Report: Technical issues arise during NFL's virtual mock draft
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As the NFL prepares for an unprecedented virtual 2020 draft, the league's trial run appeared to get off to a rocky start.
During Monday's mock draft, general managers encountered technical difficulties early on in the process.
Text from a participant on the NFL’s mock draft that started at 1 pm EST. “Mock draft today already technical glitch w Cincinnatis 1st pick!!! Brutal.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 20, 2020
That technical glitch with the Cincinnati Bengals' first overall pick, which resulted in a two-and-a-half-minute delay, wasn't the team's fault, a source told Schefter.
"There are early communication issues because 32 of us (general managers) are on (a) conference call and we didn't hit mute. Sounds awful," an executive told ESPN's Dianna Russini.
However, the trial run seemed to go smoothly from there.
"After the start, its running smoothly. Its quiet actually on the call"
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) April 20, 2020
Text from another Head Coach on mock draft.
Denver Broncos general manager John Elway was also satisfied with how the mock draft played out.
"The draft went smooth," Elway said, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic. "It got off to a little bit of a hiccup when we first started, but other than that it went really smooth. ...
"I'm sure there will be a couple of glitches here and there, but actually, for the first time, I thought it went pretty well."
When asked to describe the mock draft, a head coach told Russini: "You got the NFL main room that only main people in the organization can log into, you got 15-20 scouts/coaches on another meeting. You have to find a way to call prospects after you pick them, sign off on trades, (there are) lots of moving parts."
The NFL organized a trial run prior to Thursday's draft to give teams the opportunity to test out remote setups.
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