Patriots' draft dreams come true as Drake Maye is selected third overall

The Mac Jones era ended with a whimper during the 2023 season that also saw the end of Bill Belichick's two-decade-long run with the New England Patriots. 2024 represents the start of a new era for the Patriots and the team has officially found its new leader: Drake Maye.

Maye fell to the third overall pick after the Washington Commanders selected Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick. This was the ideal situation for the Pats all along, as Maye was long touted as the second-best quarterback in this draft.

Daniels rose late in the process because of his athletic traits. Either quarterback would have been exciting for the Patriots to select but at the end of the day, New England ended up with the quarterback who fans preferred this entire process.

Drake Maye has all the makings of being a franchise quarterback for the Patriots

Maye may have been the third quarterback taken in the 2024 NFL Draft but there is a decent chance that he could be the best. It will be an uphill climb to outplay first-overall pick Caleb Williams but Patriots fans should like Maye's chances to outplay Daniels.

Maye has all the tools that you can ask for in a quarterback. He has a rocket arm, can extend plays out of the pocket and has legitimate NFL size. Sure, Maye has a tendency to throw caution to the wind, which may worry some talent evaluators but that part of his game can be refined in the NFL.

Daniels is undoubtedly an athletic marvel but he also had far more help at LSU than Maye ever had at UNC. Maye was still able to cement himself as one of the best quarterbacks in college football, so Pats fans shouldn't worry about him coming to a team that may not have as much talent as others atop the NFL Draft.

Even if Daniels has a better rookie season, the Patriots taking Maye is still far better than the alternative. There was real speculation about the Patriots taking J.J. McCarthy or trading back from the third pick. While some fans may have preferred one of those two options, taking Maye definitely was the best-case scenario for New England.