Six football experts who should replace current NFL studio analysts
Ever since the embarrassing display CBS put on at Super Bowl XLVII, it's been well-documented that a growing number of football fans are tired of the cliché-riddled, phoned-in analysis we're receiving from former athletes trying to linger in the spotlight by taking disgusting sums of money to add nothing of substance to NFL studio shows. For well-stated perspectives, take a look at what Drew Magary and Will Leitch had to say on the issue last week.
Do people really care what Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp and Shannon Sharpe have to say? Wouldn't you rather get unique, strongly-researched perspectives from men who actually put in the time to craft their opinions on the league, its teams and its players? That's why, in a perfect world, we'd replace these guys...
1. Shannon Sharpe
2. Bill Cowher
3. Dan Marino
4. Deion Sanders
5. Warren Sapp
6. Michael Irvin
7. Howie Long
8. Jimmy Johnson
9. Terry Bradshaw
10. Mike Ditka
11. Keyshawn Johnson
12. Tom Jackson
13. Cris Carter
With these guys...
1. Neil Hornsby: The Pro Football Focus founder has led a revolution regarding the way we analyze players and has made it easier to quantify the success (or lack thereof) players are having at all positions on the field. That kind of in-depth and specific analysis could provide more insight in minutes than all the current network pregame shows combined.
2. Mike Tanier: The Football Outsiders contributor is another hard-working football stats geek who works hard and offers a witty take on the game - much wittier than Shannon Sharpe thinks he brings to the table.
3. Chris Brown: Former players might know their X's and O's just as well as Brown does, but none of them would put in the effort that the Smart Football editor would.
4. Gregg Rosenthal: Why, when so many fans are tuning in almost entirely for fantasy football purposes, are there hardly any fantasy experts on the mainstream NFL studio shows? Let's change that with Rosenthal, who began his career at Rotoworld and now manages Around the League for NFL.com. In fact, he predicted the Super Bowl final score (Ravens 34, 49ers 31) exactly correct.
5. Pete Prisco: Not only does the CBSSports.com columnist know the game better than the vast majority of football writers, but he always tells it like it is with a blunt honesty that's missing on most networks.
6. Bill Barnwell: The Grantland contributor has one of the freshest voices and the brightest football minds in the current sports media environment. He would add a new perspective to ESPN's NFL coverage aside from the 72 ex-players and coaches analyzing the game on their airwaves.
You'll notice that column A has more names than column B, and that's deliberate. Let's be real. When it comes to NFL talking heads, less is more.
The problem with going with your suggestion is that the people you want to replace them with, are no names. The public relates to the ex-players. Even if they are not any good, the public wants to see a player....not someone else. If you are going to go that way, I am sure there is an excellent high school coach somewhere who would be great at breaking down plays. Why not put him in the booth too.
Good list but you still left out the #1 guy when it comes to football analysts and that is Greg Cosell. Watches almost more film than anyone due to his work at NFL Films. Has one of the best twitter accounts to follow during football season and is pretty much the most detailed guy out there. Widely regarded as the top guy for this type work by NFL GMs.
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Oneofone, you're an idiot. You're the only one making this about race. Nobody cares what color they are. If you want some "affirmative action," fine, we'll hire James Lofton. He's black and one of the best analysts out there.
@Andy_Fenelon @awfulannouncing Are you kidding me with Pete Prisco? Please add @gregcosell instead and thank me later. Prisco is a joke.
in other words get rid of the black guys and hire more white guys who no one knows and who have nothing to say. typical of an obscure 'sports' site
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Matt Bowen, former Bears lineman. Good follow on twitter, a ton of x's and o's stuff. Not a huge name, but clearly understand the game in a very cerebral manner.
How about Pat Kirwan? Tim Ryan should also be the lead color guy on FOX. Not Aikman's lame ass.
I stopped watching pre-game and halftime shows years ago. They offer nothing of substance. When I do happen to catch part of one by accident, my choice is justified.
I rarely watch any of the pre-game shows leading up to the 1:00PM kickoffs or for their half-time analysis. I find them to be a lot of useless and unnecessary chatter that offers me little in the way of information or entertainment.I think these guys are selected more for their recognition factor with the masses rather than for any cogent insights that they may provide for the thoughtful viewers who choose to tune in. I would like to see any of the six gentlemen mentioned be given a chance to succeed but will "the suits" and decision makers at the networks have the courage to break with safe choice of hiring "ex-jocks"?Would the new men have the ability to attract and retain the viewers so they stick and watch the endless stream of car,beer and cellphone commercials that we are all bombarded with? THAT is the real bottom line. Viewership and advertizing.
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Yes, Pete Prisco should replace the other awful announcers. The same Prisco that pronounced that 49ers are overrated and Arizona Cardinals would win NFC West before 2012 season. Yeah that guy. That guy is not 'awful'. Really.
@revafriedel @awfulannouncing @brad_gagnon Just kidding, but not really. But I did thank him. Nice to hear.
@PriscoCBS anxious to see how the Bears do w/their new HC. Very skeptical about that hire.
True enough. The only problem is that most people are morons. As George Carlin once said "Think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of what's left is even dumber than that". Your average dumb ass fan thinks hes getting something informative because he's getting it from a superstar athlete who can barely complete a coherent sentence.
fire dan marino,phil simms,skip bayless and put them in a cave the do nothing for sports!!!!
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Sounds good on pixels; however, I have read on more than one occasion that when ex-players and coaches break into announcing they are coached not to get to geeky or focus too much on the X’s and O’s. Until the people putting on these shows move away from the mile wide and inch deep mentality it really won’t matter who you get. Remind me again, when does NFL Sunday Matchup air????
@LastingsMilledgeville As ardent viewer of the various iterations of NFL Matchup, I always wondered why ESPN didn't give it more hype. The Edge version used to air 8:30 am originally, then they moved the EA Sports show to a painful 7:30 am (hello, hangover), while the State Farm-sponsored program now airs at a downright unbearable 6:30 am. Then again, they also used to air a version at 3:30 in the morning!
I wouldn't mind seeing fresher analytical viewpoints to balance out the player perspectives.
Peace,
Alex Guzman
