There are two things ESPN and NFL Network executives actively root for above all else when it comes to the annual reading of college football names off an index card. The first is highly-touted quarterbacks and skill position players, because the public is already familiar with them. Last year was a bounty for the networks given Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields and Mac Jones had all had played in national championships and high-profile games. There were five quarterbacks selected within the first 15 picks, including the first three picks of the draft (Lawrence, Zach Wilson and Trey Lance). Of the first 15 picks in 2021, nine were either quarterbacks, wide receivers or tight ends. That’s ideal.

Why this matters to ESPN and the NFL Network (and the NFL) should be obvious — historical metrics confirm that highly-touted college quarterbacks lead to big viewership. Last year’s opening round of the NFL Draft drew 12.52 million viewers, the second-largest audience in NFL Draft history behind 2020, which produced 15.6 million viewers.  The 2020 NFL Draft was highlighted by three quarterbacks in the top six selections (Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert) and eight wide receivers over the first 34 picks. That year drew an average of 8.4 million viewers for all three days of the Draft across ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes and digital channels. Last year’s complete three-day total across all networks was 6.1 million viewers, the third-most viewed ever.

The second element ESPN and NFL Network executives are rooting for this week? Chaos. You want surprise picks and trades galore to ramp up the intrigue. You want drama. You want the unexpected. Never forget this is a television show.

Under this backdrop, this year’s NFL Draft is going to offer us interesting data on whether the NFL Draft has gotten so big and so popular that it no longer matters if you lack a Burrow or Lawrence at the top. Most experts predict the top three picks will either be edge rushers such as Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson, Georgia’s Travon Walker and Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux, or offensive linemen such as N.C. State’s Ikem Ekwonu or Alabama’s Evan Neal. The two highest-ranked quarterbacks are Pittsburgh’s Kenny Picket and Malik Willis of Liberty, and they are far from household names. (They could be in years to come, but they are objectively not nearly as identifiable as Lawrence and Fields were).

In an interview with The Athletic, Seth Markman, a vice president of production for ESPN and the longtime point person for ESPN/ABC’s NFL Draft presentation, said he believes the NFL’s popularity has reached such heights that the lack of quarterbacks at the top of the draft will not be as impactful as it might have before.

“This is reminiscent for me of the year [2013] that Eric Fisher was the first pick and Luke Joeckel was the second pick,” Markman said. “You get one of those every now and then. One of the challenges in the last month was to try to introduce players to fans, because they’re not as much household names. So in the lead-up and then during the draft, it’s up to us to do our best to introduce the players, tell you their stories, and then from a football side explain why these tackles and pass rushers are really good. I know it’s convenient for me to say it right now, but I think the NFL and the Draft have exploded to such a degree that we’re not quite as reliant anymore on Tim Tebow or Johnny Manziel, those famous examples. I think fans are going to tune in to see their teams pick. Obviously, it’s not what we’d prefer, but I don’t think we’re going to see some scenario where it’s like, wow, this is the lowest rated first round ever because there weren’t quarterbacks. I think we’re just past that.”

Charlie Yook, the executive producer of NFL Media, is Markman’s counterpart at the NFL Network. He told The Athletic over the weekend that his NFL Network staffers have thought about how to present this unique draft for a couple of months. They believe they can sell the unknown. (Yook is the person who told me years ago that he roots for chaos above all.)

“Our thought is that we’re going to take a perceived weakness as a strength, which is, yes, this is not a typical year where there’s a face of a franchise like a Trevor Lawrence,” Yook said. “But I’ll turn it around and ask you or anybody else: Was Patrick Mahomes a household name when he was selected in 2017? Was Tom Brady when he was selected 199th overall? No. Are those extreme examples? Absolutely. But the point here is this. None of us know anything. There is intrigue with the No. 1 overall pick. We have no idea who is going to be. It’s four or five names. Who’s to say that Aidan Hutchinson is not going to be the next Reggie White? Is that obnoxious? Of course. But we don’t know because he’s never played a down yet in the NFL. So that’s what we’re building on.”

Markman and Yook sold their cases with passion, but I’m skeptical. Not about the popularity of the NFL Draft — that’s beyond obvious — but whether the viewership can entirely withstand the lack of quarterbacks and skill position players at the top. I think it will be down from last year. Yook said he liked that both New York City area teams have two picks inside the Top 10 and popular teams (Chiefs, Eagles, Lions, Saints) have multiple first-round picks. One thing that helped the overall viewership number the last couple of years is the addition of ABC to the coverage. The networks are once again throwing a massive amount of resources at the three-day event in Las Vegas.

The draft kicks off Thursday at 8:00 PM ET for Round 1. Friday features Rounds 2-3 beginning at 7:00 PM ET. The Saturday coverage (Rounds 4-7) begins at Noon ET.

