The NFL's draft industrial complex took a hit this weekend, and I mean that in the most optimistic way possible. The 2020 virtual draft revealed a level of humanity, intimacy and spartan aesthetics that was not only pitch-perfect amid a national quarantine, but also suggestive of a new way of drafting.
We all hope the NFL never again has a reason to conduct a virtual draft. But some of the necessary inventions of this year's event -- both in structure and philosophy -- should carry on. The most significant revelation, of course, is that the NFL draft can function on something short of a war footing.