Omarion Miller

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Snooze Alarm

If at least 4 draft experts say that a player is a 1st round draft sleeper, then guess what? He's not a draft sleeper anymore. Omarion Miller, a WR who will play for Arizona State in 2026, was a well-known 4-star recruit, so he was never an under the radar player even as a freshman. One expert compares him to Hakeem Nicks, the former NY Giant, who was a late 1st round selection in 2009. Davante Adams turns 34 years old this upcoming season, says he's unsure whether he'll play another season and is on an expiring contract. If the Rams are looking for a big X receiver to potentially replace Adams, someone like Miller would seem to fit the bill.

A big ASU receiver didn't fit the bill for the Patriots, as in Bill Belichick. Prior to Tom Brady's final season with the Pats, in the 2019 draft, they took a big and very athletic WR named N'Keal Harry at the bottom of the 1st round. It was the first WR drafted in the 1st round by the Pats in the entire Belichick era. I thought this was a horrible selection and out of character for Belichick. Harry wasn't a Patriot or Tom Brady type of WR. I thought Harry would be a big bust.

In 2011, the Pats traded for Chad Johnson from the Bengals. A superstar when he played with Carson Palmer, Johnson never jived with Brady and made little impact as the Pats ended that season by losing the Super Bowl to the Giants and Hakeem Nicks. One of the reported reasons Johnson didn't get much playing time was that Brady was very particular about how precise and detailed WRs needed to be with their route running in the Patriot offensive system. With the Bengals, Johnson had been given more freedom to freelance. He never earned Brady's trust to be in the right place on the field at the right time. Due to this episode, I couldn't understand why the Pats would draft Harry, because at ASU he wasn't a detail-oriented player.

Things played out as I expected. Harry was a bust. He never had more than about 300 yards in a season for the Pats. In the summer of 2021, he demanded to be traded so that he could have "a fresh start". The Pats traded him away the following summer for a future 7th round pick in the 2024 draft. Harry is no longer in the NFL and only has 714 career receiving yards. The next 2 WRs drafted after Harry were Deebo Samuel and AJ Brown. Ironically, AJ Brown is now a Patriot. They traded a 1st round pick in the 2028 draft to acquire him. If they had just drafted AJ Brown instead of Harry, I wonder if Brady would have finished his career with the Pats instead of leaving to win another SB with Tampa Bay. Plus, the Pats would still have that future 1st round pick.

I hate Omarion Miller as a draft prospect. I think that N'Keal Harry was a much better prospect than Miller. I don't think Snead should touch Miller with a ten foot pole in the 2nd round. Ian Cummings and Jacob Infante from PFSN both rank Miller as the 4th best WR in the draft. Basically, they can't decide whether he or Charlie Becker is the better prospect. I think both of them are great draft experts but in this particular case I vehemently disagree with their grade.

 

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Part 1: Background

Name, Age: Omarion Miller, turns 22 in December of 2026. True senior. Arizona State in 2026, Colorado 2023 to 2025.

Size, estimated speed: Listed by ASU as 6'2'' tall and 210 pounds. Listed at 195 pounds in 2023 and 2024, then 210 pounds in 2025. DraftBuzz 4.48 seconds in 40. Brian Bosarge 4.45 to 4.55 seconds in 40. Draftscout 4.46 seconds in 40.

4-star recruit from Louisiana. Initially committed to LSU, flipped to Nebraska, then flipped again to Colorado. Father passed away when Miller was 14 years old. Projected as a Day 3 draft pick when he was a HS recruit, upgraded to a Day 2 prospect entering the 2026 season with ASU.

Suffered "gruesome" broken lower left leg in 2024, season-ending injury. Got hurt by a hip drop tackle, his leg got caught underneath. Hamstring injury in 2025, missing one game.

Colorado had a terrible team in 2025, going 3-9. They struggled in multiple areas, including special teams. I don't know what Deion Sanders is doing, because his team doesn't look like it is well coached. I thought their play calling was poor, their pass blocking was poor. Kaidon Salter, the QB, was an UDFA in 2026 and became a backup QB in the CFL. Some of the experts give Miller a free pass, saying he was held back by the QB and his team. For reasons I'll explain later, I disagree with this, I think he was part of the problem.

Hines Ward, the former Steeler WR, will be Miller's WR coach at ASU. Ward was the toughest WR you'll ever find and a nasty blocker. Maybe he can whip Miller into shape. If it doesn't show in 2026, that's a big problem. If you don't listen to an all-time great like Ward, you aren't going to learn from anyone.

