ESPN vs. NFL Net. | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

ESPN vs. NFL Net.

Bro I enjoy listening to NFL Network during the draft as I enjoy and respect Mike Mayock more than Mel Kiper. To each his own. Hope you enjoy the draft.
 
I've been watching the draft since 1990 and always thought having ESPN was the greatest, just because, I could get my football and draft fix 24/7. But since NFLN debuted, there is no comparison as to who has the better draft coverage overall. NFLN is by far, the better network to watch for draft coverage and analysis. Mike Mayock and Charles Davis are fantastic. Now they've added Daniel Jeremiah to the mix and things have gotten even better.
 
I cannot stomach Chris Berman and Kiper....although I like Todd McShay on ESPN. The NFL Network is slightly better. Mayock does a decent job.
 
i tape em both...but watch the nfl network one real time...if you like the whole hip hop thing and music etc espns will hype you up...nfl network is pure football...the only thing i don't like about the the nfl network coverage is they waste too much times talking to college coaches who they have on as guest...i don't give a rip how you feel about a player you coached...give me more prospect analysis and meat and potatoes

i'll put to this way if you plan on watching it with your wife or significant other (which is a mistake in the first place) espn is probably the one that will keep them entertained more and help keep their traps shut...
 
The NFL Network takes kind of an unconventional approach to covering the Draft.

They actually talk about the picks as they are made!

I know it sounds crazy, where are the "human interest" features?Where are the boring roundtable discussions about the new Schedule or concussions?Why are they spending so much time talking about the player who was just selected and how he fits his new team?

I can't answer those questions, you will have to try to do that yourself.
 
I tape them both. I tend to watch ESPN real time (more commercials for breaks, food, etc) and then re-watch the NFL Network later b/c they break down better tape and go more in-depth.
 
NFL Network is just better in every way for serious football, imo. From a strictly audience standpoint: NFLN hires people and structures itself to speak to football fans only, all day; ESPN has to cater to baseball, football, basketball, etc. The general football talk on NFLN is just way better aside from the Gruden QB stuff which is fantastic. And Mayock + Jeremiah + Davis>>>>>>Kiper + McShay on draft night. Jeremiah in particular was a really good hire for them, he's really good at his job, imo - the NFLN guys in general just interact better with each other and don't have the trademark ESPN ego.
 
No contest. ESPN is the original and the classic best. Tremendous entertainment value. Berman prompting and needling Kiper is as much a part of the draft as the picks themselves. Great presentation, theme music and graphics with just the proper balance of analysis and curiosity.

Eisen is simply not in Berman's league. If he had been, he wouldn't have been a nobody at ESPN. Eisen can be crude when it's least appropriate. He has poor instincts in whose opinion he seeks on a given player or team. Overall it's a schlock presentation that desperately tries to save itself via wise guy content.

The best approach is to tape both of them, while picking one to focus on live. ESPN errs in demoting McShay the first day. He should be allowed to bicker with Kiper but obviously the other guys like Gruden have priority written into their contracts. During the final day, ESPN can wobble and spend too much time reviewing the early picks, while NFL Network continues to scrutinize the ongoing selections. Suzy Kolber launches her chirpy tone and asks one head coach after another about picks made two days earlier. At that point NFL Network is superior but even then the gap is not what many fans want to believe. NFL Network is spending considerably more time looking at first round picks than they did initially.

I saw this question asked a few days ago in a thread on the draft forum of footballsfuture.com. The author obviously anticipated an avalanche in favor of NFL Network. In fact, he arrogantly used capitalization in the header, asking if ANYBODY would watch ESPN?

LOL. That's an extremely confident board. Opinions that don't necessarily conform. I knew he wouldn't receive anything close to what he expected. It was virtually a split. The guys on that site don't cave in to conventional wisdom, or as if they have to answer to fit in with the crowd. That won't be popular but IMO it's the reason threads like this always favor NFL Network heavily. The people who take the time to respond believe they are safer if they say NFL Network.
 
Awsi nailed it exactly. ESPN is the far better option early on. They have a much wider access to college tape, better overall on-air talent and much better production values. Also, most of the pre-draft shows I watch are on NFL Network, which means I've already heard every clever line or unique angle I'm ever going to hear from those guys. I watch comparatively little of ESPN's pre draft shows, not just because they imbed them in other shows I don't want to watch, but also to keep it fresh. That's the best fit for me, as ESPN holds the nostalgia angle by a wide margin and it's overall a better viewing experience. The one year I watched NFL Network's coverage throughout was my least favorite draft to watch of any I've seen, and I've seen every pick of every draft since 1999. With that much history, all things being equal I'm going to prefer ESPN. But in this case it's not equal.

ESPN's coverage definitely falls away as the draft goes on, though. Awsi is right to point that out, with interminable interviews with coaches and GMs that waste valuable time and are bookend by commercials so that you lose 10 picks by the time they come back. By the third day I'm watching NFL Network.

Another thing: it still bothers me that they've extended it to three days and shortened the time between picks in the early rounds. It used to be a true Iron Man competition to watch it all. You had to plan out your meals and showers ahead of time. Now it's so much easier to watch it's opened the door to much more armchair analysis by people who don't spend the time. In that way it's a classic Goodell move... giving the league more surface area with no concern for depth, like pouring a glass of water on the floor.
 
interesting point about a fresh angle you may have not seen with espns coverage...it does kinda get to the point on nfl network where you know exactly what mayocks take on a player and feel is gonna be given all the path to the draft nfl combine senior bowl week coverage etc....can't say i've paid much attention to kiper or mcshays analysis...mcshays a hack anyways...

i know one thing that nfl network game changers show is god awful...looks like something i would expect from espn frankly...nothing to get out of it...fluff pieces
 
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