The lockout will impact the NFL Draft, but how?
The other hard part is trying to ignore the fact that it’s ongoing.
“You have to go on, business as usual,” one general manager said. “You can’t let that play into your thinking; you can’t do it.”
Good luck with that. The impact already is felt as coaches, freed from positional work with their players, are sitting in on more draft meetings than ever.
“Every member of the organization will be more prepared,” former NFL coach Jon Gruden, now an analyst on Monday Night Football, said.
Here are three ways the lockout will impact the draft:
No player trades » The Redskins acquired starting left end Adam Carriker in a draft day trade in 2010. He’s not a Pro Bowler, but he was a decent starter. Teams could entice others to trade in the draft with a package of picks and players — as the New York Jets did with Cleveland two years ago to get quarterback Mark Sanchez. But no players can be traded until the lockout ends.
They’ll have to draft more for need than ever » Without the benefit of free agency before the draft, this is the first chance to improve a roster. And with free agency a question mark this season anyway, there could be more emphasis on filling needs next week. That’s not necessarily bad. “I like the draft before free agency,” the general manager said. “You have to fill your needs with young guys. I would say 75 to 80 percent of teams if you ask them how they want to fill their needs they’d say with the draft. … There could be more trades to position yourself to get players you want who you really covet.”
More unpredictability » By most estimates, seven teams drafting in the top 10 need a quarterback, including the Redskins. But not all will fill those holes with their first pick. That means many of them, uncertain if they can improve that position when the lockout ends, will make moves to acquire a late first-round pick or move up higher in the second. “If teams reach for players, that’s when they make mistakes,” former Redskins general manager Charley Casserly said. “You may have reaches this year that are bigger gambles than in the past.”