2023 (10 games) 11-234-1
2024 (6 games) 10-261-1
2025 (11 games, 8 starts) 45-808-8

Almost all of his 2023 production came in a single game (USC) and almost all of his 2024 production came in a single game (KSU), so prior to the 2025 season, his entire career basically consisted of those 2 games. If you're an expert and you watched the video of those 2 games, you might think he's great, but this gives a skewed picture of his overall career. Miller had 7-196-1 vs USC in 2023. As you can see, he had almost no yardage the entire rest of that season.

Shane Hallam mock 6th round, 201
Ian Cummings mock 2nd round, 43 overall: Valuable hybrid movement Z receiver with RAC ability, route running to be a 3-level threat.
PFSN sim 17th overall, 4th best WR: (+) A 1st round sleeper, great height and mass, decent proportional length, potent athleticism. Elite explosiveness, short-area agility, foot speed, rare hip fluidity, sharp route breaks, RAC threat with over 2 yards of RAC above expectation, separates, release arsenal. (-) Needs to improve at the catch point, 7.8% drop rate in 2025, inconsistent catch point positioning.
Drafttek 51
PFF big board not ranked in top 75
NFLMDD sim 23 overall, 3rd best WR
Cooper Petagna, CBSSports mock 1st round, 27th overall
NFLdraftHQ mock not selected in first 3 rounds
Travis May mock late 2nd round, 60th overall
DraftBuzz: 4th round, 134 overall, 18th WR. An outside X WR. (+) Deep-ball production, 11/18 contested catches, finishes through contact. (-) Average long speed, lacks burst to separate downfield, 6 drops on 77 targets, season ending leg injury in 2024, quiet vs zone with basic route nuance underneath, not explosive once the deep shot is taken away.
Brian Bosarge: (+) Elite verticality and catch radius, high level body control and natural adjustment on downfield throws, consistent production, lateral elusiveness and initial burst after catch. (-) Occasional focus drops, blocking.
Chris Farbolin: 2nd round, possible late 1st round (+) Ideal size and frame for X receiver, finishes through press coverage, excellent deep-ball tracking, vertical threat who comes down with contested catches, impressive physicality for YAC, sheds tackles, stays on feet after contact, football IQ, consistently finds soft spots in zone, great RZ option, 3-level threat. (-) Limited top end speed, limited burst and twitch, 6 drops, doesn't create ton of separation vs man, injuries.
Sparkscouting: Early 2nd round projection, 26th overall, Hakeem Nicks comp. (+) Excellent ball skills, wins contested catches, stacks CBs to generate explosive plays vertically, breaks tackles after catch, works through contact vs press coverage. (-) Underdeveloped route treee, inexcusable drops, separation out of breaks.
Draftscout: Day 2

 

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Part 2: Strengths

Explosive stats. Had 6 games in 2025 with at least 80 receiving yards, plus those 2 monster games from earlier in his career. In 4 of his big games, he's had over 120 receiving yards. He might go quiet for long stretches, but when he's made noise it has resulted in huge statistical games.

It is unfortunate that he got injured in 2024, because he looked stronger and more explosive than he was in 2023.

Tall with good length. Good size and body mass for blocking. Drove a CB off the LOS on block. Knocked a CB on his rear end. Aggressive attitude, tries to ambush and punk the CB on some blocks.

Made some spectacular catches. A great one-handed basket catch on sideline fade against tight coverage. Crazy highlight contested atch going over the head of CB on deep fade. Made one-handed stab to knock a high pass down to his chest.

Plays through contact. Flashed a nice swim move vs jam.

While normally the outside X receiver, sometimes was in the slot.

Didn't play with Fernando Mendoza. If he had been on Indiana's team in 2025, probably could have caught a bunch of backshoulder fades and 5 out of 5 dentists would have made him a 1st round draft prospect.

Due to various injuries, he hasn't technically started a complete season's worth of games. Maybe 2026 will be a breakout season. Added weight in 2025, could still fill out his frame and get stronger. Maybe another year removed from his serious leg injury he'll have more lower body explosiveness.

 

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Part 3: Weaknesses

Inordinate amount of production off of terrible CB play or howler blown coverages, resulting in very easy big plays. CB gave him free outside release on vertical route. Running all by himself in open field on blown coverage. Cover 4, the safety inexplicably bites down hard on the RPO, leaving a huge open void in the middle of the field for an easy catch. Garbage time catch in blowout loss. He's been giftwrapped a bunch of yards that he didn't really earn by doing anything special.

