{"id":174802,"date":"2025-07-02T05:20:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T05:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/174802\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T05:20:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T05:20:11","slug":"espn-analyst-matt-miller-has-clemson-all-over-his-early-2026-nfl-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/174802\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN analyst Matt Miller has Clemson all over his early 2026 NFL mock draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clemson<\/a> football’s <\/a>next NFL draft<\/a> class could rewrite the program\u2019s record books if early projections are any clue.<\/p>\n

In his first look at the 2026 draft, ESPN\u2019s Matt Miller<\/a> sees a big Clemson presence in round one. His mock includes five Tigers among the top 24 picks \u2014 with three inside the top six and four inside the top 14.<\/p>\n

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Leading the way is quarterback Cade Klubnik<\/a>, who Miller believes will be the first player off the board. He has the Cleveland Browns<\/a> using the No. 1 overall pick on Klubnik, calling him their best shot at a true franchise QB despite recent attempts. After throwing for over 3,600 yards and 36 touchdowns last season \u2014 and showing plenty of big-game poise \u2014 Klubnik could join Trevor Lawrence as Clemson\u2019s second-ever top overall selection.<\/p>\n

Defensive end T.J. Parker <\/a>is projected to be gone soon after. Miller slots him at No. 3 to Tennessee, pointing to his 11 sacks and six forced fumbles as proof the Titans<\/a> would finally land the dominant edge threat they\u2019ve been missing.Peter Woods follows at No. 6, where Miller has the Carolina Panthers<\/a> breaking tradition by drafting a Clemson player for the first time. The 315-pound defensive tackle would add punch next to Derrick Brown after producing three sacks and constant pressure last fall.<\/p>\n

Wide receiver Antonio Williams<\/a> rounds out the top half of the first round for Clemson in this mock, projected to Arizona at No. 14. Miller calls Williams the best wideout in the class after hauling in 75 catches and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore. He\u2019d pair nicely with Marvin Harrison Jr. and star tight end Trey McBride to boost the Cardinals\u2019 offense.<\/p>\n

Cornerback Avieon Terrell closes the group at No. 24, slotted to Cincinnati to help steady the Bengals\u2019 secondary. His 13 pass breakups and family ties \u2014 he\u2019s the younger brother of Falcons<\/a> star A.J. Terrell \u2014 only add to his appeal.<\/p>\n

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If this holds true, Clemson could easily top its record of three first-round picks, set back in 2019. The Tigers\u2019 draft pipeline shows no sign of slowing down \u2014 and Pittsburgh, the host city for the 2026 draft, might just hear \u201cClemson\u201d called plenty of times next April.<\/p>\n

Contact us\u00a0@Clemson_Wire<\/a>\u00a0on X, and like our page on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for ongoing coverage of\u00a0Clemson Tigers<\/a>\u00a0news and notes, plus opinions.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: ESPN’s Matt Miller has four Tigers in his early 2026 NFL mock draft<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clemson football’s next NFL draft class could rewrite the program\u2019s record books if early projections are any clue.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6959,375,228,5385,260,227,1681,843,54,11404,7,3374,7337,6,15,520,526,790,314,6042],"class_list":{"0":"post-174802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-antonio-williams","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-bengals","11":"tag-cade-klubnik","12":"tag-carolina-panthers","13":"tag-cincinnati","14":"tag-clemson","15":"tag-clemson-tigers","16":"tag-cleveland-browns","17":"tag-derrick-brown","18":"tag-football","19":"tag-marvin-harrison-jr","20":"tag-matt-miller","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-nfl-draft","23":"tag-pittsburgh","24":"tag-tennessee","25":"tag-tigers","26":"tag-trevor-lawrence","27":"tag-trey-mcbride"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114781961219218059","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}