What do the networks have planned? Let’s start with the NFL Network. This is the 16th year that the league-owned network will offer live on-location coverage. Its opening round coverage features host Rich Eisen, Daniel Jeremiah, Charles Davis and Stanford Head Coach David Shaw on the main set at the Bellagio. Kurt Warner and Joel Klatt will be on a second set. Insider Ian Rapoport will also be part of the opening night coverage, as will Melissa Stark, who will interview the draftees onstage following their selection. The one Friday night change has Chris Rose and Peter Schrager on the second set. Saturday’s slog features Eisen, Jeremiah, Davis and Schrager on the main set.  Rachel Bonnetta makes her live NFL Draft debut on Saturday as a correspondent.

For the fourth consecutive year, there will be separate NFL Draft presentations on ABC and ESPN on Thursday and Friday. (The network said ESPN’s coverage on Friday may shift to ESPN2 dependent on NBA Playoff telecasts.) The ESPN broadcast focuses on how the picks will impact NFL teams and the statistical side of players. The ABC broadcast focuses more on backstory and storytelling. On Saturday, ESPN’s presentation will be simulcast on ABC.

ESPN’s main set will be hosted by Mike Greenberg, with analysts Mel Kiper Jr., Louis Riddick, and Booger McFarland. Senior NFL insider Chris Mortensen will be the coverage’s main reporter. (Adam Schefter will miss this year’s NFL Draft to attend his son’s college graduation.) The ABC broadcast features host Rece Davis, analysts Todd McShay, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard. Sam Ponder will make her NFL Draft debut as the host of a second ABC set with analysts Jesse Palmer and Robert Griffin III. Pete Thamel will serve as ABC’s insider. (Griffin III and Thamel are also making NFL Draft debuts.) Suzy Kolber will interview the prospects on the main stage following their selection. Laura Rutledge will cover the NFL Draft’s green room. For Saturday’s coverage, Davis will host with Kiper, McShay and Riddick on Saturday.

Kiper will not be at the Draft in Las Vegas, but instead onscreen via remote from his home in Maryland. In a statement on his Twitter feed, Kiper said, “The NFL Draft is the highlight of my year and I am looking forward to taking part in my 39th this month on ESPN. For all three days I will appear from my home studio in Maryland rather than onsite in Vegas as I am unvaccinated from COVID 19. I completely support everyone determining what’s best for their individual circumstance and recognize the value of vaccines. Simply put, my Covid vaccination decision is very specific to my own personal medical history.”

Markman said he was confident that Kiper being in a different location would have little impact on the presentation.

“Is it perfect? No. Would we rather Mel be there? Of course,” Markman said. “But we feel like over the last two years we’ve had a ton of experience doing shows like this. Literally every day, Mike Greenberg has someone sitting in the studio with him and someone on remote. We’re not changing Mel’s role whatsoever. He will still comment just as much as he has on every player. He’s Mel Kiper. The draft is about Mel Kiper. Brian Ryder, our veteran producer who has done a great job for many, many years, it’s going to be a little more of a challenge for him to get in people’s ears more and give a little more traffic and direction. It’s a little bit more of a challenge for our other analysts who can’t see Mel’s body language. But I think they’re all up for it.”

Both Markman and Yook said they loved the intimate shots of NFL personnel at home during the 2021 NFL Draft, but as the pandemic moves into another phase, we are unlikely to see that kind of presentation writ large again.

“We do have cameras in Draft rooms but let’s be honest, it’s not the same thing having Bill Belichick in a draft room with 20 people around him versus him with his dog, relaxed. Or Mike Vrabel and Brian Flores with their kids,” Markman said. “We have more than 20 cameras with prospects at their homes, which I think is something we really kind of leaned into in the COVID year and then we’ve kept that going. But I think it’s closer to being 2019 and 2020 at this point.”

In fact there will be 21 prospects in Las Vegas, and 21 prospects with cameras available when they are picked.

“21 and 21,” Yook said. “If that doesn’t scream Las Vegas and blackjack, I don’t what does.”

The Ink Report

1. Some additional NFL Draft production notes:

• The NFL Network’s Thursday night coverage will open with Penn and Teller narrating a piece on Las Vegas.

• Eisen’s annual 40-yard dash for ‘Run Rich Run’ to raise awareness and support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will air during coverage of Rounds 4-7 on Saturday.

• One of the NFL Network features during the Draft will focus on Illinois offensive tackle Vederian Lowe, a married father of two young sons, who fought the state to become the legal guardian of his 14-year-old brother Vydalis following their mother’s passing in 2019.

