact that there were fewer games played in college football this year."
But it wasn't all negative. A large number of NFL personnel relished focusing more on game tape than combine testing. A few enjoyed the "new normal" and hope many of the scouting strategies remain, post-pandemic.
"The technology forced us to realize that the way we approach the game is antiquated. Now you can see that we can have a productive draft or free agency without being face-to-face," an NFC personnel executive said. "We were all taught that you've got to grind 24/7, but the pandemic taught us to be more efficient. The teams that adjusted quickly were successful."
"It also helped you have a better work-life balance. You have to know how to do it both ways -- old-school and new-school. You have to be able to scout if somebody pulls the plug on the internet."
Every team was impacted, for better or worse, based on how their scouting departments adapted.