John Elway, Vic Fangio preparing contingency plans for NFL Draft, offseason program

[Miles]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As the COVID-19 crisis continues to impact the NFL's offseason, the Broncos are in the midst of formulating a plan for both the NFL Draft and the team's offseason program.


With the draft just over three weeks away and NFL training centers currently closed through at least April 8, John Elway said Tuesday the Broncos will be "prepared for everything" to ensure a smooth selection process on April 23-25.


"I think that's one thing where we don't know exactly what's in front of us," Elway said, "and so we will prepare for all different situations, especially if we can't get back into our complex and make sure that 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 Broncos would likely need to find a setup that allows them to connect with their own decision-makers, the NFL and other teams in the event of trades.


Elway said the Broncos are looking into holding the team's draft process away from the facility, if necessary.


Yet while the preparations will continue away from UCHealth Training Center, Elway reiterated Tuesday that the Broncos are "in good shape" for the start of the draft.


"I think the good thing is we've gotten a tremendous amount of work done already," Elway said. "Our scouts are already looking at juniors that are possible guys that come out next year in the draft. Our scouts at this point in time [have] moved on to next year. So, as far as this year's draft and the information and the reports that we've gotten from all the scouts, those are all in. We feel good about where we are. It helped us tremendously [that] Vic … had the coaches stay home from the Combine and spend one full week on the draft, and so all the coaches got all their reports in on the players in this year's draft. That was beneficial.


"… We feel pretty good about where we are. The draft staying where it is is fine. … We're in good shape."


Elway said the team will hold interviews with prospects via either phone or video conference, and the assistant coaches will be involved in those meetings.


Largely, though, Head Coach Vic Fangio believes the Broncos will rely on the film of the hundreds of prospects. For players who were not invited to the Combine and did not have a Pro Day because of the virus, that will be particularly important.


"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 goes on with it," Fangio said. "This is the year it will really be tested. It will be 90 percent what you see on tape, and we'll go from there. We do not have the workout times that you normally have to evaluate guys, but sometimes those workout times and that information just clouds the issue. It's nice to know what a guy runs a 40[-yard dash] in, but how fast does he run on tape is more important. A lot of times you can guess how fast a guy runs, generally speaking. It's more important what the tape is.


"That's what everybody says, and this will be the year that that's really put to [the] test."