ESPN “zeroing in” on Dave Pasch, Bob Wichusen to replace Chris Fowler

ESPN is making big changes to its NFL “B” team.

Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that ESPN is “zeroing in” on making Dave Pasch and Bob Wichusen the replacements for Chris Fowler in the play-by-play role for games not handled by Joe Buck.

Pasch and Wichusen reportedly will split the excess games.

Jason Kelce remains under consideration to serve as the game analyst for some of the games, with Kurt Warner and Louis Riddick in the mix for other games.

In 2026, ESPN will have eight non-Monday night games, with seven of them to be televised by NFL Network. Five games will be played internationally during college football season. The conflict with Fowler’s college football duties on Saturdays makes the international games impossible for Fowler to handle.

Fowler, Riddick, and Dan Orlovsky had been in the booth for the ESPN games not assigned to Buck and Troy Aikman.

Pasch and Wichusen currently call college football games for ESPN. Pasch handles play-by-play for Cardinals games on radio, and Wichusen does play-by-play for Jets games on radio.