ESPN’s Matt Miller Breaks Down How the NFL Draft’s Top 10 Could Shake Out

The conversation starts on a tangent about closers. Rich asks which football positions function the way a baseball closer does, the guy you trust to lock down four minutes and a lead. Quarterback. Running back, the way Jonathan Taylor was held off the field in that de facto Texans Colts playoff game. And then the answer that matters today, the great edge rusher. Lawrence Taylor as the prototype. A David Bailey or an Arvell Reese as the 2026 version.

That lands ESPN's Matt Miller in the chair, and the first question is the only question that matters. What do the Jets do at two. Miller has been listening to the social media flip flop for four days and trying to ignore it. His read is David Bailey. The Jets have tightened up information since the Mike Macagnone era, but the consistent whisper points to Bailey. The reason is pressure. Logically the 2026 Jets are a 2027 team, but tell that to Aaron Glenn or Darren Mougey, both of whom could be looking for new jobs if there is no spark this season. Win now beats upside.

Miller also flips the trade up question. He thinks Bailey would draw more calls than Reese, because Reese reads as a hybrid project. He points to the Cardinals and Isaiah Simmons as the cautionary tale on hybrid bets. If Bailey falls past two, Miller thinks Brett Veach gets antsy in Kansas City. Last time the Chiefs took a Texas Tech guy in the top ten it worked out fine. Rich grins at the comp.

The receiver board comes next. Miller previews a piece of his own mock that drops at four thirty Eastern. Jordan Tyson to the Giants at five. The Giants have been to Tempe so many times Miller jokes they know the bars at Arizona State. Rich pushes on Carnell Tate, and Miller concedes Tate is rated higher on his own board, along with Mai Lemon and Omar Cooper Jr, but availability worries him. Tyson missed thirty four percent of his team's games over three years and the hamstring issues continue.

From there they walk the rest of the top ten. Browns at six is offensive line, but Miller flags it as the trade back hot zone, Kansas City coming up, Washington a Sunny Styles or Carnell Tate landing spot. Commanders at seven set the floor at Sunny Styles or Jeremiah Love, with Tate as the third option since Terry McLaurin is a sneaky thirty one. Saints at eight stack on receiver, with Caleb Downs as the alternative if everyone they want is gone.

Rich closes by tipping his hat to Miller for nailing the new Quinshon Judkins pronunciation. The man is grinding tape and getting hooked on phonics at the same time.