Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

Curious if people believe that the reduced interaction between scouts and prospects over the past several weeks, cancellation of pro days, and limited interviewing is going to make things harder for GMs on draft day?

As long as it still happens, the only thing it negatively affects is TV ratings for programming that milks it.

It might stop a few of them from making a couple Gene Smith/Shack type mistakes: falling in love or overthinking the pick. I don't think the Jags would've drafted Matt Jones, for instance, if he hadn't had a stellar pro day. It'll also give them a built-in excuse when things don't work out as planned.

With the roll of the dice type of situation the draft is anyway, I don't think it'll make much of a difference. However, I think it means more bargains are going to slip in to the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

(04-07-2020, 02:17 PM)Kane Wrote: [ -> ]As long as it still happens, the only thing it negatively affects is TV ratings for programming that milks it.

I imagine the TV ratings will be massive, it being the only vaguely sporting event happening in the world. It'll be interesting to see what the coverage looks like for sure.

As for the initial question, yeah it will definitely effect the information gathering process a bit, but I think it's a bit overblown. They've been scouting these guys for years now... I mean it's always an inexact science. I imagine there will be fewer "draftable players" on each teams board as they won't feel comfortable taking players with incomplete grades. Maybe we will see teams trading away draft picks for next year's picks...

There could be big opportunities for teams that are willing to take a risk. I'd guess we might be in that boat, but who knows.

Gonna be fascinating either way.

(04-07-2020, 02:25 PM)JagJohn Wrote: [ -> ]

(04-07-2020, 02:17 PM)Kane Wrote: [ -> ]As long as it still happens, the only thing it negatively affects is TV ratings for programming that milks it.

I imagine the TV ratings will be massive, it being the only vaguely sporting event happening in the world. It'll be interesting to see what the coverage looks like for sure.

As for the initial question, yeah it will definitely effect the information gathering process a bit, but I think it's a bit overblown. They've been scouting these guys for years now... I mean it's always an inexact science. I imagine there will be fewer "draftable players" on each teams board as they won't feel comfortable taking players with incomplete grades. Maybe we will see teams trading away draft picks for next year's picks...

There could be big opportunities for teams that are willing to take a risk. I'd guess we might be in that boat, but who knows.

Gonna be fascinating either way.

I suppose they can still milk the coverage... but it will be interesting to see how they balance not having all the people gathered at some famed location and trying to put on a show.
I figured it would be way watered down and perhaps people would be less inclined to watch. But I guess if you're locked in with nothing to do and no sports for the last couple months any fix will do.

(04-07-2020, 02:37 PM)Kane Wrote: [ -> ]

(04-07-2020, 02:25 PM)JagJohn Wrote: [ -> ]I imagine the TV ratings will be massive, it being the only vaguely sporting event happening in the world. It'll be interesting to see what the coverage looks like for sure.

As for the initial question, yeah it will definitely effect the information gathering process a bit, but I think it's a bit overblown. They've been scouting these guys for years now... I mean it's always an inexact science. I imagine there will be fewer "draftable players" on each teams board as they won't feel comfortable taking players with incomplete grades. Maybe we will see teams trading away draft picks for next year's picks...

There could be big opportunities for teams that are willing to take a risk. I'd guess we might be in that boat, but who knows.

Gonna be fascinating either way.

I suppose they can still milk the coverage... but it will be interesting to see how they balance not having all the people gathered at some famed location and trying to put on a show.
I figured it would be way watered down and perhaps people would be less inclined to watch. But I guess if you're locked in with nothing to do and no sports for the last couple months any fix will do.

Damn right, I know if be going twice as crazy if I didn't have the draft to get all obsessed about

no, the draft is a crapshoot anyways

Nope. The draft is going to be awesome.

I’m pretty sure UDFA is going to be wild for sure. And I expect to see a few more head scratchers than normal as well. This is the type of draft that will separate the real GMs from the pretenders.

(04-07-2020, 02:37 PM)Kane Wrote: [ -> ]

(04-07-2020, 02:25 PM)JagJohn Wrote: [ -> ]I imagine the TV ratings will be massive, it being the only vaguely sporting event happening in the world. It'll be interesting to see what the coverage looks like for sure.

As for the initial question, yeah it will definitely effect the information gathering process a bit, but I think it's a bit overblown. They've been scouting these guys for years now... I mean it's always an inexact science. I imagine there will be fewer "draftable players" on each teams board as they won't feel comfortable taking players with incomplete grades. Maybe we will see teams trading away draft picks for next year's picks...

There could be big opportunities for teams that are willing to take a risk. I'd guess we might be in that boat, but who knows.

Gonna be fascinating either way.

I suppose they can still milk the coverage... but it will be interesting to see how they balance not having all the people gathered at some famed location and trying to put on a show.
I figured it would be way watered down and perhaps people would be less inclined to watch. But I guess if you're locked in with nothing to do and no sports for the last couple months any fix will do.

I think it'll be a lot more interesting.  Instead of watching a crowd, or hearing some musical group, or watching Deon Sanders ask the same questions over and over ("how do you feel right now?" or "Tell me about your shoes..."), we might see a lot more film of the actual prospects actually, you know, playing football.

(04-07-2020, 08:22 PM)knarnn Wrote: [ -> ]I’m pretty sure UDFA is going to be wild for sure. And I expect to see a few more head scratchers than normal as well. This is the type of draft that will separate the real GMs from the pretenders.

I think the big losers in all of this are these talented athletes that played at small schools and had little to no exposure. Those players may feel like too much of a gamble right now for GMs whose scouts didn't put all the work in for such players. They may have been counting on interviews, private workouts, and pro days to fill the gaps. 

I hope Caldwell is able to mine some gold from that likely overlooked group in his UDFA haul.

I think if Dave plays his cards right we could take advantage of it. Having so many picks allows us to take risks on high upside medical concern players that teams with the standard or fewer allotment might not be able to risk.

Guys like Niang (doesn't sound like he's actually going to drop that far), Muti, Adams, Bailey, and plenty of other guys that would be day 2 locks might slip to day 3 now.

I said marginal, primarily because the lack of pro days not only limited some of the top talent's ability to showcase what they got, but those days are also when some of the smaller school guys from nearby colleges can meet with scouts and get on ppl's radar.

Imagine if Kinlaw was able to have a pro day, and showed no ill effects from the injury he had at Senior Bowl/Combine.

What if Tua ran drills, and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn? Missing on an early pick, especially if someone trades up for him, could devastate a franchise for several seasons.

This darft will likely separate the front offices that have very good scouting from those who are lacking. Late round gems will be there for the taking for those who have done their homework.

GMs are going to focus on big guys and big schools. Those are usually your safe bets when drafting.