Knowing that the Patriots would select a quarterback with the third overall pick in this year’s draft sparked a lot of debate about who the best pick would be. Months earlier, it was clear that USC’s Caleb Williams would be the first player off the field, leaving LSU’s Jayden Daniels and UNC’s Drake Maye as likely New England’s best remaining options.

Since the commanders had the choice right in front of them, the Patriots’ decision depended on who they did not vote for. There were differing opinions as to which quarterback was more talented and had a higher ceiling in the NFL, with the answer depending on who was asked the question.

The Patriots have been in touch with both players throughout the pre-draft process and met extensively with Daniels and Maye to ensure they were doing due diligence on their upcoming decision. This even sparked discussion that the new regime may be trying to trade up to secure the player they want, and if that doesn’t happen, perhaps trading down to get more picks instead.

Ultimately, that didn’t happen because the Commanders chose Daniels and took Maye directly to the Patriots. It was reportedly an easy decision for new head coach Jerod Mayo and director of player personnel Eliot Wolf, who claimed they knew they would choose Maye months before the first round began.

But now that we’ve seen Maye sit on the bench for the first three weeks of his rookie season and Daniels thrive as Washington’s starter, some analysts and fans are pondering that the Patriots may wish they had had the opportunity Daniels preferable to Maye.

During an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub earlier this week, ESPN’s Mike Reiss spoke with hosts Marc Bertrand and Scott Zolak about how the Patriots might have chosen Jayden Daniels over Drake Maye if they had had the second overall pick.

He emphasizes that he wasn’t told this “one way or the other,” but that he’s basing his opinion on how top draft analysts have rated the quarterback talent for this year’s class.

“I would say if they had come second they would have picked Jayden over Drake. I think so. I think Jayden was pretty clear in the league when it came to being in the top two there.”

While it’s fair to assume that if the Patriots had held on to a pick higher in the first round, they might have selected the quarterback most experts consider to be the second-best in his class, some of the discussion surrounding Daniels seems to be due to his Decision gained momentum after an impressive performance against the Bengals in Week 3.

That would explain why this is a conversation, as Maye hasn’t even started a regular season game yet and hasn’t shown the Patriots any reason to regret selecting him in the draft. In fact, the exact opposite was said last week as the coaching staff and reporters praised the rookie.

Perhaps this would be more of a topic of conversation if Maye had ever been disappointed, but that hasn’t been the case so far. Hopefully it never will be.

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