I took a glance back and counted how many “wins” and “losses” each reporter had. I didn’t look at whom they slotted in their mock drafts – we did that in our 2017 NFL Mock Draft Results page – but rather, my task was delving into reports that said “Team X really likes Player A,” or “Team Y plans to trade up.”
I’ve also included the best reports and five worst reports for 2017, so check those out below the following wins and losses (Note that these aren’t exactly ordered by percentage; getting a report right is difficult, so I wanted to award those who had more correct. As a result, it’s sort of a mixture). Follow @walterfootball for updates.
National Media (2017):
Charlie Campbell: 6-2
Tony Pauline: 6-3
Peter King: 2-1
Peter Schrager: 1-0
Mike Mayock: 1-0
Michael Silver: 1-0
Lance Zerlein: 1-0
Matthew Fairburn: 1-0
Eric Galko: 1-1
Todd McShay: 1-2
Adam Schefter: 0-1
Jason Cole: 0-1
Jason La Canfora: 0-1
James Parks: 0-1
Mel Kiper: 0-1
Greg Gabriel: 1-3
Matt Miller: 1-3
National Media (2013-17):
Charlie Campbell: 26-12
Adam Schefter: 13-9
Tony Pauline: 29-27
Peter King: 18-16
Daniel Jeremiah: 7-4
Peter Schrager: 5-2
Adam Caplan: 5-2
Chris Mortensen: 8-6
Michael Silver: 3-0
Jason La Canfora: 7-10
Ian Rapoport: 7-10
Jason Cole: 4-3
Lance Zerlein: 4-3
Albert Breer: 2-0
Bob Holtzman: 2-0
Alex Marvez: 2-0
Mike Mayock: 2-0
Jay Glazer: 2-1
Todd McShay: 3-4
Jeremy Fowler: 2-2
Greg Gabriel: 2-3
Tom Curran: 1-0
Charles Davis: 1-0
Eric Edholm: 1-0
Matthew Fairburn: 1-0
Clark Judge: 1-0
Louis Riddick: 1-0
Jim Trotter: 1-0
Eric Galko: 1-1
Joel Klatt: 1-1
Aaron Wilson: 1-1
Dane Brugler: 1-2
Sal Paolantonio: 1-2
Charley Casserly: 1-2
Scott Bischoff: 0-1
Bucky Brooks: 0-1
John Clayton: 0-1
Ashley Fox: 0-1
Rand Getlin: 0-1
Ron Jaworski: 0-1
Bob McGinn: 0-1
Josh Norris: 0-1
James Parks: 0-1
Pete Prisco: 0-1
Solomon Wilcots: 0-1
Field Yates: 0-1
Shawn Zobel: 0-1
Brian Baldinger: 0-2
Gil Brandt: 0-2
Jeff Chadiha: 0-2
Ed Werder: 0-2
Charles Robinson: 1-4
Russ Lande: 0-3
Mel Kiper: 0-4
Pro Football Talk: 1-5
Matt Miller: 2-10
Local or Specific Team-Based Media (2013-17):
Mike Jurecki: 10-0
Jordan Raanan: 6-1
Dave Lapham: 4-0
Mary Kay Cabot: 6-3
Jim Wyatt: 6-3
D. Orlando Ledbetter: 3-0
Jeff McLane: 3-0
Elliot Shorr-Parks: 3-0
Mike Triplett: 3-0
Armando Salguero: 5-2
Jim Thomas: 3-1
Dan Pompei: 2-1
Jenna Laine: 2-0
Bryan Broaddus: 2-0
Gerry Dulac: 2-0
Michael Gehlken: 2-0
Jonathan Jones: 2-0
Mike Klis: 2-0
Jon Machota: 2-0
Vaughn McClure: 2-0
Patricia Traina: 2-0
Charean Williams: 2-0
Joe Buscaglia: 2-0
Ben Goessling: 2-1
Joe Person: 2-1
Rich Cimini: 3-3
John McClain: 3-3
Doug Kyed: 1-0
Gil Arcia: 1-0
Greg Auman: 1-0
Matt Barrows: 1-0
Adam Beasley: 1-0
Zach Berman: 1-0
Clifton Brown: 1-0
Steve Corkran: 1-0
Rob Demovsky: 1-0
Larry Holder: 1-0
Bart Hubbuch: 1-0
Barry Jackson: 1-0
Tim Kawakami: 1-0
John Keim: 1-0
Aaron Leming: 1-0
Brian Linder: 1-0
Terry McCormick: 1-0
John Middlekauff: 1-0
Vince Langford: 1-0
Terez Paylor: 1-0
Terry Pluto: 1-0
Vito Stellino: 1-0
Adam Teicher: 1-0
Jerry McDonald: 1-0
Ed Bouchette: 1-0
Chris Tomasson: 1-0
Tim Twentyman: 1-0
Mike Wells: 1-0
Michael C. Wright: 1-0
Mike DiRoco: 1-0
Sam Farmer: 1-1
Jamison Hensley: 1-1
Paul Kuharsky: 1-1
Geoff Moesher: 1-1
Gary Myers: 1-1
Ryan O’Halloran: 1-1
Brad Biggs: 1-1
Jeff Sullivan: 1-1
Tim McManus: 1-2
Manish Mehta: 1-2
Tony Grossi: 1-3
John Mullin: 0-1
Andrew Abramson: 0-1
Todd Archer: 0-1
Scott Bischoff: 0-1
Eric Branch: 0-1
Keith Britton: 0-1
David Climer: 0-1
Steve Doerschuk: 0-1
Jeff Duncan: 0-1
Chris Emma: 0-1
Sid Hartman: 0-1
Sheil Kapadia: 0-1
Andrew Krammer: 0-1
Tommy Lawlor: 0-1
Mark Long: 0-1
Ryan Mink: 0-1
David Moore: 0-1
Jessica Morrey: 0-1
Josh Norris: 0-1
Steve Reed: 0-1
Tom Silverstein: 0-1
Rick Stroud: 0-1
Ben Volin: 0-1
Eric Williams: 0-1
Bill Williamson: 0-2
Best 2017 NFL Draft Reports
7. Tony Pauline was the first to call John Ross to the Bengals:
4/24: John Ross is in the conversation for the Bengals at No. 9 overall. – Tony Pauline, DraftAnalyst.com
6. It’s difficult to call picks in the 20s, but Armando Salguero was all over the Dolphins selecting a defensive end, especially when there were conflicting reports that Miami would be all over Forrest Lamp.