• NFL Network reporters will be stationed at the following locations for the first round: Judy Battista (Giants); Kayla Burton (Steelers); Jeffri Chadiha (Chiefs); Bridget Condon (Panthers); Stacey Dales (Packers); Mike Giardi (Jets); James Palmer ( Eagles); Tom Pelissero (Raiders);  Ian Rapoport (Raiders); Omar Ruiz (Saints); Jane Slater (Cowboys); Jim Trotter (Texans); Sara Walsh (Jaguars) and Cameron Wolfe (Falcons).

• Yook said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin will be a guest on the NFL Network’s coverage on Day Three.

• Markman confirmed that neither Joe Buck or Troy Aikman will be part of any ESPN/ABC Draft broadcast. He also said ESPN/ABC presentations would not have gambling content during the Draft, though you might see Draft prop bet info on shoulder programming.

• ESPN will have reporters at four team facilities: Jeff Darlington (Kansas City); Kimberley A. Martin (Jets); Sal Paolantonio (Philadelphia); and Dianna Russini (Giants).

• Shae Peppler Cornette will host all three days for ESPN Radio alongside Mike Tannenbaum and Ian Fitzsimmons. Bart Scott and Jordan Reid will also be part of the coverage.

• Eduardo Varela and Pablo Viruega will host Spanish-language coverage on ESPN Deportes from ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Conn, alongside Sebastián Martinez, Christensen and Miguel Pasquel. Rebeca Landa and Carlos Nava will provide reports from Las Vegas

• Sirius XM NFL Radio will have live audio coverage of the Draft. Gil Brandt was not listed on the release of on-air talent for the Draft, unlike in previous years. 

• The NFL Network said it has 600+ player highlight packages and 1500+ total tapes for the Draft. This is the kind of grind work done by people whose names you don’t know, but help make the three days an impactful television production. The tape leads for the NFL Network are Ted Chovanes (segment producer); Ben Fennell (segment producer); Josh Green (associate producer); Reggie Lewis (production assistant); Caleb Rosenfeld (production assistant); Cydney Tindal (production assistant); Bryan Valladares (production assistant) and Jeremy Dawson (production assistant). Editors are Andrew Moussa, Chris Guanzon, Andrew Promey, Mike Drozd, Todd Jensen, Jeff Morreale and Paul Thurwachter.

• ESPN says it has 520+ player highlight packages and an additional 20 tech packages (higher-end breakdown) packages. Those responsible for the player highlight packages include Adam Bauer (Associate Producer II); Desmond Bernal (Production Assistant); Ikeem Boyd (Associate Producer I); Matt Brooks (Senior Associate Producer); Kaila Burns-Heffner (Associate Producer I); Alex Chen (Content Associate);  Jeremy Drummond (Associate Producer I); Kayvon Ezami (Production Assistant); Ryan Hoff (Associate Producer); Mike Logan (Production Assistant); Eric Robinson (Production Assistant); Lou Russo (Remote Telestration Producer); Eric Sellers (Content Associate); Kyle Taylor (Production Assistant); Sania Blu White (Production Assistant) and Eric Feinstein (Associate Producer I).  The Libero Editors (a type of production editing system) include Bryon Brelsford, Doug Colby, Mike Kataja, Dan Marques Lauren Roberts, and Beth Ross. The Quantel editors (a type of production editing system) are Zach Barrette, Lauren Bernstein, Vitor Britto, Kyle Curran, Nick Mainville, Carlos Rivera and Andrew Wells.

• Here’s Daniel Jeremiah with a top-down view of this year’s Draft: “I don’t know that I can remember a year with more uncertainty. The year with Baker Mayfield going No. 1? What was that, ’18? That one was unpredictable. We kind of went into that process and it was Josh Allen potentially, it was Sam Darnold, and then Baker came out of left field and ended up being the first pick. There was some unpredictability there. I would say this is along those lines, but even more so than the top. I talk to teams, and the great example is somebody like a [George] Karlaftis in this draft from Purdue. There’s teams that think he’s one of the top 15 players, and then there’s teams that think he’s not worth a first- or second-round pick. So that’s where to me it’s different than any other draft. I do believe we see a skill player go in the Top 10. To me, there’s too many teams that have young quarterbacks and have needs for playmakers.”

2. Episode 198 of the Sports Media Podcast features three guests. First up is sports broadcaster Gus Johnson, who is calling the NBA postseason for Turner Sports and is a longtime Fox Sports play-by-play caller. He is followed by Bill Shea, a senior writer for The Athletic covering sports business, and Robert Seidman, the co-founder of TVbytheNumbers who can be found on Twitter at @SportsTVRatings. In this podcast Johnson discuss what it has been like calling NBA games again; how the assignment came about; why he loves calling the NBA; the reaction to his calls; his fondness for Giannis Antetokounmpo; attending Harvard University as part of a leadership forum; and much more. Shea and Seidman discuss what they thought of the first weekend of the USFL; what we made of the viewership numbers; the Fox Sports push for USFL; the tech things we saw that can be incorporated into NFL broadcasts; whether drones work or don’t for audiences; what kind of audience is needed to have a second year; the NBA’s postseason viewership numbers and what they mean; what teams going far would be helpful, and more.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and more.

