Which NFL reporters do and do not tweet draft picks ahead of time?

If you’re on Twitter during the NFL draft, you’re familiar with the debate of whether draft spoilers are good. As reporters simply doing their jobs, some NFL beat writers take to Twitter and break news on draft picks as they learn which team will take which player.

The problem: sometimes they’re ahead of the television broadcast, which waits until Roger Goodell (or his later-round counterpart) steps to the podium to announce the pick, despite having a graphic reading “the pick is in” on-screen, sometimes for multiple minutes.

So it’s been a few years now since many of the heavy-hitting reporters in the industry have played spoiler.

Many people don’t want to know the picks in advance, thus ruining the draft-watching experience.

It makes sense, even if it’s a bit silly, in my opinion. Some folks want a second-screen experience that doesn’t ruin what they’re actually seeing.

In 2013, ESPN and NFL Network banned its reporters (like Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen) from tipping the picks ahead of time. Producer Seth Markman says that research showed their viewing audience didn’t like it.

“This is purely listening to the viewers and what they want. It was overwhelming that our consumers, our viewers, our fans do not want us to spoil the draft experience. I know some of our competitors will tweet picks, but they are not telecasting the draft. I am sure there is a segment of the population that wants it as soon as possible, but our responsibility is to our viewers. It’s not some big journalism discussion in my mind. It’s ‘I don’t like angering our viewers.’”

In a poll conducted by Pro Football Talk, its readers also overwhelmingly responded that they didn’t want picks leaked beforehand. But as far as ESPN’s concerned, it’s not a complete ban on all behind-the-scenes info. The four-letter network has plenty of reporters in team facilities across the league, and as trades happen and things like that, their reporters are allowed to break that type of news.

Among the most notable is CBS’ Jason La Canfora. He told a reporter in 2013 that he had no problem tipping picks and felt it a journalistic duty. A couple years later, the NFL had enough, however.

The league responded by asking all broadcast partners (of which CBS is one) to not tip picks in 2015. A letter read, in part:

As network partners of the NFL, we encourage and appreciate your coverage of the Draft in Chicago this year and ask for your cooperation with this approach. Please have your reporters and other personnel refrain from revealing picks on social media or other platforms before they are announced in the Draft broadcasts.

La Canfora joined a live show done by CBS, and was in a less tweetable position while the draft was actually going on.

And that falls to local beat writers more than national guys. Armando Salguero is a local voice at the Miami Herald who will give you news in advance if you want it, for example.

The national guys that do, like Mike Freeman at Bleacher Report or Jason Cole at Yahoo!, don’t have broadcast rights and aren’t shackled to the strong suggestion by the league.

As the draft progresses into later rounds, more and more reporters feel comfortable breaking news about the teams they cover. The second and third rounds are on a Friday night, but rounds four through seven begin at noon on a Saturday, when people aren’t locked in on their TVs and often look to Twitter to find out what’s happening.

The latter days of the draft are also pretty chaotic, with much shorter times between picks. When watching on ESPN, sometimes the broadcasters don’t even talk about the picks as they happen. Once the draft ends and the undrafted free agents period begins, everything turns into a free-for-all.

By the time the draft’s over, tipping where players are headed becomes as much of a vital service as it is the rest of the year.