ESPN Analyst Overlooks Drake Maye With a Hot Take on 2024 Quarterback Draft Class

The New England Patriots selected Drake Maye as the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Despite some glimmers of hope and potential, Maye's rookie season was lackluster, but team ownership knew what they needed to do when they cleaned house on the coaching staff from that season. The rest of the story for the 2025 regular season, you most likely already know by now.

As for Jayden Daniels, who was selected number 2 overall that same night, he would go on to a Cinderella season with a playoff run that got the Washington Commanders to the NFC Championship. Although falling short of meeting Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, Daniels would go on to win Rookie of the Year that season.

As we await the start of training camp, opinions and analysis about who belongs where on which list ahead of the season in a few months are coming out. ESPN analyst Louis Riddick believes that despite names like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Drake Maye, and Lamar Jackson making top 10 lists, he still thinks Jayden Daniels is the best QB from the 2024 draft class.

This sparked an online war of words between Patriots fans and Riddick in the comments. They've already felt that Drake Maye is overlooked ahead of this year to begin with. Even Bears fans got up and said how much better they feel Caleb Williams is than Daniels at the moment.

Year two Drake Maye was something else. With numbers that rivaled Tom Brady's in his prime and a Super Bowl appearance, the League MVP runner-up indeed seems overrated in Riddick's eyes and overlooked in the eyes of Pats Nation.

Let's not take anything away from Daniels, though. Injuries plagued the young Commanders quarterback in year two. He played in just seven games last season due to injury. Daniels still managed to throw for 1,262 yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions. Which is impressive for the window of time he was on the field.

Maye finished 2025 with 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.

Riddick's comments were in response to ESPN's Top 10 Quarterback Rankings. Maye is set up for another nice run in 2026 after the Patriots' Super Bowl loss. Daniels is going to have some catching up to do in year three, which you can be sure he is capable of doing.

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