There’s no other way to say this than the NFL Network dominated ESPN on Day One of the NFL Draft this past weekend. They scooped ESPN on just about every pick and trade and when ESPN was going to commercial, the NFL-N had every single pick live. Adam Schefter was the star of this Draft, as the predicted pick after pick while ESPN’s talking heads were not even talking about the right position. Mike Mayock is arguably one of the smartest people in all of Football, and came off so much better than the bickering duo of Kiper and McShay. Even the two people I usually can’t stand, Rich Eisen and Charles Davis, added to an already great broadcast.
The NFL Network isn’t ESPN, which is good, but that’s to say they don’t still have flaws on their coverage of the Draft. Sure they are light years better than ESPN, but every so often they’ll do something to make you cringe. The first thing was the layout of their graphics on the screen. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to ESPN’s layout but having the pick revealed on the top of the screen just threw me off. They had a giant bar at the bottom with information on the team picking, but a tiny one at the top. Just didn’t look right. Also, I personally can’t stand Deion Sanders and Marshall Faulk. I think they add nothing to a broadcast and one or both should be sent to the studio or home for good. Steve Mariucci and Brian Billick, while not necessarily bad, seemed kind of useless to me.
Oh, and if I hear that Bravery song they used for their telecast, I’m going to shoot myself.
Grades:
Rich Eisen: B-
Mike Mayock: B+
Steve Mariucci: C-
Charles Davis: B-
Jamie Dukes: C+
Adam Schefter: A+
Deion Sanders: D
Marshall Faulk: D+
Brian Billick: C+
Overall: B-/B
If it wasn’t for the fact that I had to watch both broadcasts for the site, I would have never changed the channel away from NFL-Network on Saturday or Sunday. They need to trim their roster down and it’s hard to tell if their telecast is good, or if it just looks good because ESPN’s is so bad.
(ESPN’s review coming shortly)
