How late-round NFL draft prospects are getting teams to notice them

Mitchell Wilcox made a name for himself at the NFL Scouting Combine back in February, though it wasn't for a reason he had wanted. Wilcox, a South Florida tight end, took a hard spiral off his face during the gauntlet drill. As one might expect, the clip went viral, and the moment affected his combine performance.

"It wasn't a good day for me," Wilcox told me.

Still, he had an opportunity to try to make things right in advance of this weekend's NFL draft, with South Florida's pro day scheduled for March 30. But then much of the country was locked down because of the coronavirus pandemic. That was the end of that.

“With the combine going how it went, I was really banking on having a killer pro day," Wilcox said. "But that didn't get to happen."

The predraft routine typically runs well into the spring. Pro days, team visits, and private workouts are often the best chances for players who aren't projected to be top picks to show scouts, coaches, and personnel executives what they can do and who they are - to prove something more than what's on the game tape. With that part of the process wiped out, the players on the fringe of getting drafted have to get creative.

For Wilcox, who is projected to be a Day 3 selection (Rounds 4 through 7), that meant putting together a virtual pro day video for teams that included do-overs of three combine drills he wanted to improve upon. For Georgia wideout Tyler Simmons, that meant joining UGA quarterback Jake Fromm - a projected second or third-rounder - for his pro day video.

Brian McLaughlin, the agent who represents both Wilcox and Simmons, still had to take things a step further; he had to figure out a way to present teams with information they could trust.

“That’s the biggest thing, is that teams are like, 'Look, we can look at the video and probably tell, but unless we're actually there, we don’t trust the times,'" McLaughlin told me.

McLaughlin's solution was to hire an ex-NFL scout with some credibility in scouting circles to be on hand to document and vouch for the virtual pro day performances.

Every bit of information a team can gather can be a valuable part of a predraft evaluation. Dan Hatman, the director of scouting development at The Scouting Academy and a former scout for the Eagles, Jets, and Giants, told me pro days provide an opportunity to gauge a player's athleticism, or to see how he might do in scout- or team-specific drills or routes. They can also allow teams to judge whether a position switch might be possible. An impressive pro day performance can compel scouts to go back and re-examine a player's tape.

"Now, a lot of that's missing," Hatman said.

Late-round prospects and non-combine invitees with medical issues are also at a disadvantage. As noted by Kalyn Kahler in Sports Illustrated, "Most teams want to have their team doctor examine a player in person before they decide to use a draft pick on him. That could prove particularly challenging this draft season. Teams may have to rely on college medical staff to send medical records, reports, and scans, but it's not the same as a team's own doctor writing up his own report."

Of course, there are workarounds for teams, too. Scouts might tap into their own network of sources to verify a virtual 40-yard dash time. Some schools might have GPS data on players, so it could be worth seeing if the school is willing to fork some of that intel over.

"You're getting creative with reaching out and trying to fill in gaps," Hatman said.

Both Wilcox and Simmons told me they've had multiple conversations via video platforms with numerous teams as draft weekend nears. These convos can range from quick check-ins to verify their mobile phone numbers along with perfunctory questions about injuries, off-field problems, or how they're staying in shape to more detailed, football-specific discussions.

One of the most difficult hurdles for players is finding ways to work out. Social distancing is mandatory in many states, with most parks and gyms off-limits. Wilcox eventually found a private facility where he can work out near his home just outside Tampa, and he and South Florida QB Blake Barnett have teamed up to throw passes in an open field.

Simmons works out with a trainer at a park near his hometown of Mableton, Georgia, though time is often limited because people frequent the park on walks. A friend of Simmons' father also has a private gym, so Simmons has been able to go there to do his weightlifting.

"It's been a little hectic," said Simmons, a projected sixth- or seventh-round pick who did not get a combine invite. "But we've found ways around it."

Hatman said short-circuiting the chance to gather intel on fringe players late in the process might cause teams to be somewhat risk-averse in the late rounds.

"We don’t change the eval; we're trying to look at the same things, we're trying to quantify the same things," Hatman said. "But when you don't have all the pieces to the puzzle, now there's a second conversation: With what I learned about this human being, what's that worth?"

This could mean using a pick on a player with athletic upside rather than picking a special-teamer or a positional tweener, who a team might instead pursue as an undrafted free agent immediately after the draft ends.

Though there's been some concern about the shortened draft process forcing clubs to make more mistakes, Hatman said some teams will be better prepared than others.

"If you built your entire scouting staff with the idea that everybody on staff is valuable through the entirety of the process, I think you're going to be OK," he said. "I think if you built your staff by saying, 'Just collect the stuff and get it into our hands by that December-January window and then we'll let our coaches and our execs smooth it out in the spring,' you're hurting. You're probably not feeling real confident right now."

For players like Wilcox and Simmons, there's little left to do except to wait to see if their name is called this weekend, or if their phone rings after the draft with free-agent offers. Wilcox at least got to do something to make up for his combine disappointment: During his mock pro day, he redid his 40-yard dash, his shuttle drill, and his three-cone drill.

"And all those times were better than what I did at the combine," he said. "So that was a small victory."

Dom Cosentino is a senior features writer at theScore.