2a. Episode 197 of the Sports Media Podcast features two guests — ESPN investigative reporter Paula Lavigne and ESPN senior writer Tom Junod. They are the co-authors of “Untold,” a 30,000-word piece that investigates the horrific actions of Todd Hodne, a former football player and student at Penn State in the late 1970s who was a serial predator and ultimately a murder. The piece took two years to report. In this podcast Lavigne and Junod discuss how they learned of Hodne’s story; the reporting process for their piece; how they characterized Penn State’s response to their queries; if the piece says something about the silence that happens in college football towns; the incredible strength of Betsy Sailor, and the story of Betsy and Irv Pankey; how they view Joe Paterno after their reporting; the decision to contact Jerry Sandusky; contacting Hodne’s daughter; what happens next with the story; the resources ESPN gave them to report the story; and more.

3. NBC named Lindsay Schanzer as the senior producer of the company’s Kentucky Derby coverage, and she will oversee all horse racing production. She is the first woman producer to hold that lead position for the Derby. Schanzer has worked on NBC Sports’ horse racing team for 10 years and has served as the lead producer of the Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup.

3a. Longtime friends and former ESPN colleagues Trey Wingo and Mark Schlereth are teaming up for a weekly show (Mondays at 6:00 PM eastern) on Spotify’s live platform (Spotify Live) where the two will interact with football fans.

3b. FS1 will air the debut of the Big Boys Club: O-Line Draft Academy on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. ET. The show, hosted by former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, examines the nation’s top offensive line prospects as they prepare for the NFL Draft. That’s interesting outside-the-box thinking given that position is not often the center of a series.

3c. Former MLB umpire Dale Scott has written a book with Rob Neyer — “The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self” — that reflects on Scott’s life and career and coming out as gay in 2014. It’s an interesting story and here’s an excerpt via Outsports. You can purchase the book here.

4. Sports pieces of note

• Courageous piece by ESPN’s Pam Shriver, for the Telegraph (U.K.), and worth listening to is this podcast with Shriver.

• The Ajax team news that sparked NFT controversy. By Joey D’Urso of The Athletic.

• Redefining the Sport, Redefining the Culture Grant Wahl on Barcelona women’s soccer.

• TSN’s Michael Farber on Guy Lafleur. And read this piece from Farber on one of Lafleur’s seminal moments.

• Life after Hillsborough, told by the men and women who survived. By Simon Hughes of The Athletic.

• Family terrorized by golf balls wins nearly $5 million from neighboring country club. By Tonya Alanez of The Boston Globe.

Non-sports pieces of note

• The CBC’s Anna Maria Tremonti spoke with Amy Kaufman about her ex-husband, the former sports commentator Jonah Keri, being sentenced to 21 months for intimate partner violence. Kaufman talked about the judge’s ruling and why she says it offers hope for other survivors. Keri, whose work appeared on ESPN, The Athletic, CBS.com, The Wall Street Journal and many other outlets, was sentenced to 21 months in jail in March.

• These whales are on the brink. Now comes climate change — and wind power. By Dino Grandoni of The Washington Post.

• The Unseen Scars of those who kill via remote control. By Dave Philipps of the New York Times.

• A remarkable speech from a Michigan official.

• Russia Turned a Bucha Building Into an Execution Site and Underground Prison. By Thomas Grove of The Wall Street Journal.

• Airlines Airlines are struggling to find enough pilots and to diversify a profession that has been very resistant to change. By Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times.

• How Asian Americans are fighting rising hate crime. By Eveline Chao of The Guardian.

• I Lived the #VanLife. It Wasn’t Pretty. By Caity Weaver of New York Times Magazine.

• He Caught the Volkswagen Beetle Bug in 1971, and It Never Went Away. By A.J. Baime of The Wall Street Journal. 

• The Holocaust survivor who fell in love with her American liberator. By Gillian Brockell of The Washington Post.

• An expert on autocracy assesses how far America has slipped away from democracy, and what it will take to get it back. By Michael Kruse of Politico.

• Paying Buffalo’s Bills. By The National Review editors.

• The Russian elite doesn’t seem to care about the invasion of Ukraine. Via 1843 Magazine.

• Arsenic and Gold: My Family’s Role in the Poisonous Legacy of Giant Mine. By Eva Holland of The Walrus.

• I commanded U.S. Army Europe. Here’s What I Saw In The Russian And Ukrainian Armies. By Mark Hertling for The Bulwark.

• Mikhail Vasenkov Dies at 79; His Spy Ring Inspired ‘The Americans.’ By Sam Roberts for The New York Times.

(Photo of Travon Walker at the NFL combine: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)