ESPN Already Facing Blowback For NFL Draft Coverage

The 2026 NFL Draft is set to begin on Thursday night.

The first round of the 2026 NFL Draft will begin after 7 p.m. E.T. on Thursday night. ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network will have full coverage of the first round of the NFL Draft. Indiana Hoosiers great Fernando Mendoza is expected to go No. 1 overall.

"I think he has the answers to the test. I loved Cam Ward, but Fernando's a better prospect than him. There are some physical traits in terms of arm strength and ability to run, where Drake Maye may have a little more, but I feel much better about Fernando than I did about Drake - and I like Drake," one anonymous NFL coach said about Mendoza to Bruce Feldman.

"Fernando shows that he knows how to handle adversity. You see it all over the tape: Bouncing back from getting hit against Miami in the title game. Throwing picks, coming back against Oregon and Penn State."

But leading into the first round of the NFL Draft, ESPN is already facing some blowback.

The NFL Draft is four days away, but ESPN already has a countdown clock, leading up to Thursday night.

It's a bit much, right?

Sports media insider calls out ESPN for its coverage

Andrew Marchand, who covers sports media for The Athletic, sounded off on ESPN's coverage on Monday morning.

"ESPN has a "Countdown to the Draft" clock that is at 82 hours and two minutes away. I love the draft but …😂😂," he wrote.

"It's too much," another fan added.

When ESPN goes all in on something, they really go all in. And we're already seeing that with the NFL Draft this week.

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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 10:05 AM.