Shaky, unreliable hands. Below average hand eye coordination. Bobbled double catches. Struggles to catch the ball cleanly with his hands, has to either trap it to his body or regrasp the ball a second time.

Painfully slow route tempo. Not an explosive athlete. No twitch. Not explosive out of breaks. No burst after the catch. Doesn't make sharp breaks. Limited burst coming off the LOS, doesn't drive hard off the line.

Poor route running. No nuance on slants or in-cuts. Wears CBs like a jersey on vertical routes against press-man, zero separation. No separation on intermediate in-breaking route. Gets smothered by press-coverage, struggles to get off the line and into his route.

Played in spread system scheme with very wide WR splits. Not a pro-style offense. Scheme didn't require WR to block much on runs.

Immature personality. Frequently taunts CBs after catches or when blocking on run plays, risking penalties.

On multiple plays during 2-minute drill, his team down by 3 points, there was zero hustle by him just lining up in the formation for the next snap while the clock was ticking away.

Had a serious leg injury.

His blocking technique is very poor, wild, incredibly sloppy and undisciplined, making it easy for even smaller CBs to defeat his block. Not detailed or conscientious with details. Terrible footwork, crossing over his feet and with narrow base, doesn't properly slide his feet laterally to sustain. Has the worst blocking footwork I've ever seen from a WR. CB swims then throws WR to the side. Ducked head into block then clumsily pulled CB, risking penalty. Bad at sustaining blocks in space.

Outside zone run to the left. Miller is the WR to the left. The ghost motion by a WR going towards the right pulls the deep centerfield safety and the backside LB out of position. If Miller makes his block at the POA, I kid you not, this is potentially a 75-yard TD run for the RB. The pursuit is going to be late, due to the pre-snap motion working to perfection. Miller is lackadaisical getting to his blocking angle. He weakly and softly punches, disinterested in blocking, allowing the CB to instantly disengage from the block. His CB tackles the RB after a 14-yard gain. Completely unacceptable. Ruined good play design by the coaches. Ruined good blocking by the OL. Garbage like that is how a team goes 3-9 on the season. Do your job.

When the design of the run puts him at the POA, he's still disinterested in blocking. Very poor blocking effort on swing pass to RB.

Colorado is facing a key 3rd down at a pivotal moment of the game. Miller catches the ball over the middle, has the 1st down, but doesn't put 2 hands on the ball in heavy traffic. Defender from the side slaps down and causes a fumble, a backbreaking turnover just as the Buffs were marching for a likely score. Losing practice habits result in losing football games.

Not a clutch player, not a winner. On key 4th quarter drive, he appeared to run the wrong route, ending up too close to a different WR. Team is trying to rally in 4th quarter, still time if they can score, he's just standing and watching the RB get tackled, zero interest in helping as all 5 of the OL go to the pile to help push the RB forward. Poor route run on critical medium 3rd down late in game.

Poor special teams value due to his athletic limitations.

Have we covered it all? He's a liability in the run game, because he's a bad blocker. He's a liability in the pass game, because he drops the ball, doesn't run routes well and can't separate from coverage. He's mistake prone, doesn't play hard and might torpedo his own team with a critical error late in the game. Even if he makes a great catch on a key 4th quarter drive, he might undo it by taunting the CB and getting flagged after the whistle. I don't want someone like that on my team. Players like that get cut from NFL rosters. I don't understand why Ian Cummings and several other experts are so high on this player. I don't think he's any good.

 

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Part 4: Draft Grade and Pro Comp

Late round grade. Dontayvion Wicks (Late 5th round 2023, Green Bay Packers, Virginia).

Wicks had a season-ending foot injury in 2020. The following season, he had 57-1,203-9 with over 21 yards per reception, a stunning high volume of deep ball grabs. His stats slipped in 2022 and he had 14 dropped passes over his final 2 years at UVA. Wicks has very long arms, long legs and big hands. He has a 39'' vertical jump, but doesn't run fast.

As a rookie, he had 39-581-4 for the Packers. He also fumbled 3 times. The Eagles traded two Day 3 picks to acquire him in 2026. For his draft slot, Wicks has been a solid player. On the other hand, the very next WR drafted that year was Puka Nacua. What would the balance of power in the NFC look like today between the Packers and the Rams if Puka were a Packer?

I inadvertently left out Sam Teets, who has Miller as a 2nd round prospect, one slot ahead of Ryan Wingo. The only expert I'm with regarding Miller is Shane Hallam, who mocked him in the 6th round. IMO, every other draft expert who has scouted Miller has it wrong. I don't think that Omarion Miller is a 1st round draft sleeper; I think he's overrated.