MARK DOMINIK

The Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams should have plenty of company sitting out the first round of the NFL draft next week.

A year after having to rely solely on virtual visits the NFL returned to a normal spring evaluation process.

This year's NFL draft is like none other because teams weren't able to meet face-to-face with the pool of prospects outside the lucky few who got to play in the Senior Bowl after a season that was marked by opt-outs and cancellations.

(AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith, File)DENVER – Teams searching for an antidote to the high-octane offenses and mobile quarterbacks that dominate the modern NFL won't have to wait around for the draft. Free agency this year promises a deeper pool of possibilities than usual because the league's lost revenues during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 resulted in the first decrease in the salary cap in a decade. Then, the league scuttled its annual scouting combine in Indianapolis, making it harder still for teams to evaluate the incoming class. Ad“In the draft, you’re just shooting from the hip because you just haven’t really spent any time around players,” former Bucs GM Mark Dominik said. “You talk about being able to deal with all the speed, I love the linebacker group, off-the-ball linebackers," Jeremiah said.