2020 NFL Draft Rumor Results

I post lots of things in the NFL Draft Rumors section from various reporters on the Internet and in print media. I’ve been rating how these reporters perform each year because it’s important to differentiate between those who actually have sources, and those who nonsensically post on Twitter, pretending to know people in NFL organizations.

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 2020 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 2020, 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 (2020):

Charlie Campbell: 8-3
Peter King: 5-3
Adam Schefter: 2-0
Tony Pauline: 3-3
Charles Robinson: 1-0
Lance Zerlein: 1-0
Albert Breer: 0-1
Josina Anderson: 0-1
Ian Rapoport: 1-4





National Media (2013-20):

Charlie Campbell: 46-20
Adam Schefter: 20-9
Peter King: 29-19
Tony Pauline: 40-37
Lance Zerlein: 8-3
Peter Schrager: 6-2
Adam Caplan: 5-2
Chris Mortensen: 9-7
Daniel Jeremiah: 8-7
Todd McShay: 5-4
Jason La Canfora: 12-12
Michael Silver: 3-1
Jason Cole: 4-3
Bob Holtzman: 2-0
Alex Marvez: 2-0
Mike Mayock: 2-0
Dan Patrick: 2-0
Louis Riddick: 2-0
Dianna Marie Russini: 2-0
Dane Brugler: 3-2
Albert Breer: 3-2
Jay Glazer: 2-1
Ian Rapoport: 11-16
Jeremy Fowler: 2-3
Chris Burke: 1-0
Tom Curran: 1-0
Charles Davis: 1-0
Eric Edholm: 1-0
Matthew Fairburn: 1-0
Kim Jones: 1-0
Clark Judge: 1-0
Mike Garafolo: 1-0
Tom Pelissero: 1-0
Jim Trotter: 1-0
Charles Robinson: 3-4
Pro Football Talk: 2-5
Greg Gabriel: 2-5
Joel Klatt: 1-1
Josina Anderson: 1-1
Aaron Wilson: 1-2
Sal Paolantonio: 1-2
Charley Casserly: 1-2
Scott Bischoff: 0-1
Bucky Brooks: 0-1
Jeff Darlington: 0-1
John Clayton: 0-1
Rich Eisen: 0-1
Ashley Fox: 0-1
Rand Getlin: 0-1
Ron Jaworski: 0-1
Bob McGinn: 0-1
Josh Norris: 0-1
Vincent Frank: 0-1
James Parks: 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
Pete Prisco: 0-2
Ed Werder: 0-2
Eric Galko: 1-3
Benjamin Allbright: 1-5
Russ Lande: 0-3
Jon Ledyard: 0-3
Mel Kiper: 0-4
Matt Miller: 3-17




Local or Specific Team-Based Media (2013-20):

Mike Jurecki: 12-0
Jordan Raanan: 8-1
Cecil Lammey: 6-0
Mary Kay Cabot: 9-3
Armando Salguero: 9-4
Joe Person: 5-1
Jim Wyatt: 6-3
Dave Lapham: 4-0
Jonathan Jones: 4-0
D. Orlando Ledbetter: 3-0
Ralph Vacchiano: 3-0
Jeff McLane: 3-0
Elliot Shorr-Parks: 3-0
Mike Triplett: 3-0
Jim Thomas: 3-1
Ed Bouchette: 2-0
Jenna Laine: 2-0
Bryan Broaddus: 2-0
Rob Demovsky: 2-0
Gerry Dulac: 2-0
Michael Gehlken: 2-0
Larry Holder: 2-0
Mike Klis: 2-0
Jon Machota: 2-0
Jane Slater: 2-0
Vaughn McClure: 2-0
Patricia Traina: 2-0
Charean Williams: 2-0
Joe Buscaglia: 2-0
Tim Twentyman: 2-0
John McClain: 3-3
Ben Goessling: 2-1
Dan Pompei: 2-1
Woody Paige: 1-0
Eric Ting: 1-0
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
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
Joe Tordy: 1-0
Jerry McDonald: 1-0
Chris Tomasson: 1-0
Mike Wells: 1-0
Paul Schwartz: 1-0
Michael C. Wright: 1-0
Darren Wolfson: 1-0
Mike DiRoco: 1-0
Jeff Zrebiec: 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
Todd Archer: 1-1
Tom Silverstein: 1-1
Jeff Sullivan: 1-1
Rich Cimini: 3-5
Tim McManus: 1-2
Manish Mehta: 1-2
Tony Grossi: 1-3
Bob McManaman: 0-1
John Mullin: 0-1
Andrew Abramson: 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
Jourdan Rodrigue: 0-1
Josh Norris: 0-1
Steve Reed: 0-1
Rick Stroud: 0-1
Ben Volin: 0-1
Eric Williams: 0-1
Matt Lombardo: 0-1
Simon Clancy: 0-2
Bill Williamson: 0-2
Paul Crane: 0-2



