Mel Kiper’s 2026 First Big Board: Miami Hurricanes Get Only Four On 130-Strong List Despite Star Talent

ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper isn’t quite buying the Miami Hurricanes in the NFL Draft hype looking toward the 2026 draft, as Kiper released his first draft Big Board today and only included four UM players in his list of 130 players.

So is Rueben Bain going perhaps No. 1 or at least in the top three, as some have posited? Nope. Kiper has him at No. 9.

“Bain is powerful and has really strong hands,” Kiper writes. “He routinely gets the best of some very good offensive tackles, often with his dominant rip move, and he knows every trick in the book in getting home to the QB. Bain also shows speed and bend off the edge, and he takes good angles. Plus, he can hold the edge against the run and get off blocks to chase down ball carriers. His tape is just filled with disruption. But even with all those A-level traits, it’s actually Bain’s hustle that really stands out to me. He never takes a play off and fires at the ball on every play. His arms are shorter than most scouts prefer, but there’s so much to like with his game. Opponents have to account for him in their game plans, and he can keep them guessing even then with his inside-outside flexibility.”

Is OT Francis Mauigoa a top 10 pick, as some think could be the case? Nope, per Kiper. He has him 18th.

“Here’s a true mauler,” Kiper writes. “Mauigoa is fun to watch for the way he just destroys pass rushers at the point of attack. He has more than 2,000 snaps at right tackle and has the pass protection skill to stick there, but he could absolutely slide inside and become a Pro Bowl-caliber guard at the next level. Mauigoa has allowed one sack and blown only five run blocks since the start of last season.”

As for all that other NFL talent on the Miami roster people are talking about?

Kiper doesn’t quite see it yet.

He lists Carson Beck as the No. 6 QB that will go in the draft, behind Dante Moore (top overall pick), Fernando Mendoza (No. 3 overall pick), Ty Simpson (No. 16 overall), LaNorris Sellers (No. 21 overall) and John Mateer (doesn’t go in first round, and Kiper only has one round listed and then breaks down every position into a top 10+).

Every draft is different, of course, but for reference the sixth-best QB didn’t go until the fifth round a year ago (that was Shedeur Sanders).

You won’t find Mark Fletcher in Kiper’s top 10 draft eligible running backs. No Miami WRs are on the 13-player list, sorry CJ Daniels, and no offensive lineman besides Mauigoa is in the 20 players listed on the offensive line.

On defense? There’s the aforementioned Bain, of course, and then you have Akheem Mesidor at a well-deserved No. 3 at the defensive end position behind Bain and Auburn’s Keldric Faulk.

But there are no Miami defensive tackles, linebackers or DBs at the combined 52 players on those lists.

So, to sum it up, there are just four Miami players that Kiper has among the 130 draft eligible players he mentions.

Oh, and if you’re wondering how many No. 1-ranked Ohio State players make the list? That would be seven, with the top player in the nation at safety (Caleb Downs) and off-ball LB (Arvell Reese) along with the No. 2 NFL tight end prospect (Max Klare) and No. 3 wide receiver (Carnell Tate).

Oregon? The Ducks have nine on Kiper’s list, including the No. 1 QB (Moore), No.1 tight end (Kenyon Sadiq), No. 2 DT (A’Mauir Washington) and No. 3 safety (Dillon Thieneman).

So Miami’s lagging behind those teams on this list.

We’ll also include that Notre Dame has four on the list, FSU just one (Darrell Jackson as No. 8 DT), and Florida has two (OL Jake Slaughter, DT Caleb Banks).

To put it simply: Miami’s NFL prospects still have a lot to prove … at least to Kiper … in the second half of the season