There isn’t an NFL analyst out there wondering how Jon Gruden will affect the Oakland Raiders 2019 Super Bowl odds. There also isn’t an analyst wondering who will replace Gruden on the Monday Night Football broadcast.
On Monday, BetDSI.eu released odds on who will replace Gruden in the color commentator spot on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. Steve Young and Matt Hasselbeck are the favorites at 5/2 and 7/2 respectively, though there is a plethora of options at ESPN’s disposal.
Odds for Who Will Replace Jon Gruden as Next Monday Night Football Color Commentator
Steve Young 5/2
Matt Hasselbeck 7/2
Kurt Warner 5/1
Tim Tebow 15/2
Louis Riddick 8/1
Rex Ryan 9/1
Ronde Barber 10/1
Ron Jaworski 10/1
Randy Moss 25/2
Peyton Manning 15/1
Jay Cutler 20/1
Bruce Arians 30/1
Joe Thomas 50/1
Young and Hasselbeck are the obvious choices. Both are former NFL quarterbacks who have done well on the set of various ESPN shows. Young has been on Monday Night Football as a color commentator before, though he only did so when ESPN showed two games in Week 1 on MNF.
Hasselbeck is considered one of the top performers on Sunday NFL Countdown, but he doesn’t have any experience in the booth during games. Hasselbeck also has no experience working with play-by-play man, Sean McDonough.
Logically, ESPN would love to pry Peyton Manning (15/1) into the broadcast booth. Though early reports suggested that Manning was the favorite to ultimately replace Gruden, the future Hall of Famer stated as recently as last Spring that he was not interested in a broadcasting career.
If ESPN wanted to go with the splashiest name, it could send Tim Tebow (15/2) away from the SEC Network and over to the MNF booth. Tebow is definitely a learned man, and he’s better on the SEC Network than he’s ultimately given credit for. That said, his role is clearly in the studio and not working the game itself, and too many fans would see him as a joke rather than a serious commentator.
Two other inhouse options for ESPN are Louis Riddick (8/1) and Rex Ryan (9/1). Riddick is one of the best insiders the Mothership has at its disposal, but he has never been on a broadcast before.
As far as Ryan is concerned…
That time Rex basically said someone got peed on… #nfl #mnf #RexRyan pic.twitter.com/y0fRig28YZ
— WagerLord (@wager_lord) September 12, 2017
… Maybe not.
Kurt Warner could be an interesting proposition. Warner has done color commentary for Monday Night Football before, albeit in the radio booth instead of on television. The former Arena Football League star has been a standout on the NFL Network, and he worked for Westwood One on the radio broadcasts of primetime football games for four years before transitioning back to television. Warner was also a color commentator for the AFL when it was broadcast on the NFL Network and was largely considered successful in that role.
If ESPN is going to throw around a huge number like the $6.5 million that was being paid to Gruden, Warner would be foolish to not listen to overtures.
One interesting name to keep an eye on is Bruce Arians (30/1). Though Arians’ voice might not fit that typical color commentating role, he has expressed interest in joining the broadcast booth immediately now that he has retired from coaching. He’s a more polished version of Ryan and is looked at as the most ready-now option of the men who have recently moved on from the NFL.
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