Of the NFL studio, booth, and field analysts on Fox, ESPN, NBC, and CBS, who offers the best analysis (not really taking personality into account, if possible)? Discuss.
We talking all time or current?
All time, although I haven’t heard his entire body of work, would be Howard Cosell. Currently, I’d have to say it’s…um…crap. They all kinda suck.
I’m digging the Tony Kornheiser Experiment right now, though. I think he and Theismann are going to trade blows sometime very soon. It better be televised.
I dug Dennis Miller, as well, but I wouldn’t throw him on top of the heap in this discussion.
We should also subdivide it into “past players” and “other guys”. I also dug Dan Fouts.
First person to say “John Madden”…well…you see this foot? Boom! Right up the middle? See how your asscheeks shook when I hit the hole?
(“First down is a good down”) God I hate that man.
Ron Jaworski. He might sound like Dan Akroyd doing some takeoff, but he is an excellent analyst and especially good at pointing out why certain things are happening in plays. He does this show called NFL Matchup that’s on at 8:30 AM EST on ESPN. If you like X’s and O’s, check it out.
The problem with asking this question is that it’s the rare fan who understands analysis. To wit,
How about, first person to nominate a guy (Cosell) who does play-by-play and not analysis. . .well. . .boom. . .right out of the thread.
There’s no one on TV who I like as much as Gregg Easterbrook (in print), or the Football Outsiders.
Madden’s excellent at dissecting line play, picking up on blocks, and traps, and pulls, which a lot of viewers, and broadcasters tend to ignore. See, for instance, his focus on Jamal Williams last night. He was man-handling the Pittsburgh offensive line and I bet no one would have noticed if Madden hadn’t started keying on him.
If you were watching after the Eagles-Cowboys game yesterday, every analyst focussed on how Philly’s blitz killed Dallas. What they all seemed to miss was that Dallas’ blitz killed Dallas. Wait and see what Easterrbrook has to say about that tomorrow. The 87 yard TD pass. . .right to where the corner blitz came from. Dallas still put up 17 points on O, and was 5 yards from making it 24 when Bledsoe threw the pick.
Part of the problem is “you gotta get pressure on the QB” has become a gospel with NFL analysts, and they never criticize blitzes that fail. They only give props to blitzes that work.
I agree that Jaworski is good. He’s a bit too “pass-centric” in his analysis, but most other guys are too run-centric. Passing is typically a more efficient means of moving the ball, and a lot of the run-centric guys seem to overlook this.
There are no analysts that seem to have good game management skills. They talk up Belichick for being aggressive in going for it on 4th down all the time without realizing that it’s not really aggressive – it’s just smart. Even Al Michaels (play by play) last week during the Seattle-Chicago game says, “now it’s 4th down and the Seahawks have to punt”. They were down by 21 with about 15 minutes left. “now it’s 4th down and the Seahawks have to go for it” is what he should have said.
There’s a lot of inertia in coach-think and analyst-think. Some writers have keyed to this. Very few guys on TV have.
All time: Al Derogatis
Honorable mention: Howard Cosell
Cris Collinsworth is about as astute a guy as there is out there. He is generally really well researched and does a fantastic job of highlighting match-ups to focus on. He tends to be alternately critical and praising at appropriate times, in other words he calls bad play bad instead of just praising the other team who basically got a free pass. Too often you hear color guys saying a WR made a great play on a long catch when it’s clear the DB tripped over his own two feet leaving him utterly uncovered. Same with running backs making “great runs” on plays where the hole is 10 yards wide and he doesn’t need to make a single cut.
Jaworski is excellent too and when he had a rare chance to call a game live on the Monday Night game in week 1 you could really tell how much better he was at that job than Theisman was. I like his analysis but he makes a superior color man too.
Troy Aikman has shown the potential to be a first rate color man too. Pretty level headed up there and avoids the over-the-top superlatives that most guys use as a crutch. Every good player isn’t “one of the all time greats” with him.
It’s easier to list the worst. Theisman, MaGuire, Deirdorf.
One more thing, the best of all time however is Keith Jackson. While he only called one season’s worth of NFL games he’s so much better than everyone else at his job he deserves special mention in this thread. It’s not a big game unless Jackson is calling it, I so wish we’d have had him calling Super Bowls all these years.
