NFL Network plans to have more than 45 hours of live coverage of the 2013 draft, coordinating producer Charlie Yook told USA Today‘s Michael Hiestand in a story published Thursday. The live coverage is a record for an NFL draft for the network, Yook said.
Also notable was Yook’s disclosure of NFL Network’s plans regarding how it will deal with knowing whom the teams will pick before the league announces it on-stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
“We’re trying not to tip the picks,” Yook told USA Today. We want to show the element of surprise for the viewer, even though we’ll clearly know in-house. And it will be OK for analysts to speculate.”
Ah, yes -- informed speculation. Those who listen closely to NFL Draft coverage on NFLN and ESPN will be seasoned pros at picking up on it by draft’s end. Moreover, news of picks often finds its way onto Twitter before the card ever gets read. You may recall one NFL owner who was way ahead of the game last year.
Overall, there’s probably a little less drama about who will be picked where on Draft Day now than there was, say, a generation ago. Call it a generalization reflective of the times. (After all, Twitter just celebrated its seventh birthday.) Moreover, there is a strong appetite for draft coverage, and there is great media competition.
That said, there has probably never been a better time to be a draft enthusiast. There is so much information at our fingertips. Superscouts are few and far between, but anyone willing to put in the time to learn more about the game has more resources to do so than ever.