Matt Miller on the '26 QB Class

ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller walked through the Dolphins' draft-shaping haul and the quarterback landscape behind Fernando Mendoza, which is where the 2026 class gets interesting.

Rich kicked off with the Dolphins. In the scenario on the board, Miami goes wide receiver Makai Lemon, corner Colton Hood at 30 via the Jaylen Waddle trade to Denver, and tight end Eli Stowers at 43. Three needs, three hits, new regime, twelve picks total. Miller called it a franchise-defining draft. They have to get this one right.

Stowers is the piece Miller is most animated about. He compared the impact to what Harold Fannin meant to Cleveland last year. Stowers would give Malik Willis an easy option over the middle while offering record-setting explosiveness in vertical and broad jump and real speed in the open field. He's also a former quarterback, which Miller said shows up in his feel for getting open. Potential Pro Bowl player if Miami lands him at 43.

Rich added a Minnesota touch. Jeremiah Price from Notre Dame in the second round, the other Notre Dame back, not Jeremiyah Love. Paired with Aaron Jones and the existing room, a nice second-round complement to a first-round Dylan Theneman pick.

Then the quarterback conversation. In Miller's scenario, two more quarterbacks come off the board in the late second, and Carson Beck isn't one of them. Garrett Nussmeier lands with the Steelers at 53 behind Aaron Rodgers. Drew Allar goes to the Rams.

Miller separated Beck from Nussmeier and Allar by preference. Beck was a projected first-rounder at Georgia before a 2024 UCL tear, had a bounce-back year at Miami, but Miller questioned his ability to elevate a team. He's been carried by good rosters. When the pocket gets muddy, Beck gets frantic, wants to leave early. With Nussmeier and Allar, the book is closer to incomplete than damning because injury kept both from proving they could fail productively.

On Nussmeier specifically, Miller said the LSU quarterback got hurt in fall camp, pushed through the year, and the zip was gone. He looked tight, worked with a new receiving cast, and accuracy slipped. But the traits held up at the Senior Bowl and the combine. Pittsburgh, sitting behind Rodgers, is a soft landing to heal, adjust, and potentially become the next guy.

On Allar and the Rams, Miller made the Goff-for-Stafford connection. Sean McVay wanted big-arm access to every part of the field. That's why Stafford's elite arm strength fit. Allar checks the same box. Six-five, 225, mobility, field vision. The Penn State offense didn't stress him and he got hurt in 2025. He's a projection bet. Miller was honest about the league's development record. The NFL doesn't really develop quarterbacks anymore, but players in the right system with the right staff can be the exceptions. Allar with McVay is his idea of an exception.