Play by Play NFL: Al Michaels still (though he is slipping). Jim Nantz is close
Color: This is such a matter of taste. TK is pretty good one…I’d go there - Phil Simms and Aikman are second level today
Cosell all timer.
I don’t really have an opinion on “best”, but …
Fuckin’ A, man. If one were to give a prize for the all-time most annoying …
Last night they were talking about that place that weighed the food and Madden was saying he wouldn’t go there.
Al Michaels says, “you know what ‘hot new chef’ means? It means it’ll be closed in 6 months.” I love him. That guy eats steak. Period.
Omniscient took my answer. I think Chris Collinsworth is about the best at pure analysis. He’s objective, stays on topic, is good at explaining intricacies of the game and doesn’t get carried away with his own personal “bits,” anecdotes, grievances or man-love for certain players. I also liked that he was willing to rip Brett Favre in that playoff game against the Eagles a couple of years ago (the one where Favre wheeled and threw a blind rainbow deep that got intercepted late in the game…that was also the 4th and 26 game). That was one of the few times I’ve heard a TV guy willing to say that Favre lost his team a game or call one of his stupid decisions a stupid decision instead of just glossing it over as Favre being “competitive.”
And the worst at randomly pissing someone off. I like him inbetween yeaaling at the TV for him to STFU.
My fav though, hands down… Rich Eisen.
I like Don Criqui and wonder how he went from calling the top games to Arizona vs Cleveland?
Oh my god, I’m so happy to know I’m not the only one! That’s exactly my reaction to him. I think he probably is the best out there, but sometimes I just want to strangle him (most times?).
Oh and Mike Patrick, now calling college games, was the lone professional from the Patrick-Theismann-Mcguire trio.
When I crafted the OP, I was thinking about current analysts. I don’t pay too much attention to them, so I wondered if, for example, Bradshaw’s analysis was any better than, say, Berman’s… or if Tom Jackson, for example, was considered more astute than Aikman, etc.
Cris Collinsworth is the most misarable sack of putrid hooker vomit to ever lurch his way onto a broadcast set. He’s the definition of smarmy and phony and just his voice makes me want to pick up my television and slam the screen down on my head. I know it’s rather irrational on my part, but he’s one of those celebrities that I automatically hated on sight.
I came close to throwing the flipper last time I heard Madden. He sucks. The master of the obvious. I Like Jaws .Liked Cosell . Dennis Miller was fun. If Kornheysey was bigger ,he and Theisman would have a punch out. Giford was good play by play. Meridith was fun and didnt mind saying when a game sucked also had a sense of humor. Gary Danielson has insite would do well with the opportunity.
My biggest pet-peeve about NFL analysis is the collection of egos the networks like to throw together on their pre-game shows. Michael Irvin never says anything informative; he just tries to yell over the other “analysts.” A couple of weeks ago, Tom Jackson asked if Irvin was retarded on-air. It was painful to watch.
Same goes Sean Salisbury and…that dorky lookin little guy with the glasses. They usually do Fact or Fiction on SportsCenter. It seems like they genuinely dislike each other. I’d pay good money to see a pre-game crew that doesn’t include any huge egos or morons reciting their tired old slogans.
Despite his own tired old slogans, I happen to like Madden. He does tend to point out the obvious quite a bit, but, as Trunk said, he picks up on some of the X’s and O’s that the typical viewer would generally ignore.
This doesn’t regard analysts, but Tirico is one of my all-time favorite play-by-play guys. He’s got a great huge-play voice. Does he still do college games?
The best trio I’ve ever heard was Vermeil, Jaws and Otherdude for that MNF game this year, despite the fact that it was the only game I’ve heard the three together. That reflects very, very poorly upon those who put the teams together and determine their games.
Best individual: Love Keith Jackson. Michaels has some big upside, though I don’t always like him and get the feeling he’s an asshole outside the booth. Love, love, LOVE Jim Henderson locally with the Saints games. This clip sums it up pretty well.
Worst trio: Tune into ESPN now.
Worst individuals: Joey Sunshine, Brian Baldinger. And I’m really starting to sour on Kornheiser after liking him a lot on PTI. I may have underrated Wilbon’s importance to the show as it generally sucks when either one is out, especially when Witten subs.