Redskins would benefit from adding three rounds to 2020 NFL Draft

Uncertainty is an occupational hazard in the NFL Draft every year, but in 2020, the Redskins, along with 31 other teams, will be dealing with a heightened degree of that uncertainty.

The coronavirus epidemic, which has long since canceled the in-person draft and forced the NFL to adopt a virtual strategy, has prevented teams such as the Washington Redskins from being able to do their required due diligence on prospects. Yes, tape is widely available, but interviews can only be conducted via online programs, often-relied-upon pro day results are unavailable due to a lack of testing, and executives in general are obstructed in their efforts to analyze the fit of individual prospects with their team.

Teams are legitimately concerned about the changes to be made in the process this year. There’s likely enough information available on the top prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft, but once teams get into Round 3 and Day 3 festivities, the margin of error will be greater than it’s been since the twentieth century, due to both a lack of information and the learning curve of using new technology to conduct the draft.

There’s also the issue of undrafted free agency, which is sure to be chaos. Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy expanded on the issues that may arise as a result of social distancing, essentially saying that the technological adjustments made may not be able to accommodate the amount of voices needed to carry out the undrafted signings process efficiently. There will be confusion, and when this confusion can be attributed to the process which all teams undergo, and not human error, perhaps a change needs to be made.

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert proposed a change unique for the 2020 NFL Draft, one that could be a remedy for this issue. Colbert proposed adding three more rounds to the 2020 NFL Draft, in order to provide teams with more authority for their selections in uncertain times, as well as to decrease the overall margin for error and minimize the confusion of the undrafted free agency process.

The Redskins would benefit from this theoretical change, as would most of the teams in the NFL. The Redskins have a dearth of picks as it is, so adding three selections later on would allow the team an opportunity to compensate for their lack of early capital. Such an opportunity would also be particularly valuable for a newly-formed coaching staff, which the Redskins classify as, after hiring Ron Rivera in January.

Leagues need to be adaptable in times of adversity, and the NFL is no different; given the technological and logistical issues presented for the coming 2020 NFL Draft by the complications of the coronavirus outbreak, the NFL should seriously consider Colbert’s suggestion to add three rounds, and the Redskins should be one of the supporting parties.