Top 10 Sports Media Insiders Rankings: Ranking Adam Schefter, Jeff Passan, and More

Top 10 Sports Media Insiders Rankings: Ranking Adam Schefter, Jeff Passan, and More

Last night the 2022 NBA Draft took place. If you were on Twitter while watching the draft, you knew every pick at least five minutes before it was announced on your television.

Sports media has taken over in a big way when it comes to breaking news. So many "analysts" and "journalists" talk about a guy, knowing a guy, who knows a guy, and then end up completely wrong when all is said and done. Of course, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of the Athletic are wrong sometimes too. But they're usually the first on the scoop.

People essentially wait for Woj or Shams to report something before believing anyone else. But that got us thinking.

Are Woj and Shams the top sports media insiders?

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Top 10 Sports Media Insiders Rankings

1. Jeff Passan

Jeff Passan is the only insider who makes sports fun. He's a jokester but also takes his job very seriously. He's been on countless ESPN telecasts and does a really good job breaking down the Winter Meetings every season.

There's really no better off-season than the MLB winter meetings and he's always on top of his game.

2. Adrian Wojnarowski

If it's not Woj tweeting it, nobody is going to believe it. That's how good Adrian Wojnarowski has been at his job. He might have a mistake or two at times, but overall, he's the quickest to break news correctly.

His rival is next on the list, though.

3. Shams Charania

Shams Charania is covering the NBA for The Athletic and Stadium. He's been doing the same as Adrian Wojnarowski. Before he got popular, it was hard to trust him. But as he continued to get the facts spot on, his popularity and respect continued to grow in the industry.

4. Adam Schefter

ESPN continues to dominate the industry with another insider. This time, it's Adam Schefter, who covers mostly the NFL. Like Woj and Shams, nobody believes any rumor until Schefter tweets something out.

5. Ken Rosenthal

Ken Rosenthal is currently the MLB guy for Fox. He does on-field broadcasting and is a baseball writer for The Athletic. He, like Shams, is the breaking news guy for his sport, which is baseball. If Rosenthal doesn't tweet something, nobody will believe it.

However, I must say, Rosenthal usually credits others who get the scoop first more than any of the other insiders.

6. Jon Heyman

Heyman is an insider with MLB Network. He's got over 762,000 followers and breaks news with the rest of them. He also just landed a new opportunity to work for the NY Post starting with this year's baseball season.

7. Buster Olney

Olney is currently working for ESPN.com and is the on-field reporter for Sunday Night Baseball. He's also great at breaking news and has been one of the premier insiders in the MLB for years now. He does have his hate for the Mets, it seems, but I won't grade him specifically on that.

8. Ian Rapoport

Speaking of the Mets, Ian Rapoport is a huge Mets fan. He's also a huge NFL insider who is always breaking news about the NFL. He works for the NFL Network and used to beat report for the Patriots before that.

9. Field Yates

Field Yates will probably eventually take over Adam Schefter at ESPN. Yates is an NFL Insider but also has a ton of knowledge about fantasy football, which helps him get into our top 10 rankings.

10. Bobby Marks

It's hard to outdo Woj and Shams but Bobby Marks has done a terrific job breaking news with ESPN. He sticks within his niche, which is reporting on NBA front offices for ESPN. He has a lot of knowledge after being an assistant general manager for the Nets for five seasons.