The Patriots could have their pick between Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels, and New England can at least know the former isn't lacking in confidence.
Jerod Mayo and his coaching staff met the pair at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last week, and both came away with positive takeaways. One thing New England reportedly wanted to ask Maye was why his production took a step down in his last season at North Carolina.
That seems to be a cause of concern for some analysts, and it might be why Chris Simms ranked him at the bottom of his top six quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft class. That meant Simms had Maye below Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy. The NBC Sports analyst labeled him as a "tier four" prospect under the moniker of "talented project."
Simms' post went viral, and Maye caught wind of it. The 21-year-old simply posted laughing crying emojis in response to the retired NFL quarterback's take on him.
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Simms isn't alone in thinking Maye is a project. ESPN's Dan Orlovsky believes the Patriots should sit the UNC product a season to allow him to develop instead of starting right away.
However, Simms infamously ranked Zach Wilson as the best quarterback prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft, and he had Kellen Mond at No. 4 ahead of Justin Fields. He ranked former New England practice squad player Matt Corral as the top prospect of the 2022 NFL Draft. In fairness to Simms, he did rank C.J. Stroud as his top QB prospect of last year's draft.
Maye joined Daniels in the group of prospects who haven't been afraid to clown reporters and analysts on social media, and it'll be up to them to prove doubters wrong, which could be a quality New England is seeking when it gets the opportunity to choose one of them.
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Featured image via Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports
