Sports insights nfl5/4/2023 His foresight in investing in ProFootballFocus and trying to help bring nerdy numbers from the fringes to the mainstream was borderline revolutionary. Indeed, the 2020 season represented some of Collinsworth’s worst moments, including expressing shock that there are female NFL fans.Ĭollinsworth does deserve credit for continuing to try to innovate within the stuffy confines of the broadcast booth though. There just isn’t the aw-shucks gusto of old. Sometimes, it’s fun just to treat it as such.Īfter holding the best-analyst-in-the-booth championship belt until Romo’s debut in 2017, NBC’s Collinsworth has been in a steady decline. And it is essential listening, if nothing else but to remind you that while this game is brilliant and at times all-consuming, it remains a game. Billy’s weekly “useless sound montage” highlights the greatest Coach Speak hits of the past week. That brings us to Billy Gil – or Guillermo – of the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. Those who poke and prod at the edifice bring an extra dimension – find an analyst who can hit all five and you have a true five-tool player. No league takes itself as seriously as the NFL. The NFL’s best analysts tend to fall into one or two of a crucial few categories: they cover the X’s and O’s of the game explain the intricate details of the cap ramifications and roster construction speak to how the game is intertwined with the culture at large or share their experiences playing in the league.īut there’s another element to covering the sport – the goofy side. With Jon Gruden’s sometimes-infectious, sometimes-puzzling antics absent from Monday Night Football for the foreseeable future, Riddick is ESPN’s best hope of building a component broadcast over the long-term – the only issue: every hiring season Riddick interviews for an increasing number of general manager jobs.Ħ) Billy Gil, the Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz And then he is able to deliver them without ever sinking into the know-it-all, look-how-smart-I-am tone that can undercut other analysts. Riddick, you learn as a viewer, is constantly watching tape in order to formulate his opinions. With some analysts, *cough* Rex Ryan *cough*, you get the sense that they rolled up on set ready to make a point for hot-takes sake or that they’re fumbling their way through segments with little study or preparation. He can breakdown why the Broncos are rolling the wrong safety in their Rip-Liz match coverage all he wants, but sometimes he just wants to scream ‘wow’ when Patrick Mahomes starts to do Patrick Mahomes things. Romo hits on the perfect intersection of fan and analyst while calling a game. The giddy, childlike act may have grown tiresome for some, but it beats the droning booths that occupy much of the NFL landscape. Just because his style is no longer fresh does not mean that he’s no longer the best. He is polished and concise and, while the nature of draft coverage means it is dripping in jargon, Jeremiah refuses to work in cliches. If X’s & O’s are your thing, Jeremiah’s player breakdowns, TV hits, and Move the Sticks podcast will hit all your football erogenous zones. Jeremiah is the NFL’s top in-house draft analyst. She’s a brilliant writer too and her podcast provides an excellent look at the league (and pet dogs). Insightful and informative, Kimes also happens to be a living, breathing meme. A former business reporter, Kimes brings an objective, intellectual, numbers-based approach to understanding the game, a rarity among ESPN’s growing line-up of hot-air blowers. Whereas Foxworth works with a player-gone-corporate-gone-rogue personality, Kimes works in the reverse space. Foxworth is happy to explain all of the league’s inner workings. They don’t want to reveal the trade secrets or to criticize too forcefully, just in case they’re invited back into the inner sanctum. One moment he is explaining why the Chargers prefer to play Banjo coverage against stacked formations, the next he is happy to discuss the decline of the banjo as a tier-one instrument.Ī whole bunch of former players/coaches turned analysts operate under a code of omertà. No one else who has straddled those two different worlds delivers their assessments with as much humor, insight and ruthless honesty as Foxworth. He has dealt with locker room in-fighting. He has negotiated with Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder. Few other analysts can take you from the locker room to the boardroom so effectively.
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