NFL Network will likely raise the profile of other on-air talent to replace MayockGETTY IMAGES
Mike Mayock leaving NFL Network to become the Raiders' GM is a "significant blow" to the network, and it now "must forge a plan forward" after losing its top Draft expert, according to Richard Deitsch of THE ATHLETIC. NFL Senior VP/Production & Programming Mark Quenzel said, "We have incredible depth at the draft analyst position. Daniel Jeremiah is in many ways Mike’s equal in terms of knowledge. Obviously, he does not have Mike’s profile but he is amazing. Charles Davis is amazing, Bucky Brooks is amazing. We do not lack for people that know that absolute inside and outside of every draft class. So I am not worried about our ability to continue to deliver the information." Deitsch reports the net is "clearly going to raise the profile of Jeremiah, Davis and Brooks as opposed to trying to find a new Mayock (which doesn’t exist)." But what the net is "still determining is how to use the three on-air talents, especially for the network’s draft coverage and pre-draft shows." NFL Network Coordinating Producer Charlie Yook said that the "added responsibility will begin during the network’s coverage of the Scouting Combine in February." Quenzel said that he was "not concerned with the potential for viewer attrition in a post-Mayock world." He "did not think there would be a wave of current NFL Network viewers morphing to ESPN’s draft coverage." He said, “We can deliver an unbelievable product, and my guess [is] most of the people who watched us will continue to watch us" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/7).
