Emmitt Smith Still on ESPN, but Cris Carter Takes His Place on NFL Countdown

Emmitt Smith, the great running back who has been disastrous as an ESPN studio analyst, has been demoted at the Worldwide Leader.

Sunday NFL Countdown, ESPN's signature football pregame show, will replace Smith with Cris Carter, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is reporting.

It's a good move for ESPN for the simple reason that Carter is a better analyst than Smith: Both come from the perspective of a great player trying to explain his experience to average folks watching on TV, but Carter does so articulately and succinctly, while Smith stumbles over his words and fails to provide the insight that a man with his playing experience should have.

Smith will stay on ESPN, working on the Monday Night Football pregame show and on SportsCenter, and I'm sure ESPN will claim this isn't a demotion. But it is, and it's the right move: Sunday NFL Countdown just got better.