‘This guy’s upside is through the roof’: Draft pundits largely praise Patriots’ selection of Drake Maye

"I love what New England is doing here."

Bill Belichick offered an honest critique of Drake Maye after the Patriots selected him with the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, focusing on his negatives just as much as he did his positives.

But other draft pundits seemed to offer a more glowing analysis of the Patriots’ newest quarterback. Nick Saban, a longtime friend of Belichick’s, was among that group. The new analyst for ESPN recalled how Maye was actually committed to Alabama before decommitting, causing Saban to joke that he “should be mad at him.”

The former Alabama coach offered some praise for Maye instead.

“He had a great career and he did a great job for the state,” Saban said on ABC’s broadcast of the draft. “I have a lot of respect for this guy. He’s wired right. Keeping the main thing the main thing is going to be the most important thing for these first three picks. Who can stay focused on doing the right thing and not get overwhelmed by all of the distractions and external factors that they’re going to be faced with?”

NFL Network’s lead draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah continued the praise of Maye. He compared the North Carolina product to Jordan Love due to their production dropping in their final college seasons because the “supporting cast deteriorated.” But Jeremiah is willing to look past that, pointing to his strengths such as his size, athleticism, power arm, touch, accuracy, escapability, creativity, and mobility.

More importantly, Jeremiah believes Maye can help the Patriots keep up with some of the best offensively.

“It felt like for two decades, everyone was chasing Tom Brady in that division. Now, everyone’s chasing Josh Allen,” Jeremiah said. “They got a big, rugged, physical, athletic quarterback in New England now that’s going to give them a chance when they find themselves in some of those high-scoring affairs. He’s an unbelievable athlete.”

Fellow NFL Network draft analyst Joel Klatt dished out similar praise for Maye, believing the Patriots are a “great spot for him” to sit and learn.

“I think he’s got as high of an upside as anybody, including even maybe Caleb Williams,” Klatt said. “He and Caleb make throws that all the other quarterbacks can only dream of making. New England fans, yes, he might not be the most polished right now, but this guy’s upside is through the roof.”

In the months prior to the draft, there were some questions about whether the Patriots should actually stay pat and take a quarterback at No. 3 due to the several holes on their roster. NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner agreed with what the Patriots did, saying that “your team needs to be ready when your quarterback is ready.”

As Warner pleaded patience for Patriots fans, he thinks they can take a page at how another division rival developed their quarterback to help Maye.

“I believe his path is going to have to be similar to Josh Allen’s,” Warner said. “When Josh Allen came out, [he completed] 59 percent of his passes in college. Very seldom do you see guys get more accurate in the National Football League. Josh Allen put in the work, he had the right coaches around him, and he made that progress. Now, he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

“Drake Maye is going to have to clean up some of that technique stuff. But if he does, he’s got that physical ability. I love what New England is doing here.”

ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper disagreed with the Josh Allen comparisons for Maye, calling them “exaggerated.” He believes that he’s more like Justin Herbert, pointing out that they both had underwhelming final college seasons. But Kiper believes Maye’s talent is “through the roof” as it falls on the Patriots to get the situation right.

“They’ve got to coach him,” Kiper said. “They can’t hang him out to dry like they did to Mac Jones. This organization has to help Drake Maye. He’s 21, he’s still developing. He can make any throw you want. When he gets in a rhythm, he can pick you apart.

“Now, sometimes he doesn’t get in that rhythm. He runs a little hot and cold at times. He had some inconsistency with his accuracy and precise passing. He was like a pitcher, he didn’t always have his best stuff late in the year. But he didn’t have a lot of help.”

Fellow ESPN NFL analyst Louis Reddick also made a similar call for the Patriots to make sure the situation around Maye is right.

“Eliot Wolf understands what he needs to do next: Address the offensive line and address the receiver position,” Reddick said. “You cannot put your young quarterback behind an offensive line that was dead last in pass-block win rate last year and had a wide receiver corps that had less than 2,000 yards total as a group. That can’t happen. You have to build it up around him now.”

As Reddick noted, the Patriots’ offensive situation was one of the worst for a quarterback last season. They haven’t done much to improve this offseason, either. However, Kirk Herbstreit believes that the situation Maye was in last season could benefit him in New England.

“He’s one of those guys that you sit down and talk with during a production meeting and you walk out of there thinking, ‘Wow, this guy has it all put together as far as his perspective,'” Herbstreit said on ABC’s broadcast of the draft. “He took some hits this year. He was sacked 37 times. I think that will really help him when he transitions to the league because going to New England, he’s going to take some hits. He’s not going to have the best team around him.”