NFLN PTtD Mayock vs. Matt Hayes

[Roy P]

I was watching the NFL Network (surprise!) and their show Path To The Draft today. Matt Hayes was on today, I have no idea who he is, but he was jumping Mike Mayock at every turn. First, he got on Mayock about Clausen and his possible 'leadership' issues being overblown. Later on he was pumping up Brandon Graham and trashing Carlos Dunlop and Jason Pierre-Paul. Oh and he was downplaying Derrick Morgan as being a player who was 'lost' during the game. While I happen to agree with Hayes on several of his points, I thought he was a total dick. It seemed like he was a 'guest' who came into Mayock's house as the NFLN draft Guru and started pissing on the carpet. I sort of got the feeling that he was trying to make a name for himself, and I suppose since I'm talking about it, he succeeded.

Mayock has a fine line that he must walk as a draft analyst. Not only does he need to voice 'his opinion' but he has to lay out what other teams are thinking. While I agree that Dunlop, Pierre-Paul, and E. Griffen have a lot of risk and I wouldn't draft them in the first round, there are teams who will believe that they are going to be the best available pass-rushers and draft these guys in the first round in hopes of coaching them up and getting some production.

That's one of the reasons why I like just making a draft board for the Texans only. I don't have to take into account all teams, schemes, coaches, systems, and personalities.

I was just wondering if anybody else saw this exchange today. Controversy can lead to ratings. I've never seen this Hayes guy before, and perhaps that was the idea. Instead of having everyone just go along with Mayock, they bring in an antagonist. Again, I didn't think he was wrong in his opinions, just didn't agree with his tone or demeanor.

[Roy P]

Just wanted to add that Bucky Brooks came in as the 'voice of reason' in that he discussed how measurables must be taken into consideration. That's why Carlos Dunlap and Everson Griffen are being talked about in the same round as Graham.

[nunusguy]

I suspect the NFL Network thinks it's necessary to mimic the edgy controntation that goes on over at ESPN between McShay vs Kiper, though that's really not very interesting or even entertaining for me, maybe because Mayock has probably forgot more about football than either one of those 2 guys ever knew. Then there's the whole thing from the larger stage of current cable with Fox, MSNBC, CNN, etc. with people shouting at each other and ridiculing each other - good for ratings they say ?
Me, I'm gonna spend most of my time next week watching Mayock & company during the Draft with only an occasional glance-in at ESPNs coverage.

[TexanJedi]

Yeah, I saw that. It was like this guy wanted to pick a fight and you could see Mayock was not happy. Sure some guys fall through the cracks due to measureables, but as Bucky said history shows that they are important.

[NBT]

I saw that piece and thought the guy was a total jerk trying to get Mayock's goat.

[Bigtinylittle]

The great thing about that style of journalism is that you really don't have to know much about sports to do it, so it's fairly easy to keep your job.

The posters on this board are not typical fans at all. We see through this BS because we REALLY want to know what's going on. Most fans are much more casual about it and just want a bit of entertainment. They're pretty easy to fool.

There are way to many of these BSers in radio and TV for my taste. When I watch football on TV I usually end up turning off the sound because I can't stand the BS. College games are the worst.

[Roy P]

As I was watching the Senior Bowl practices and the Combine this year, I was a bit perturbed and underwhelmed. I may be in the minority, but I imagine the type of fans who watch practice and guys running in shorts are pretty serious. There is no need to explain to me what the 3-4 defense is at least once an hour so that I can understand what a hybrid OLB is. I get it already. While I understand the need to cover the top 20 prospects, it would be nice if these 'analysts' would spend some time discussing the 4th and 7th round prospects. They devote hours to coverage and then fill it with same old fluff about Tim Tebow and a Youtube clip of JP-P doing backflips. Mayock gets on my nerves with his "Are you kiddin' me?" and the 'heavy-legged waist-bender' - 'best in a phone booth' - 'quicker than fast' - 'spread offense pass-catching TE' cliche's. However, he tries to keep the discussion focused on the prospects. For that, I give him credit. However, Charles Davis is a 'yes man' and gives little insight. There were things that I sort of agreed with that Matt Hayes was saying, but he was such a jerk that I was tempted to just turn it off.

[Roy P]

Mayock and Jason Lacanfore or however you spell his name got into it today. Jason was trying to promote the idea that Big Ben may be getting traded out of Pittsburgh. Mike Mayock was taking the high road saying that he was an analyst and would not engage in speculation. Jason then quirpped, it's not just 'speculation' and was trying to pat himself on the back that he had inside sources that conversations were taking place. It sort of reminded me that Mayock got into it during the draft when T.O. or perhaps Randy Moss was being discussed by Adam Schefter and Mayock got pissed saying that he would rather talk about the prospects who were ACTUALLY getting selected.

Just funny to see the difference between an Analyst vs. a Reporter.