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Veteran NFL agent Joe Linta recently told a few of his draft prospects they should order a white dry-erase board.

With the coronavirus pandemic shutting down nearly everything, this is not part of normal preparation for the NFL draft, but this is a draft that is different than any of us have ever seen. Linta wants his players to be able to draw plays during virtual pre-draft interviews with teams. Each day NFL teams are interviewing prospects through video conferencing technology. Part of those interviews is sometimes being asked about a play. Hence, the dry-erase boards.

It is just one example of this unusual pre-draft period, during which players have been unable to participate in pro days or pre-draft visits. It is not going to affect players at the top of the draft, but agents are concerned about what it might do to the players projected as late-round picks or undrafted free agents who were not at the scouting combine in February and did not get to run and perform drills at their pro days.

“Those guys clearly feel it more than any player in any other situation,” said longtime New York-based agent Alan Herman.

While a player like Ohio State star Chase Young did not have much to gain or lose at a pro day, the lesser prospects can sometimes vault themselves into the draft or to a higher round through a strong pro day performance.

“One of the rules of thumb is the smaller the school, the more important the pro day [and] numbers are,” Linta, who is based in Connecticut, said.

One of Herman’s clients is Elijah Riley, a cornerback from Army. Riley spent 2½ months preparing for his pro day, which was canceled a week before it was scheduled once social distancing restrictions were put in place. Herman said teams have asked him about Riley’s speed, and his pro day would have been critical in demonstrating it to NFL teams. Herman said he ran in the 4.4s during his training, but teams won’t get to see that.

“He was denied that opportunity,” Herman said.

Some players have posted videos of them running the 40, but Herman said teams are not interested in those. If scouts are not there, they don’t trust the times. Who is to say it is not 38 yards instead of 40?

Both Linta and Herman said they are using their contacts to try to alert teams about their clients and tell them certain games they should watch. For instance, Herman has told teams to watch Riley against Michigan, a top opponent and a game where Riley played well.

Teams now can interview players up to three times a week for no longer than an hour at a time. It is not the same as in-person visits, in which prospects sometimes spent parts of two days with a team and could go to dinner and watch film with teams.

This year, teams are going to have to trust what happened in the fall more than the spring.

“It’s getting back to just old school scouting,” Linta said, “where these guys have to really grind on the film and base it on film and character in interview.”