ESPN’s Matt Miller Talks 2026 NFL Draft & More with Rich

ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller arrived in person on The Rich Eisen Show the day before the 2026 NFL Draft and spent the segment running the top of the board team by team, beginning with the premise that the draft really starts at pick two with the New York Jets. "I have a feeling it will be David Bailey," Miller told Rich, citing a Jets organization that has tightened its information leaks since Mike Maccagnan's departure and a head coach in Aaron Glenn under pressure to win now.

Miller walked through the Arvell Reese versus Bailey debate as the central question of the top five. He framed Reese as the higher-ceiling hybrid and Bailey as the more pro-ready pass rusher, and argued more teams would trade up for Bailey because of the certainty. "Reese could become Micah Parsons," Miller said. "He could become that great hybrid off-ball player, but you're betting on a player who had 97 snaps as a pass rusher last year." He drew the Travis Hunter parallel, where the hybrid promise has narrowed to a 75-25 cornerback role in his rookie deployment.

Notre Dame running back Jeremiah Love is Miller's floor-at-seven prospect. He cited the New York Giants' need for an explosive playmaker around Jackson Dart and Mike Neighbors, the Tennessee Titans' interest, and the Sonny Styles tug-of-war as evidence that Love does not slip past the Washington Commanders. Rich pressed Miller on why running back remains a non-premium position when Saquon Barkley, Bijan Robinson, and Jahmyr Gibbs have all delivered, and Miller agreed the Sonny Styles conversation suffers from the same positional discount despite tape that he called unblockable at Ohio State.

On wide receiver, Miller revealed his 4:30 p.m. Eastern mock draft has Jordan Addison going to the Giants at five, based on what he described as more in-person work by New York than any other team. He flagged availability concerns over Addison's missed games and knee injury at Colorado, and ranked Carnell Tate, McKay Lemon, and Omar Cooper Jr. higher on his personal board.

Miller made the case for the Cleveland Browns trading back from six in a deep offensive tackle class with Francis Mauigoa and Spencer Fano closely graded, and floated the Kansas City Chiefs at nine taking a right tackle to extend Patrick Mahomes' protection on a rookie wage scale. He addressed the Reuben Bain arm-length question directly. "A sub 31-inch arm pass rusher has never had 10 sacks in a season," Miller said. Pressed by Rich for a wild Thursday-night prediction, Miller upgraded from a Jordan Tyson mock to the Dallas Cowboys trading 12 and 20 up to three for Reese.