At 3:00 yesterday afternoon I faced a very important decision: which channel would I set the TV on to guide me through the 2009 NFL Draft. Both ESPN and the NFL Network featured live, all-day coverage of the draft and I had the option of both in HD.

Obviously, the ESPN coverage is the one I am most familiar with, as it was the only option before the NFL Network came along. However, I decided to give the NFL Network a try, trusting that Rich Eisen would not lead me astray.

I think it was a great decision.

Obviously I cannot specifically compare the NFLN coverage of the 2009 NFL Draft to that of ESPN, because I have had the TV tuned to NFLN for 99% of the draft (switching over only at a few commercials to see if I was missing anything). But based on experience, I cannot imagine ESPN coming anywhere close to being as informative, entertaining, and simply put, as outstanding, as the NFLN has been.

Rich Eisen is outstanding as the host, letting his panel of experts be the star of the show rather than himself. Not sure you could ever suggest such a thing about Chris Berman. Plus, Mike Mayock is my favorite of the draft scout talking heads. I trust his opinions far more than Tood McShay and Mel Kiper Jr., and I never get a sense that Mayock’s ego is talking; rather, he always seems to provide measured, balanced, and informed analysis of each player and pick that comes through. I have no idea how the Todd McShay-Mel Kiper dynamic has worked this year, but I do know that I’m excited not to know. I don’t trust the opinions of either one as much as I trust Mike Mayock and Charley Casserly.

As for the other guys on the NFLN – Jon Gruden, Jamie Dukes, Marshall Faulk, and Charles Davis (plus Steve Marriucci on Saturday) – I think they provided a productive balance of insight, contradiction, and interaction that was very compelling. By contrast, I never get the feeling that Keyshawn Johnson has spent more than five minutes preparing for a show. With the NFLN team, while they are not perfect by any means, I felt much more comfortable that the content of their statements was just as important, if not moreso, than the style.

And that’s my main source of appreciation for the NFLN over ESPN: the NFLN has a great balance of style and substance; ESPN always seems to come off as more style, less substance, in my opinion.

Now let’s get to today’s Link of the Day, a perfect manifestation of the NFLN’s ability to balance style and substance.

One of the fun, gimmicky features of the NFLN’s coverage is their use of camera trickery to give their analysts oddly shaped heads. It is one of those juvenile, sophomoric features that doesn’t sound particularly great in theory; in practice, however, it’s hilarious and a terrific addition as a periodic comedic break in an otherwise long, serious, and analytical weekend.

Mike Florio and ProFootballTalk obviously agrees, and we link out to PFT for today’s Link of the Day, plus offer Florio the credit for doing what I failed to do: be resourceful enough to bust out the camera phone and take picks of the humorous head enlargement interlude. Rich Eisen’s big head moment is pictured to the right. Click through to PFT to see the equally hilarious pictures of Jon Gruden, Jamie Dukes, and Marshall Faulk.

LOTD: A New Kind of Fathead — (Pro Football Talk)

The folks at NFLN, perhaps recognizing that the lengthy draft process benefits from some periodic comic relief, have been using from time to time a camera distortion trick that creates the impression that a guy’s head is incredibly large.

(They do it at ESPN when Trent Dilfer or Mel Kiper are on the screen, but without any technical gimmickery.)

I’ve had the TV tuned to the NFL Network non-stop since 3:00 yesterday afternoon. As far as I’m concerned, they get an A from me for their overall coverage and analysis of the 2009 NFL Draft.

And if Jon Gruden does not go back into coaching, he needs to become a consistent presence on pregame shows or in the booth as a color announcer. Of all the guys on the NFLN coverage, Gruden seemed to be least comprehensively prepared in terms of analyzing specific players, but he was the most compelling panelist member because of his personality, humor, and general ability to provide relevant NFL insight.

Kudos to the NFL Network. As long as they are covering the NFL Draft live at the level they did this weekend, my TV will not be tuned to ESPN again.

And some other links for you on a windy, overcast Sunday here in Dallas:

• NFL Draft Grades: Day 1 Report Card — (NFL Fanhouse)
• Mangini not welcome in Lubbock — (Matt Barrows, 49ers Blog)
• NFL Draft: Eric Mangini and George Kokinis Speak About Dat 1 — (Waiting For Next Year)
• 2009 NFL Draft Paparazzi — (Sparty and Friends)
• Three-Sub Saturday: White Sox’ Secret Weapon — (South Side Sox)
• The Wizard of Oz: What Will Ozzie Newsome Do Next? — (Foot Basket)
• HHR & Yardbarker at NFL Draft Classic — (Hugging Harold Reynolds)
• Zach Greinke and Johan Santana: Two For the Ages — (Josh Q. Public)
• Kiper, McShay, or Mayock? — (Shutdown Corner)