3 Worst NFL color analysts in the booth entering the 2020 season

The three worst NFL color analysts you don’t want calling your team’s games.

Every Sunday, NFL fans are excited to see their favorite team play. But nothing can kill that excitement quite like looking at the broadcasting teams and realizing that one of your least favorite color analysts is going to be chiming in for the next 60 minutes.

Who are the NFL color analysts that you dread hearing every time they’re tasked with calling a game your team is playing in?

Though at least one of these might be a wholly unpopular opinion, these are the three worst color analysts that will be in the booth for the 2020 NFL season.

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3. Charles Davis, NFL on CBS – B Team

Charles Davis seems like a nice enough person and is always upbeat when calling a game. The issue here, however, is that he’s simply not that good at the job, despite all the years spent calling the second-most important game of the week on FOX and now moving to the NFL on CBS B team with Ian Eagle.

Davis talks incessantly and rarely gives his partner in the booth time to do the same. Moreover, his style can be a bit grating. He’s replacing Dan Fouts on CBS’s B team and Fouts is a far superior color analyst.

This isn’t to say that Davis shouldn’t call football games. Ideally, he would move back to FOX and calling college football games with Gus Johnson. Even if he stayed with the NFL on CBS, working with Kevin Harlon or Andrew Catalon on the fourth and fifth teams.

2. Tony Romo, NFL on CBS – A Team

This likely isn’t a popular decision among NFL fans but Tony Romo can step on my nerves during a telecast. Part of it is simple in that his voice can be a bit screeching and comes off like nails on the chalkboard. He also might rank near the top of the league in interrupting his broadcast partner, the great Jim Nantz, and getting off-topic. And let’s not forget, of course, predicting plays.

Speaking of Nantz, it’s hard not to think that Romo doesn’t benefit from being partnered with an all-time great. He does his best to corral Romo when he goes off the rails, making the A broadcast on CBS worthwhile in the process.

This offseason, Romo signed a multi-year contract extension with CBS that will pay him more as a broadcaster than he made as the Dallas Cowboys quarterback. However, Romo should be lower in the pecking order. The breadth of broadcasting talent at CBS is impressive and many options (Nate Burleson, Boomer Esiason or ever Phil Simms) would be better suited if they were paired with Nantz.

1. James Lofton, NFL on CBS – Fifth Team

If we’re talking about voices that just aren’t pleasant to listen to during an NFL game, James Lofton has to be in the conversations. If you’re still trying to figure out why he replaced Solomon Wilcots, a quality analyst in his own right, years ago, you’re not alone.

Lofton can bore you to sleep during a broadcast. He takes an inordinate amount of time explaining the most basic plays in his monotonous voice. It’s worth noting that Lofton isn’t helped by his partner, Andrew Catalon, who tries to make a meaningless touchdown in a meaningless game sound like it’s a game-winning score in the Super Bowl.

When Lofton and Catalon are calling your team’s game, you know your team is in a bad spot. However, CBS could improve the situation there by supplanting that duo with Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta, the No. 6 team and an underrated grouping. That would at least make the No. 5 team’s games watchable.