For the first time in my life, I didn’t see Mel Kiper once during the draft. Why? Because while ESPN was running it’s annual clown show, fully equipped with it’s 204 person cast, The NFL Network finally hit the nail on the head when it comes to draft coverage. After a couple of years of mimicking ESPN’s comedy act, The Network tried a novel idea this year. They actually talked about the teams and the prospects selected. Wow, imagine that.

I thought The Network’s Day 2 coverage was particularly exceptional. Obviously only football die-hards are watching the draft in Round 6 and I thought the station did a great job of talking about every prospect. I don’t love Mike Mayock but he’s the guy I want to hear from after a selection. ESPN has so many cooks in the kitchen, you never know what’s going on. Like him or not, I want to hear Mayock’s opinion on every pick so he can tell me how smart he is. Also, the spirited debates on the set between Mayock and Jamie Dukes really pushed The NFL Network’s coverage over the top. Dukes, who usually acts like a clown himself, was battling Mayock toe-to-toe, actually bringing up a number of well thought out arguments. It got to the point where I thought the two were actually going to fight each other. And both guys were bringing a lot to the table in these discussions, something I haven’t seen on ESPN since 1992.

Hey, we may not agree with all the opinions but I thought The NFL Network brought up a lot of good discussions on Day 2. For years now I have asked that someone provide NFL draft coverage for real football fans like us. I want to thank The NFL Network for finally delivering that coverage. A great job all the way around, while I’m sure ESPN and Chris Berman were most likely telling Knock, knock jokes.