Viktor
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,552
- 0
Do you have a comment or question? Send it to the vikings.com Mailbag! Every Monday we'll post several comments and/or questions as part of the vikings.com Monday Morning Mailbag. Although we can't post every comment or question, we will reply to every question submitted.
Click here to submit a comment or question to the mailbag. Remember to include your name and town on the email. The questions below have been edited for clarity.
You can also send Eric a Mailbag question via Twitter.
With the draft being less than 3 weeks away, how have the Vikings been handling top 30 visits during this time of social distancing? How are player interviews and on field individual scouting being done? Do you feel that not seeing an individual player in person will affect the scouting process at all? Finally, how do you see the Vikings handling draft day if the NFL has not let teams return to their team facilities by then. Thank you and stay safe.
— Josh in Milwaukee
I was curious, if they are able to do physicals on the free agents and draft choices before they are signed or drafted, with this corona virus going on? How do we know they are getting a healthy player?
— Jeff Wizner in Blackduck, Minnesota
We'll start this mailbag off by combining these teo similar questions from Josh and Jeff.
These are certainly unusual and unprecedented times for all NFL teams in the pre-draft process, not just the Vikings. Top 30 visits — when team can meet with prospects in-person at their facilities — have been canceled. The same for college Pro Days, which is another way for teams to see a player up close and personal.
Is this going to affect the draft? Absolutely. If a team hasn't been able to meet with a player — or get a check on their medical records — then perhaps they go for a player they have more info about. I'm not a part of the draft process, and I imagine an already rigorous process is even more stressful for all NFL front offices. But scouts and talent evaluators can still get the job done, and with the draft still happening as planned, teams will need to make sure they carefully measure each pick in just over two weeks.
As for draft day, that still remains to be seen. If team facilities are still closed, perhaps general managers, coaches and scouts work remote and try to stay in constant communication during a frenzied time. As I mentioned above, these are unprecedented times, and that will become clear during the draft as well.
Teams and players are also in a tough spot with physicals. They are usually done at the team facility, but that option is obviously nixed right now. Some teams have had players get physicals done remotely, while others want to wait until things return to some sense of normalcy before those are completed.