4/25: The Dolphins would be happy with either Derek Barnett or Charles Harris. – Armando Salguero, Miami Herald
5. Most expected Christian McCaffrey to be chosen in the teens back in March. That changed when Peter Schrager published the following report:
4/6: “Heard from multiple front office execs over last few days. Feeling is now Christian McCaffery goes Top 10.” – Peter Schrager, FOX Sports
4. Charlie Campbell dominated the rumors again, just as he did as far as correct mock draft picks are concerned. Many expected the Jets to take a quarterback early in the draft. Even Rich Eisen was confused about why they didn’t. Eisen wouldn’t have been perplexed had he read Charlie’s report:
4/2: “The Jets are unlikely to draft a quarterback in the early rounds, as they aren’t impressed with this class of quarterbacks overall.” – Charlie Campbell, WalterFootball.com
3. Many suspected the Chiefs might select a quarterback if one were available at No. 27. However, one person said they’d move up for Patrick Mahomes:
4/27: The Chiefs love Patrick Mahomes and are willing to trade up for him. – Matthew Fairburn, NewYorkUpstate.com
2. Adam Schefter, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay combined to cause some controversy on draft day. There wouldn’t have been any drama had everyone listened to Mary Kay Cabot and Michael Silver instead:
4/27: Myles Garrett will be the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, per multiple sources. – Mary Kay Cabot , Cleveland Plain-Dealer
4/27: Michael Silver said that it’s a good assumption that Myles Garrett will be the first-overall pick.
1. Tony Pauline had a great year of posting rumors. He called the Falcons-Seahawks trade a day before the draft:
4/26: The Seahawks and Falcons are in discussion for a trade. – Tony Pauline, DraftAnalyst.com
Top Five Worst 2017 NFL Draft Reports
5. Brad Biggs is a good reporter, but this blurb was pretty bad, as he whiffed on all three attempts to get Chicago’s pick correct.
4/25: The Bears are considering Solomon Thomas, Jamal Adams and Marshon Lattimore if they remain at No. 3. – Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune
4. Many connected Deshaun Watson to the Jaguars leading up to the draft. Here was the strongest take:
4/27: There is growing chatter that the Jaguars will select Deshaun Watson at No. 4 overall. – Jason Cole, Yahoo!
3. Matt Miller had another rough year. He said the Bills loved Deshaun Watson (they didn’t), and he also said this:
4/26: “Word from a league source: Chiefs trying to move up, but for an inside linebacker and not a quarterback. Reuben Foster/Jarrad Davis maybe?” – Matt Miller, NFL reporter
Andy Reid doesn’t put much value on the inside linebacker position, so I found this report pretty dubious. Still, this wasn’t as bad as saying Matt Barkley would be the seventh pick in the draft, or A.J. McCarron wouldn’t get past the Bengals at No. 16, so things appear to be trending in the right direction, sort of.
2. Pro Football Weekly’s Greg Gabriel made some interesting tweets prior to the draft. Unfortunately, most of them contained incorrect information. Here’s an example:
4/26: “Everything I’m hearing now says Bears will not go quarterback at 3.” – Greg Gabriel, Pro Football Weekly
I guess he was technically right because the Bears moved up to No. 2, but I don’t think that’s what he had in mind.
1. ESPN is leaking serious oil. Their ratings are down, they’re firing hundreds of good employees, and their draft coverage was abysmal. Their reporting was especially horrible. Both Todd McShay and Mel Kiper mocked Mitchell Trubisky to the Browns on the morning of the draft because they were piggybacking on a report from Schefter that people around the league thought Trubisky would be the selection.
Making matters worse for Schefter, when the Bears traded up to No. 2, he told the camera that the move was for Solomon Thomas.
Schefter had no correct draft reports this season, which was shocking. The Schefter of old would’ve been all over the top three picks of the draft, yet he couldn’t even get the first one right. This is just another example of ESPN capsizing.
Once again, check out the 2017 NFL Draft Rumors here. I’ll notify you of updates on Twitter, so follow me @walterfootball.
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