Your full guide to NFL draft coverage, and ESPN’s curious choice. And media news
Much has changed about watching sports on television in recent months.
Heat and Marlins games are no longer on a regional sports network.
The first nine postseason NBA games streamed on Amazon Prime.
NBC has Sunday night NBA games and MLB games.
Netflix carried MLB’s season opener.
But stability remains a mark of NFL Draft coverage. Just weeks after acquiring ownership of NFL Network, ESPN is essentially “leaving well enough alone” this year, allowing the former league-owned network to deliver the same draft coverage, with the same announcers.
The ABC and ESPN coverage also will be very similar to previous years.
Your draft options tonight and the next three days:
▪ ESPN: The network returns with its same draft set on nights one and two (Mike Greenberg, Mel Kiper Jr., Booger McFarland and Louis Riddick), with Adam Schefter frequently chiming in from nearby.
The set for Saturday’s fourth through seventh rounds will feature Davis, Kiper Jr., Matt Miller, Riddick, Field Yates and Peter Schrager, with additional contributions from Kyle Brandt.
▪ ABC: Unlike ESPN, ABC’s coverage is more college- and feature-centric. Rece Davis returns as host with the same cast of analysts: Kirk Herbstreit (Thursday only), Desmond Howard, Nick Saban and Field Yates (Friday only). ABC will present its own coverage only on Thursday and Friday nights.
▪ NFL Network: Though it’s unclear if NFL Network will have its own draft coverage in 2027 and beyond, this year’s presentation will be nearly identical to past years, with a main set featuring Rich Eisen, Daniel Jeremiah, Charles Davis, Joel Klatt (Thursday and Friday only) and Kurt Warner (who will appear only Thursday).
Ian Rapoport joins Eisen, Jeremiah and Davis on set on Saturday.
▪ Pat McAfee will deliver his own presentation of the first round — with CBS’ Bill Cowher and other guests — on YouTube, TikTok, X and the ESPN App… Laura Rutledge will handle all on-stage player interviews.
▪ Though the Dolphins have seven of the top 94 picks (the most ever in the top 94), none of the networks will staff Dolphins headquarters.
The only teams that will be staffed by ESPN are the Raiders, Jets, Giants and Cowboys. NFL Network will have its own reporter at the Raiders, Jets, Giants, Chiefs and Cowboys.
It seems a poor use of resources for ESPN and NFL Network to double down on four different teams (such as Kimberly Martin and Judy Battista both reporting on the Giants) instead of beginning the inevitable cross-over integration of reporters from both networks.
Though it’s fluid, at this point, the only ESPN personalities scheduled to appear on NFL Network are Rutledge and Taylor McGregor, who will be stationed at the South Florida home of presumptive No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, interviewing the quarterback following his selection across ESPN, ABC and NFL Network.
▪ This is ESPN’s 47th draft, NFL Network’s 21st and ABC’s eighth.
It’s the sixth draft hosted by Greenberg (who followed Trey Wingo, who followed Chris Berman); the eighth anchored on ABC by Davis; and the 20th hosted by Eisen on NFL Network.
▪ Beyond coverage on “SportsCenter” on ESPN, there will be post-draft wrap-up shows on NFL Network at 11 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and 7 p.m. Saturday.
Rhett Lewis, former NFL quarterback David Carr, former running backs Michael Robinson and Maurice Jones-Drew and former receiver Steve Smith will appear on those programs.
This and that
Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is joining NBC’s Sunday night football studio show, as The Athletic reported. He’s expected to sit alongside Maria Taylor, Jason Garrett and Devin McCourty on the main desk. NBC did not retain Tony Dungy, who was moved from the studio to an on-site role a couple of years ago.
▪ According to Front Office Sports, YouTube is the heavy favorite to acquire five games that the NFL took from what had been part of NFL Network’s annual package.
▪ At least during the first 10 days of the playoffs, “Inside the NBA” is airing less than it did when it followed games on Turner.
ESPN or ABC has games only on five of the first 10 days, with Amazon and NBC/Peacock getting the majority of first-round games. But for the first time, Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will appear after every Finals game. ABC has every Finals during the 11-year deal.
ESPN will get 10 conference finals (including the East this year) during the 11-year deal, and NBC and Amazon each get six conference finals over the 11 years. NBC has the Western Finals this year.
For the first time, the NBA will have two competing rights-holders carry games simultaneously next week: On Tuesday, NBC will have Knicks-Hawks and ESPN will have Philadelphia-Boston and Minnesota-Denver.
▪ Samantha Rivera, who had been CBS 4’s No. 2 sportscaster, left after three years to relocate to Atlanta and take a network job that has not yet been announced.
Jaelen Gilkey is Mike Cugno’s backup for now, while the station decides whether to promote Gilkey or hire from outside for the permanent No. 2 job.
Here’s my Thursday morning Dolphins notebook, including a trade that should make sense to Miami.
This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 10:16 AM.
