Draft Debate: Patriots Like Drake or Daniels?

In NFL.com's latest mock draft, the New England Patriots stick with the No. 3 overall pick and select LSU Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.

And so it continues - and likely will rage on for another five weeks - Drake Maye vs. Jayden Daniels.

To replace failed former first-round pick Mac Jones and - yes, still - attempt to fill the unfathomably big shoes of Tom Brady, which quarterback do the New England Patriots select in next month's NFL Draft: North Carolina's Maye, the pocket-passer with a big arm and a bevy of college starts? Or LSU's Daniels, the Heisman Trophy winner with elite athleticism and a multi-dimensional skill set that former coach Bill Belichick used to daydream about?

The answer, of course, depends on who you ask.

Just this week ESPN Draft gurus Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates offered that the Patriots "don't love Drake Maye" yet proceeded to plug him at New England's No. 3 overall spot in their latest mock. Now comes NFL.com's 3.0 mock draft, where expert Daniel Jeremiah has No. 2 and 3 flip-flopped from ESPN.

He has Maye going No. 2 to the Commanders, leaving the Patriots to draft Daniels third. Both agree that USC quarterback Caleb Williams is the consensus No. 1 pick to the Bears.

"I’m sure the Patriots will receive lucrative offers for this pick," Jeremiah reasons. "At the end of the day, they need to address the most important position on the field and could do so with the third overall selection."

A month ago in his 2.0 mock, Jeremiah had the Patriots bypassing Daniels to take Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. But that was before New England's trade of Mac and the free-agent signing of career backup Jacoby Brissett, seemingly clearing the way for it to draft a rookie quarterback No. 3 overall.

ESPN Draft Rumor: Patriots 'Don't Love Drake Maye'?

In his 2.0 mock, for what it's worth, Daniels slid all the way to the New York Giants at No. 6.

In this latest 3.0 version, the Patriots' pick of Daniels is followed by a trade. Jeremiah projects the Vikings (in need of a replacement for quarterback Kirk Cousins) will move up to No. 4 to draft Michigan's J.J. McCarthy.

Says of ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky of McCarthy: "He's the most consistent quarterback in the draft."

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