Broncos Preparing To Adjust NFL Draft Plans Due To Coronavirus

(CBS4) - With the NFL Draft a little over three weeks away, the Denver Broncos are finalizing their draft board and adjusting to the way they go through the draft process. Normally at this time, the Broncos are able to hold face-to-face meetings with 30 prospects at team headquarters in Englewood, but not this year.

The facility is closed until April 8 and the Broncos are using FaceTime and Zoom apps to hold video conferences with the players. The changes don't bother head coach Vic Fangio, who heavily prefers studying the way a player has performed on the field over any workout numbers in the pre-draft process.

"I think every year you hear people say -- scouts and coaches and personnel people -- that 90 percent of the evaluation is off the tape. The other 10 percent is the Combine and pro days and all the other stuff that goes on with it. This is the year it will really be tested. It will be 90% what you see on tape, and we'll go from there."

Fangio also added that "It's nice to know what a guy runs a 40 in, but how fast does he look on tape is more important. A lot of times you can guess how fast a guy runs generally speaking."

John Elway is also preparing to change the way he drafts players this year. Usually the Broncos general manager is surrounded by scouts and other player personnel at the Broncos facility during the draft, but if the facility remains closed, Elway is making sure his home office is ready to go.

"We're prepared for everything," Elway said. "I think that's one thing that we don't know exactly what's in front of us, so we will prepare for all different situations, especially if we can't get back into our complex and make sure we have enough bandwidth for everything -- to be able to get everything done that we need to. Depending on how many people we can have around each other with the social distancing ... all those things we will start preparing for now."

The 2020 NFL Draft begins on April 23-25.