Inside The Vikings

NFL Draft QBs: Chris Simms Ranks Nix and Penix Above McCarthy and Maye

Simms has more hits than misses in his track record of quarterback rankings.

Will Ragatz

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NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms is never afraid to be different with his annual ranking of the draft's top quarterback prospects. Sometimes his conclusions from watching film make him look like a genius. Other times, not so much — although there are more hits than misses on his recent track record.

Simms just dropped his 2024 QB rankings, and as usual, they're making heads turn. He has Caleb Williams at 1 like everyone else, followed by Heisman winner Jayden Daniels. Then it gets interesting. Simms has Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. at 3 and 4, followed by J.J. McCarthy and Drake Maye at 5 and 6. Yes, he has Maye — the consensus projected No. 2 overall pick — as his QB6 this year, calling him a "talented project."

The consensus order in mock drafts has been Williams, Maye, Daniels, McCarthy, Nix, and Penix, so he clearly isn't just following the pack. 

With Maye, Simms says the highlight plays show off his upside, but that he has a lot of work to do in terms of mechanical issues, going through progressions, and managing the pocket, among other things. Simms looks at Maye as someone who needs to sit and develop before being ready to play in the NFL.

"For every one of those (special) throws, there's five of, like, what the hell is that throw?" he said. "There's no way evaluators, coaches, quarterbacks are going to be able to get behind right now and Drake Maye and go 'Oh yeah, he's ready to go, he should be the No. 2 or No. 3 pick in the draft.' No way! There's too many things about his game that need to be polished, better, improved."

It's a hot take, that's for sure. Here's a refresher on Simms' recent track record, which has a lot of good and one particularly bad year:

Good Chris Simms QB calls

  • 2017: Called Patrick Mahomes the most special QB in the draft
  • 2018: Ranked Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen over Mayfield/Darnold/Rosen
  • 2020: Had Burrow-Herbert-Love-Tua as top 4
  • 2023: Ranked C.J. Stroud over Bryce Young

Bad Chris Simms QB calls

  • 2019: Ranked Daniel Jones as QB6 behind Lock, Haskins, Finley, Stidham
  • 2021: Had Zach Wilson as QB1 over Trevor Lawrence, Kellen Mond as QB4 over Justin Fields
  • 2022: Ranked Matt Corral and Malik Willis over Kenny Pickett (meh)
  • 2023: Had Hendon Hooker as QB3 over Anthony Richardson

As with all draft analysts, there are hits and misses here, but some of the hits have been very impressive with Simms. It's also worth noting that where players end up getting drafted can have a major impact on how their careers turn out.

It'll be very interesting to see how the league views Maye. If he drops out of the top three picks, that could work out quite nicely for the Vikings, who have done plenty of homework on all six of these quarterbacks.

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

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