NFL insider reveals Drake Maye likely wasn't Patriots' first QB choice

Knowing the Patriots were going to select a quarterback with the third overall pick in this year's draft prompted much debate about who would be the best pick. Months before, it was apparent that USC's Caleb Williams would be the first one off the board, leaving LSU's Jayden Daniels and UNC's Drake Maye as the top remaining options for New England to likely choose from.

Because the Commanders held the pick right before them, the Patriots' decision would hinge on who they didn't choose. There were varying opinions regarding which quarterback was more talented and had a higher ceiling in the NFL, with the answer depending on who was being asked the question.

The Patriots were connected to both players throughout the pre-draft process, thoroughly meeting with Daniels and Maye to ensure they did their due diligence about their impending decision. This even prompted a conversation about the new regime potentially trying to trade up to secure the player they wanted and, if that didn't happen, possibly trading down to acquire more picks instead.

Ultimately, that's not what happened, as the Commanders chose Daniels, leading Maye right to the Patriots. It was reportedly an easy decision for new head coach Jerod Mayo and director of player personnel Eliot Wolf, who claimed they knew they would be choosing Maye months before Round 1 began.

But now that we've seen Maye ride the bench through the first three weeks of his rookie season and Daniels flourish as Washington's starter, some analysts and fans are floating the possibility that the Patriots might wish they had the opportunity to choose Daniels over Maye.

ESPN's Mike Reiss feels the Patriots would have chosen a different quarterback with a higher pick in 2024

During an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub earlier this week, ESPN's Mike Reiss spoke to hosts Marc Bertrand and Scott Zolak about the Patriots potentially choosing Jayden Daniels over Drake Maye had they had the second overall pick.

He emphasizes that it is not something he has been told "one way or the other" but is basing his opinion on how the top draft analysts evaluated the quarterback talent for this year's class.

"I would say if they were second, they would have picked Jayden instead of Drake. I do think that. I do think that. I do. I mean, maybe that runs counter to some of the stuff that we've heard. But I think Jayden was pretty clear cut around the league in terms of being one of the top two there."

While it's fair to assume that had the Patriots held one pick higher in the first round, they might have chosen the quarterback most experts pegged as the second-best of the class, some of the discourse surrounding Daniels seems to have picked up because of his impressive performance against the Bengals in Week 3.

That would explain why this is a conversation since Maye has not even started a regular season game and hasn't shown any reason for the Patriots to regret selecting him in the draft. In fact, the complete opposite has been said this past week, with the coaching staff and reporters praising the rookie.

Perhaps this would be more of a talking point if Maye had disappointed once given the opportunity, but that hasn't been the case thus far. Hopefully, it never will be, either.

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