Best of SI: Michael Pittman Jr. and the Coronavirus Draft

Other than idly tossing a football to himself in self-isolation at his Santa Ana, Calif., apartment—up, down, up, down—Michael Pittman Jr. hasn’t caught a single pass since the middle of March. Were this any other year, perhaps such news would raise eyebrows in NFL front offices, especially entering the upcoming draft, where the USC wideout is considered a mid-second-round candidate. Then again, this is a year like no other.

It’s not that Pittman, 22, is injured. He still trains daily at a public park, darting through cones and running routes under the socially distanced supervision of former NFL receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh. That element of his predraft routine has continued largely uninterrupted, excepting one recent afternoon when the police paid a visit. But, whereas he was once hauling in spirals from the likes of Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and presumptive No. 1 pick Joe Burrow at these workouts, Pittman hasn’t even seen those quarterbacks in nearly a month; he’s relegated, instead, to tracking invisible passes into his palms to avoid the potential health risk of catching real ones.

“The last time I touched a football from another person?” says Pittman, sounding almost wistful at the notion. “It’s been a while. Definitely, definitely weird.”

This warped reality is a tiny issue in today’s grand scheme, yet it’s one that every NFL prospect must navigate. Pro days and team visits have been canceled on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, replaced by hastily filmed workout footage and Zoom chats. The draft itself will be an all-remote affair, as GMs enter their selections from virtual war rooms and commissioner Roger Goodell announces them from his Westchester, N.Y., lair. As for minicamps, rookie symposiums and the rest of the standard offseason calendar—who knows?

Click Here to read the rest of "Michael Pittman Jr. Can't Catch a Pass," for FREE at Sports Illustrated!