Colin Cowherd suggests Patriots should focus on different rookie quarterback for starting job

The New England Patriots selected Drake Maye No. 3 overall in the 2024 NFL draft, but one pundit is suggesting he might not even be the best rookie quarterback on the Patriots' roster.

Jun 10, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Joe Milton III (19) throws a pass at minicamp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

It's pretty easy to suggest the New England Patriots have done well selecting quarterbacks in the sixth round of the NFL draft. Perhaps that's what's steering some to put weight behind the idea their 2024 sixth-round choice, QB Joe Milton, might be landing above expectations in Patriots' training camp.

After all, the rebuilding Patriots selected Drake Maye No. 3 overall, which differs a bit from when league legend Tom Brady was drafted to back up former No. 1 pick Drew Bledsoe. But there was never any doubt of the high-level physical tools possessed by Milton, the Tennessee product

Those tools are on display for the Patriots during training camp, enough for national sports opinion-maker Colin Cowherd to suggest New England might go with Maye over Drake, potentially as early as this season.

The Milton take came after Cowherd cited a source on-hand at Patriots' practices who walked away more than just unimpressed with Maye to this point.

"According to Michael Hawley, somebody I know trust and respect. He said, 'I went to recent practices. I wanted (Maye) to be Justin her Herbert and Josh Allen because those were the comps," Cowherd said on The Herd With Colin Cowherd. "But what I saw was the ghost of Mac Jones. He could couldn't do anything right.

Whether the Milton take is more of a reaction to the perception Maye is struggling (a sentiment shared by others as training camp rolls on), or that Milton has performed well above and beyond expectations at this point in his development remains to be seen. But this kind of scenario, however it's viewed by national talking heads, is exactly why the Patriots signed Jacoby Brissette in the first place.

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