Jon Gruden (left) delivers passion, insight

NFL studio yakfests need edgy one-liners, even if analysts need to rehearse them relentlessly until they sound spontaneous. And NBC studio analyst Rodney Harrison, so far, spews them.

But for a TV rookie to be a solid game analyst -- on prime time, no less -- is like getting Tom Brady with a sixth-round draft pick. On-air, Jon Gruden so far has been perky -- is this really the same guy as the seeming serial killer "Chucky" who used to roam the sidelines? -- and conveys a John Madden-like passion for the sport and its quirks and characters and, lately, its Wildcat formations.

Of course it's easy for Gruden to seem like an upgrade on ESPN's Monday Night Football given its years of meanderings with the miscast Dennis Miller and Tony Kornheiser, who couldn't play NFL experts on TV and were left with the impossible assignment of coming up with witty one-liners about, say, somebody going off tackle for 3 yards. Instead, as ESPN ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer puts it, Gruden "seems to have quickly and naturally mastered the difficult art of observing the obvious with a sense of discovery."

Again, very Maddenesque.

Everybody expects Gruden, who never played in the NFL and won Super Bowl XXXVII during 11 seasons as a head coach, to go back to calling plays. Just like everybody expected Madden, who didn't make the NFL as a player but won Super Bowl XI in 10 years as a coach, to go back.

McCarthy, good thing you aren't in charge of scouting NFL TV prospects. Because Gruden might just be opening an act your grandkids will someday see.

Candid Harrison still hitting hard

Wrong, Hiestand. Chucky's good but he's not the best TV rookie. It's Rodney Harrison of NBC's Football Night in America. Harrison's been bringing it for NBC, Dan Patrick and other TV/radio shows that mike him up.

Let's see, it's only Week 3, but Harrison's already said Brett Favre's a "pretty selfish" player who'll turn on the Minnesota Vikings the way he's turned on the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers. "Everywhere he goes, he craps on everybody," he told Patrick.

He called San Francisco 49ers holdout Michael Crabtree an "idiot" and predicted he'll be blackballed if he tries to re-enter the draft. While his former team, the New England Patriots, declined to get into a war of words with Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, Harrison obliged, telling Michael Kay: "He's not a tough guy."

But Harrison can laugh at himself too. He joked on NBC about his inability to stop David Tyree of the New York Giants' miraculous against-the-helmet catch in Super Bowl XLII. He admitted Sunday to being intimidated by Brandon Jacobs, the Giants' 6-4, 265-pound back. "I can't lie to you. A couple of times, I was afraid to hit him."

You can argue whether Harrison's right or wrong about Favre. But isn't this what you want? A guy who tells it like it is rather than yukking it up or covering for ex-teammates and coaches. Next step: I want Harrison to dish on Tom Brady and the Pats the way he does the rest of the league.

That would be more entertaining than spouting cliches like this one after the Pats' loss to the Jets on Sunday: "There is a sense of urgency in that locker room but there is not a sense of panic."