ESPN might have a succession plan in place for whenever Mel Kiper Jr. decides to retire, but NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller hasn’t thought about it.

Miller joined this week’s episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast to discuss building a mock draft, working for ESPN, the 2025 NFL Draft, Shedeur Sanders and more. And during the interview, Miller was asked the question, “Are you capable of ESPN’s successor to Mel Kiper Jr?”


“Oh my gosh,” Miller said. “I mean, if they ask me to be, I would work my tail off to be that. I’ve never thought of myself as that. I’ve never even assumed that I would be or could be that. But if Mel decided that he wanted to peel back and they asked me to do that, I would be honored.

“Anyone who works in this business, that is your dream. To be the main guy. I think I can handle it. From a work perspective, I think I know the draft well, I do a lot of work on the players, I do a lot of work on the teams. We’re very different people. I’m not going to be able to go on the breathless rants about players, but I think we both respect each other and how hard we work.

Miller was also quick to shout out some of his ESPN colleagues who also do great work covering the NFL Draft, specifically naming Field Yates and Jordan Reid.

“I would never want to assume that if Mel decided to retire that just one person could take his place,” Miller added. “I think it would be something that you would have to share the workload a bit.”

Kiper recently told Skip Bayless he’s not thinking about retirement. And despite some of the backlash Kiper received for championing Shedeur Sanders throughout the quarterback prospect’s slide to the fifth round, the 64-year-old draft analyst appears to have plenty left in the tank. But whenever Kiper decides it’s time to slow down, Miller deserves a chance to be the heir apparent.

Listen to the full episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast beginning Friday, May 2 which features Matt Miller talking about his media career, the NFL Draft, working with Mel Kiper Jr. and more. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.