In news that seemed to surprise practically no one, Booger McFarland will reportedly no longer be in the analyst’s chair — which use to be on the Booger Mobile not so long ago — for ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
He, along with play-by-play man Joe Tessitore will be doing other stuff for ESPN, per The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch, and although it will be just as important to replace Tessitore, let’s focus on who will replace the much-criticized and meme’d McFarland.
The first name would have been Peyton Manning, but he reportedly declined. So let’s look at some other personalities who have been thrown around and rank them:
7. Kirk Herbstreit
Look: I like Herbstreit a lot. It’s just that I’d rather he and Chris Fowler stay with college — the New York Post is reporting ESPN has thought about using them. So this ranking is more about my feelings about that idea than rating Herbstreit as an analyst — if he wasn’t so good on college games, he’d be way higher up.
6. Brian Griese
He’s fine. But my hope for the MNF hire is an attempt to use someone who played the game more recently (yes, this is total Tony Romo bias talking here).
5. Dan Orlovsky
He’s very good on the air, particularly on Get Up. And if you want someone to be Romo-esque, he could be your guy.
Shanahan is in his bag clinical right now@49ers run game feels overwhelming @geoffschwartz 👀👀 @minakimes I know you love this#NFCChampionship #Packersvs49ers pic.twitter.com/Iwo0SHVFLK
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 20, 2020
4. Louis Riddick
I’m a fan of his work on the air, but does it translate to the booth? I’d bet it would.
3. Mina Kimes
I swear to you I brought her name up to my colleagues Steven Ruiz and Chris Korman, who informed me that they, too, had mentioned her in their most episode of their new NFL podcast, The Counter. And then I found out that Forbes’ Shlomo Sprung also liked the idea. That means it’s got to be a good idea and that others would love to see the writer/podcaster/analyst/everything in this role.
2. Nate Burleson
He’s great on Good Morning Football, he’s great on The NFL Today, so what makes you think anything else about how he’d be in the booth? I’d tune in to hear not just his breakdown of what’s going on during the game, but to hear his take on the player culture in the league.
1. Kurt Warner
The experience is there — he’s with Kevin Harlan on the radio for Monday Night Football — he’s solid all around in all the areas you’d want him to be solid in for the national broadcast. If you’re looking to hire someone who won’t have his name trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons every Monday night, he’s your guy.
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