Will the NFL Draft’s Tighter Time Between Picks be a Hit or a Miss?

The NFL's decision to shave the first-round draft clock from 15 minutes to 10 is going to change what viewers see on Thursday night, and on The Rich Eisen Show, Rich walked through why he thinks the format will feel more chaotic than efficient before anyone notices the savings.

Rich, who hosts NFL Network's coverage, framed the change as a production problem before a fan problem. The networks did not cut down on voices on the set or in team facilities, and reporters are still embedded with prospects in their homes, with sound bites being shared between the two broadcasts. Laura Rufledge is now the single point of contact interviewing every prospect coming out of the green room for both networks, instead of each broadcast having its own stage interviewer the way they used to. "Back in the day, we at NFL Network had our own, like, odd picks on ESPN, even picks," Rich said. That is gone. Now both shows have to wait their turn for the same interview, and the clock keeps ticking while she talks.

The compounding effect is the part Rich kept circling. "By the time that interview's over, let's just say it'll be David Bailey, the Cardinals will be on the clock halfway through their pick. During that, a trade might be happening and it's graphically supported on the screen, and then we're going to find out three minutes after that who's being chosen, and then while we're reacting to that, the Titans will be on the clock and probably going to have five minutes left in that one," he said, before adding that the Giants pick is expected to include a presentation on the stage that does not stop the clock at all.

Chris Brockman pushed back from the viewer side and asked whether the league should have added two minutes instead of taking them away, citing exactly the congestion Rich was describing. TJ Jefferson took the opposite tack and said it does not really matter how long the broadcast runs. Rich's frustration was less about total runtime and more about clarity. He said it infuriates him as a viewer when he cannot tell which team a player is going to, the way he often feels watching the NBA draft.

His production team, he noted, never tells him in advance which pick is coming, not in the first round. He said his job Thursday is to keep fans oriented when the seventh pick is on the clock but the fifth has not been announced yet, and to make sure his analysts get their reps in while the picks pile up behind one another.