Best 2020 NFL Draft Reports


8. Charlie Campbell reported the Redskins’ plans first:

3/3: The Redskins are unlikely to trade down from No. 2 overall. – Charlie Campbell, WalterFootball.com

Despite this report, many thought the Redskins would be willing to trade out of the No. 2 overall selection. They were foolish not to listen to the best NFL Draft analyst in the business.


7. Charlie also had the Jets’ pick:

4/16: The Jets are leaning toward a tackle at No. 11. – Charlie Campbell, WalterFootball.com

Some mocked a receiver or a cornerback to the Jets, but they were aiming to select a tackle in order to protect Sam Darnold.





6. Here’s another offensive tackle projection from Charlie:

4/21: The Buccaneers are looking to trade up for an offensive tackle. – Charlie Campbell, WalterFootball.com

We saw some Jerry Jeudy projections to the Buccaneers late in the pre-draft process, but Charlie reported that Tampa was so desperate for a tackle that it was willing to trade up for one. And that’s exactly what happened.


5. It’s difficult to get a late first-round pick correct, but not for Jeff Zrebiec:

4/11: The Ravens like both Patrick Queen and Kenneth Murray. – Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic

I’m shocked Queen made it to Baltimore. Shame on the other teams for letting that happen.




4. Armando Salguero is one of the top team reporters in the business:

4/22: Tua Tagovailoa is the favorite to be chosen at No. 5 overall. – Armando Salguero, Miami Herald

Many didn’t know whom to mock to the Dolphins, but perhaps they should’ve listened to Mando.


3. This is related to No. 4, except it was reported two days earlier:

4/20: Justin Herbert is not in the Dolphins’ plans. – Tony Pauline, Pro Football Network

That’s a bold statement, and it’s one that came to fruition.


2. Many mocked Isaiah Simmons to the Panthers, but that was way off:

4/23: C.J. Henderson is Carolina’s preference at No. 7 if Derrick Brown is off the board. – Charlie Campbell, WalterFootball.com

I imagine the Panthers were quite thrilled to get their man.


1. Lance Zierlein called the 21st-overall pick beautifully:

4/23: The Eagles are enamored with Jalen Reagor’s speed and explosive ability. – Lance Zierlein, NFL.com

Zierlein mocked Reagor to the Eagles and was right on the money.




Top Five Worst 2020 NFL Draft Reports


5. Tony Pauline is one of the top draft reporters, but everyone gets things wrong once in a while:

3/5: It’s possible that the Dolphins will use one of their first-round picks on Ezra Cleveland. – Tony Pauline, Pro Football Network There was lots of buzz surrounding Cleveland, but that turned out to be nonsense, as he fell to the end of the second round.

4. Speaking of falling players, Matt Miller had his annual overhyped quarterback projection:

1/22: Jordan Love will be a top-15 pick. – Matt Miller, Bleacher Report

This isn’t as bad as Matt Barkley being a top-eight pick, but still. As a reminder, this happened last year as a result of Prisco reporting something incorrectly:



3. Peter King tends to get many things correct, but he was way off on this one:

4/19: The Chargers don’t view Tyrod Taylor as a bridge quarterback. – Peter King, NBC Sports

King argued that the Chargers wouldn’t select a quarterback because they loved Taylor so much. That turned out to be nonsense.




2. Of all the draft reporters, Ian Rapoport had the worst results this year. He had a disastrous few weeks, which included this doozy:

2/25: The Panthers are moving forward with Cam Newton as their starting quarterback. – Ian Rapoport, NFL Network

Newton was gone within a couple of weeks.

1. This report of Rapoport’s was far worse:

4/22: The Dolphins are gauging to see what it would take to move up to No. 3 for a tackle. – Ian Rapoport, NFL Network

The Dolphins moving up for a tackle? Why would they do that, and why would Rapoport report that? Rapoport has been better than this in the past, so I’m not sure what happened to him this year.

Once again, check out the 2020 NFL Draft Rumors here. I’ll notify you of updates on Twitter, so follow me @walterfootball.





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