The first night of the 2022 NFL Draft featured plenty of surprise picks, valuable selections and trades across the league. The event, which was set up across part of the Las Vegas Strip, was telecast across various major networks, including ABC, ESPN and NFL Network.
One team that has contended for and won a Super Bowl over the last five seasons is the Kansas City Chiefs. Since the team finished with one of the best records in football last season, the Chiefs’ first selection in which they owned was 30th overall. Yet in an effort to improve its defense, the team traded the 29th overall pick, which it received in the trade with the Miami Dolphins that sent Tyreek Hill to South Beach, along with a third and fourth round selection to the New England Patriots in order to draft cornerback Trent McDuffie 21st overall.
While much of the conversation on 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City was focused on the Chiefs’ two first round selections, Trent McDuffie of Washington and George Karlaftis of Purdue, Fescoe in the Morning did discuss the broadcast itself. In fact Bob Fescoe believed that it was all perfectly scripted to fit in a given time interval, a perception he has had about the league for several years.
“We talked about [how] they wanted to fit everything into a three-hour window, and that’s essentially what they did last night,” said Fescoe. “I think the NFL has a way of telling people, ‘Alright, you got to make your pick now.’”
This deliberate timing of the draft being presented as a live, television show meant that NFL teams had to be ready to make their pick within 10 minutes of the previous pick. It felt at times though that teams were moving quicker, meaning that some of the feature stories being presented by the networks had to be cut to televise Commissioner Roger Goodell’s announcement of a selection.
“Right around when the Chiefs were making their first pick… Andrew Whitworth was on stage doing his NFL Man of the Year [announcement]; he’s got a serious message to deliver,” said show co-host Josh Klingler. “Then you see ‘Pick is in….’ It seemed like the picks were ready, and the show was holding it up at some points in time. I’m like, ‘Wow, they are really cooking through this thing.’”
Nonetheless, both hosts felt the show was enjoyable to watch as football fans, characterizing it as a “wild” slew of action. Fescoe was watching the NFL Network broadcast of the draft and exalted their broadcast team, which featured Rich Eisen, Ian Rapoport and Kurt Warner. He also spoke about the performance of a specific analyst he believes is overlooked in the sports media world.
“David Shaw is the most underrated analyst out there right now,” Fescoe expressed. “I know he’s still a football coach at Stanford, but he knows everything about every player. I think he is great.”
The second day of the NFL Draft begins at 7 p.m. EST, and will once again be broadcast on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network. Unlike round one, picks must be made within a seven-minute-window tonight, as the proceedings will conclude at 11:30 p.m. EST. The final day of the NFL Draft is tomorrow where rounds four through seven will be broadcast beginning at 12 p.m. EST.
