Report: NFL’s mock draft hits hiccups starting with Bengals pick

The NFL had a good-intentioned mock draft Monday to simulate the experience ahead of Thursday’s first round.

And as one could have reasonably expected, things didn’t go as planned.

The test run hit issues starting with the Cincinnati Bengals up front. ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared a tweet from a person involved in the proceedings: “Mock draft today already technical glitch w Cincinnatis 1st pick!!! Brutal.”

It’s unclear what problem the Bengals could’ve been involved in during the proceedings. Prospects were randomized for the purposes of the exercise and Dallas was actually scheduled to pick first.

ESPN’s Dianna Russini added more insight into the proceedings as they unfolded:

I’m texting with multiple coaches and GM’s who are on this mock draft call and everybody is saying the same thing which is band width is a problem. There are many communication issues.

— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) April 20, 2020

Text from a GM during this mock draft “there are early communication issues because 32 of us GMs are on conference call and we didn’t hit mute. Sounds awful”

— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) April 20, 2020

Hiccups weren’t wholly unexpected given the unorthodox, isolated nature of this virtual draft. This exercise effectively aimed to stamp out any issues before Thursday.

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