In a quarterback draft class that is considered one of the deepest in recent years, Drake Maye might be the most polarizing in the group. Once considered the second-best QB behind USC’s Caleb Williams, many have given that spot to LSU’s Jayden Daniels and have dropped Maye to third or, in some cases, behind Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
Listen to the concerns about Maye, about his foot work, about his mechanics, and it makes sense that if he’s thrown into a starting role on Day 1 for a team such as the nowhere-close-to-competing New England Patriots that the quarterback from North Carolina could be set up for failure.
The Carolina Panthers thought so highly of Bryce Young last year that they traded what turned out to be the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, and plenty more, to the Chicago Bears for the right to select him. The Panthers handed Young the keys to the car and little else. The result was a 2-15 finish and a rookie season that has many thinking he might be a bust. Is that all Young’s fault? No.
So how can Maye avoid the same fate?
By going to a team with a good infrastructure. A franchise that has a coaching staff in place that can develop him, be patient with him and, when they do play him, give him a supporting cast that puts him in a position to succeed.
That’s why bringing Maye to Minnesota makes a lot of sense. The only question is whether Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah can trade up high enough to take Maye and whether he is willing to pay the Patriots’ asking price.
It’s no secret the Vikings want to move up in the first round of next Thursday’s draft and Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf said his team is “open for business” to trade the No. 3 pick. Wolf also said he would be comfortable staying at three and taking a quarterback.
Wolf, 42, is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame executive Ron Wolf and certainly understands the Patriots have many needs that could begin to be addressed by acquiring multiple picks, including a couple of first-rounders (the Vikings have picks 11 and 23).
Meanwhile, Maye appears to have many skills that Vikings coach and former NFL quarterback Kevin O’Connell would like to have from a young QB who is under team control at a reasonable rate on a five-year rookie contract.
O’Connell hired another former NFL quarterback, Josh McCown, as his coach for that position in February. McCown knows plenty about Maye’s plusses and minuses, having helped to coach him at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, N.C., and reuniting the two makes a lot of sense.
The Vikings certainly have pressure to win, but one has to think that O’Connell and McCown would also be well aware that forcing Maye to start as a rookie could be a mistake. O’Connell was a third-round pick of the Patriots in 2008, and although he never became a starter, he has firsthand knowledge of where mistakes were made in helping him develop.
McCown was in the NFL for 18 seasons and started 76 of the 102 games in which he appeared. He also got valuable experience serving as the quarterback coach for the Carolina Panthers last season. McCown was one of the assistants who was fired, along with coach Frank Reich, in late November and saw what Young went through starting for a terrible team.
The Vikings already have created a security plan by signing 2018 third-overall pick Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal to help replace Kirk Cousins. The New York Jets drafted Darnold- a franchise that has done little right in recent years- and started as a rookie. He lasted three seasons with the Jets before playing two years in Carolina and then serving as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers last season.
McCown was the backup to Darnold in 2018 and watched the rookie struggle in playing 13 games during a 4-12 season. If O’Connell, McCown, and, even Darnold agree on one thing, it likely would be the fact that it’s far better to develop a quarterback than rush him and risk ruining him
It will be worth it if that means a season of Darnold starting and Maye learning. It’s more important that if the Vikings do trade up and draft a quarterback, especially a guy like Maye, they get the pick right for the long term. Patience might not sit well with the fan base, but if the end result is postseason success for years to come, no one will be complaining.