Throughout the lead-up to the 2024 NFL draft, NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah has projected North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye to the Washington Commanders at No. 2 overall. Whether it is mock drafts or speaking in general, Jeremiah has a tough time seeing Commanders general manager Adam Peters passing on Maye.
Over the past several weeks, momentum has favored LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels going No. 2 overall. Much of that momentum came from ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter’s repeated insistence that all signs pointed to Daniels going to Washington.
Yet, Jeremiah stuck with his belief that the Commanders would choose Maye.
On Monday, three days before the 2024 NFL draft, Jeremiah was a guest on the “Pat McAfee Show” and acknowledged the momentum surrounding Daniels’s potential move to Washington.
“Everything in my gut was kinda saying, nah, this feels like Washington, Drake Maye, kind of a bigger, more physical guy, it kinda fits them a little better,” Jeremiah said. “I’ve been talking to people that had been discussing this with Dan Quinn and his buddies around the league and they said he kept talking about, ‘I need to find my Matt Ryan. I went to the Super Bowl with Matt Ryan.’ So that’s why I was kind of hung up on, and I was sitting there going, ‘OK, that feels like Drake Maye would be more of that type of player.’ So, that’s why I’ve been thinking this whole process: Drake Maye fits better with Washington.
Jeremiah’s final mock draft will come out this week, and it sounds like he’ll be making a change.
“Then, now, as you’re coming down the home stretch, it’s like, OK, there’s too much like I can’t inject my own personal opinion here; this is just overwhelming that everybody I’ve talked to is telling me it’s gonna be Jayden, so that’s why I have it there now.”
As Jeremiah has pointed out more than anyone, no one knows what Peters is thinking. We’ll all find out on Thursday night.