The quarterbacks are all the talk right now heading into the 2024 NFL Draft. And with that, three are expected to go off the board immediately. 

Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye are all the top prospects at that position, with Williams expected to go first overall to the Chicago Bears. Multiple different mock drafts have Daniels and Maye either going second or third, but one report makes it seem that Maye is headed to New England.  

And a former NFL quarterback explains why that might be the best possible outcome for the Patriots. 

“[I’ve] been at ESPN for 15 years evaluating quarterbacks as they come out for the draft,” Tim Hasselbeck said about Maye during an appearance on WEEI’s “Gresh and Fauria” on Thursday. “I think he’s as good of a prospect as I have evaluated in this entire time. So, you know, from the Matthew Stafford’s to the Matt Ryan, to you name ’em over that stretch — Andrew Luck … I think that he’s that good of a prospect.”

Maye knows that the Patriots could be his next home and even expressed how excited he was about this potential opportunity when speaking on ESPN Adam Schefter's podcast. 

"So, all great places to play and, you know, I think a great spot to be a, you know, franchise quarterback at and that’s what I’m working towards,” Maye said in February.

For him to want to come in and help turn things around, while also being very complimentary over the history in New England is certainly a plus. And it's something that Eliot Wolf or the Patriots should be paying close attention to. 

So for Hasselback, the decision is simple. 

“I think when people go through the process with Drake Maye, there is almost nothing to not like about him,” Hasselbeck said. “Now he’s a really big guy, so if you got really picky, could you say, ‘Hey, I’d like his delivery to be a little more compact?’ Yeah, absolutely you could say that. … I think that when I look at him, I think he’s going to be a better pro than college player. I think athletically, physically, mentally — like athletically, he’s going to be on par with the best.

“And then I think mentally you’re going to be able to put so much on him to be able to control the game the way that great quarterbacks are able to control the game. Like I think he can digest that. So those are the reasons why I think he’s the best prospect in this group and as good as anybody I’ve seen over the last 15 years.”

Maye earned the starting roll at UNC in 2022, after Howell left to go to the NFL. During his first year as a starter, he finished with 342 completions for 4,321 passing yards and 38 passing touchdowns, along with 184 carries for 698 yards and seven rushing touchdowns.

This past season, he had 269 completions for 3,608 passing yards and 24 passing touchdowns, along with 112 carries for 449 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. 

Latest NFL news almost guarantees which quarterback Patriots will draft at No. 3

Things are becoming more clear.