NFL DRAFT: SEARCH FOR THE STARS

About the series

Pro days have been canceled, pre-draft visits have been shut down, scouts have been told to stay home and watch film. The coronavirus has impacted the world, no doubt. But maybe it will improve the NFL Draft. Teams instead will have to make their determination on players based on game tape and NFL Combine numbers, medicals and interviews and not on enhanced pro-day performances and social-media chatter. The Star-Advertiser, with input from a long-time NFL scout, will review each position, providing player vitals, along with comments on the top players.

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The intrigue and drama of this year’s NFL Draft can be boiled down to the top-heavy strength of the offensive line, a deep pool of wide receivers, two uniquely skilled players and the unknown involving an injured Hawaii star.

While the main attraction and all its public pageantry — where the public gets to see players walk down the red carpet and cheer, or jeer in some cases — will not be held in Las Vegas because of COVID-19 pandemic concerns, the NFL announced that the draft will proceed on April 23-25 and will be televised.

Whether there’ll be a green room for players as they wait to fist-bump commissioner Roger Goodell has not been determined, but the real action will take place in the 32 teams’ war rooms.

It is there in Florida that the mystery has been developing for months as the Miami Dolphins, armed with three first-round picks, including No. 5 overall, have been aligned with the talented but recovering star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Dolphins fans even came up with the phrase “Tank for Tua,” as the team jettisoned their top players heading into the 2019 season. And during the free-agency period, the Dolphins have been beefing up their defense, likely leaving the offense to come from the draft.

There’s no doubting the ability of Tagovailoa, who was a phenom at Saint Louis, then a star at Alabama, where he came off the bench to lead the Crimson Tide to a national title as a freshman. But a complication came on Nov. 16, when Tagovailoa suffered a dislocated hip while being tackled by two Mississippi State players.

Since then, he’s been recovering and rehabbing. Following a checkup earlier this month, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Tagovailoa’s scans were “very good with no concerns.” Rapoport added that tests came back “essentially as positive as possible.”

Still, so far the only sight of Tagovailoa was when he shared video of a workout earlier this week. He was scheduled to have pro day — or show day — on April 9, but that’s probably on hold, too.

Where he lands — Miami, the L.A. Chargers, Washington, New England — will be a major talking point of the draft.

More clear-cut appears to be the No. 1 overall pick.

No drama there, as the Cincinnati Bengals are expected to pick hometown player Joe Burrow, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and national championship game MVP of LSU.

Burrow is one of two players who piqued the interest of a long-time NFL scout who was interviewed at length for this series of draft stories.

The other is Clemson multi-position star Isaiah Simmons.

“Burrow and Simmons might be the two best that I’ve ever seen,” said the NFL scout, who has studied players for nearly five decades.

“Burrow is scary because he’s a one-year player,” said the scout, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. But this year “he was just perfect. Every game you watch him. Nothing seemed to disturb him.”

The NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has already dropped the GOAT comparison, labeling Burrow as having Tom Brady qualities, but with more athletic ability.

Simmons, meanwhile, dropped jaws at the NFL Combine, running the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds on a 6-foot-4, 238-pound frame.

But it’s his versatility that has teams spellbound. The Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year lined up at defensive end, linebacker and safety as well as other spots for the Tigers.

“It’s like getting three first-round draft picks in one,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said in an Associated Press article after the school’s pro day on March 12, the day the sports world came to a halt.

But the areas that have the most foundational players aren’t at quarterback or linebacker but at wide receiver and the offensive line, especially at the tackle position.

“I think this may be the best group of offensive lineman that I’ve seen,” the scout said. “I got three (tackles) in the top 10.”

The receivers, meanwhile, boast so much talent that Jeremiah said he rated 27 receivers with top-three-round grades.

Regardless, there will be talent at every position to satisfy the teams and their fans.

“The draft is what you put into it,” the scout said. “People say there are good years and bad years — there are always players out there.”

But how will the draft turn out with no pro days and team visits?

“(You) have to go back to the old drafts, which were better drafts, where they used to be held two weeks after the Senior Bowl and the coaches couldn’t get involved. And you didn’t have anybody getting excited about running around in their undershorts,” the scout said.

“People forget what happened in September and October, and they just remember what happened in March. And the problem in March is, they’re in shorts.”