New England Patriots & QB Drake Maye: The 'Steal of the NFL Draft'?

While Caleb Williams remains the expected first overall pick in a few weeks, the New England Patriots are in a unique situation to potentially draft the best quarterback available.

Nov 25, 2023; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye (10) / Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

The New England Patriots are in a unique situation for the next few weeks. While the organization is seen as a favorite to acquire a top quarterback in the NFL Draft, they have also fielded calls for their third overall pick to trade down and accumulate more capital.

Despite the options the Patriots currently hold, the real topic to discuss when it comes to that organization is the possibility that a top quarterback could fall into their lap this year.

While many draft analysts expect USC's Caleb Williams to be named as the first overall pick this year, the debate between North Carolina's Drake Maye or LSU's Jayden Daniels continues to dominate major discussions.

Nov 25, 2023; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye (10) / Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

The Patriots, if they stay at three, are expected to get one of these top quarterbacks.

A recent trend of draft rumors states that the Washington Commanders - owners of the second overall pick - say that they will look to target Daniels due to his play-making ability.

New England, not only would then be able to land Maye, but come away with arguably the best quarterback of the entire class. For most of the draft cycle during the college football season, and ahead of most prospect testing, several analysts believed Maye's skillset was on par with Williams in the first place. The only thing hurting Maye's overall prospects is that he would need a year to learn the game.

As we've seen in previous history, though, young quarterbacks who sit a full year to develop and learn the game tend to play even better than those who started out as the starter.

If the Patriots are willing to be patient with Maye, they could very well come away with the steal of the draft at the most important position.