And of course they showed him on the phone before they went to break so it was obvious what the pick was going to be anyway. Quality stuff, ESPN.

I agree!!! It's not like they showed it at the bottom when it happened, or showed it as soon as they came back from commercials!! Damn it, the whole point is to see the commissioner announce it as it happens!! Waiting is for losers!!

morale: you just should have been watching it on NFL Network in the first place.

It seems like with more analysts, ESPN has less actual content.

There was an article written by the Ombudsman at ESPN.com about how people were complaining about too many analysts on SportsCenter. Since then they have gone back to a highlight/news program with less analysis. This move has actually made SC better and I think the same thing needs to be done with the draft.

@ Daniel, you're an idiot.

@ Odessasteps....not all people have NFL-N (Comcast, love ya, but you ripped us off).

I think it's pretty universal that ESPN's draft coverage has jumped the shark. NFL Net is better, but many of us don't get it, so we're forced to endure the tired old act of Berman and Kiper.

And they know that; so they'll keep on doing the same tired, over-produced shtick every year until they're either knocked off their perch or Mel Kiper finally succumbs under the weight of his hair helmet.

ESPN in years past has shuttled between giving the second round the respect it deserves and treating it like crap. This year was definitely the latter, but it may have been deserved because the second round moved almost as fast as the later rounds.

What I'd really like to see is some network plop a host, an analyst, and maybe one other personality and do nothing but non-stop analysis of every single pick of the later rounds. Not even NFL Network is immune to sending it off to the studio for a bunch of nonsense covering that which we've already covered to death from the first day and missing a bunch of picks in a row. What if one of those sleepers who turns out to be a legend gets selected in one of those picks you just gave nothing more than a brief display at the top and/or bottom of the screen while you were yammering about the first round or even unrelated stuff?

I don't think the NFL.com live feed of the NFL Network broadcast was working... I'd probably have watched it otherwise. If it doesn't work I'll probably still avoid ESPN and just imagine myself giving the sort of coverage I'd like.

It's indicative of what ESPN has become - a lot of noise and little substance. How many people are needed to offer analysis on the draft? Apparently in ESPN's case, about 74.

How many times was the commissioner at the dais announcing a pick and one of the talking heads was babbling about a pick from 20 minutes ago.

ESPN just makes me sick. Perhaps the NFL can approach them and let them know that when the picks are announced, all idiots must be silent.

Now if only my Chiefs would miss their picks!

Oh come on, people. I can't understand your whining about not seeing Goodell announce them. Here's a hint: he's not saying anything that won't be shown on the bottom of the screen the second it happens, okay? He's not telling jokes, or sharing great analysis, he's just saying team, pick number, name, position, and school. Which immediately flashes at the bottom of the screen for all the world to see.

Now, if ESPN were ignoring certain picks, say, pretending they hadn't happened at all, and we were all left wondering for hours who the Steelers picked, then okay. But don't act like a spoiled brat because you have to wait until after the commercial. That's just childish.

I watched the whole NFLN show yesterday after watching the draft for years on ESPN, and there's no comparison: NFL Network's strength is that their draft show is almost all about football, whereas ESPN is largely about the schtick, and about making room for star analysts to bloviate. On NFLN, Mike Mayock provides the same level of draft-wonkery that Mel Kiper does without the obnoxious, know-it-all personality. Granted, you have to put up with Deion Sanders, but his interviews with the top picks were less objectionable than Suzy Kolber using her best soft-n-sexy voice to ask them "how do you feel?"

The NFLN show got a little sloppy toward the end, but my experience in broadcasting tells me that any show is going to get sloppy after it's been on the air eight hours. I'd like to see them clean up headache-inducing graphics, but apart from that, I can't complain.

If you guys are watching today you will notice ESPN has been much better, at least in my opinion. With Trey, Jaws, and Cris Carter (who has been really good actually) this booth has been upgraded from a D to a B. Now if they would just stop going to Bristol with Tony Reali I would love their coverage. The only guys worth listening to in Bristol is Michael Smith.

But the booth today is way better and they are going over picks much better minus the Bristol cut-ins.

By the way, why all the hate on Mel? He knows his stuff. Maycock does too.

Good point Brett. Day 2 is usually better on ESPN because they cut the deadwood from the set and just talk football.

moondog, maybe the NFL should just take away ESPN's NFL package. It would help us all.

Hey AA, not sure if you saw this but when the Jets made their pick at 30 one of the fans flips the ESPN camera the bird.

Brett, you did not say that Michael Smith is worth watching? He's horrible and full of himself at the same time... What the hell does he know?

The Jet fan giving ESPN the bird was great- and true...

DeSean Jackson & Devin Harris looked ticked, while Brohm & Henne looked sad...