The 2024 NFL Draft took off with a bang, as a staggering five quarterbacks were taken in the first round. Much like many analysts and pundits predicted, USC’s Caleb Williams went No. 1 overall to the Chicago Bears, LSU’s Jayden Daniels went No. 2 overall to the Washington Commanders, and the New England Patriots took UNC’s Drake Maye No. 3 overall.
The rumors and reports that preceded the draft had the Patriots trading down with the New York Giants or Minnesota Vikings, but New England played things smart and selected Maye. Maye will now become the hopeful next franchise quarterback that returns the team to AFC relevancy.
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Maye has been touted as the prototypical large quarterback with an arm that should result in some big throws down the field, but who is his NFL comparison? Maye himself has been stating he is comparable to star NFL quarterback Josh Allen, which prompted a response from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
Chris Pirrone of Bills Central reported the apparent diss by Belichick by way of a post on X from Henry McKenna.
Bill Belichick: “Drake compares himself a lot to Josh Allen. We’ll see about that.”
— Henry McKenna (@henrycmckenna) April 26, 2024
Belichick joined the Pat McAfee Show as an analyst for the draft and decided to set his crosshairs on the comparison that Maye made for himself. “Bill Belichick: ‘Drake compares himself a lot to Josh Allen. We’ll see about that.'”
It’s not uncommon for Belichick to come across as a curmudgeon, and he often has salty takes on everything. However, his apparent diss does have some truth to it.
Maye can say he is comparable to Allen all he wants, but he will need to string together an impressive first season to make that comparison ring true. Allen and the Bills have won the AFC East every season since 2020. The Patriots have a long road ahead of them to thwart the Bills, Dolphins, and Jets en route to the AFC East crown.
Still, Maye has the right kind of skillset that should make him quite successful at the professional level. He will need to learn how to read defensive schemes a lot faster, but he can certainly learn to do so from veteran Jacoby Brissett.
Should Maye lead the Patriots back to the playoffs in year one, Belichick might have to eat his words a little bit. Will he do that? Probably not, but it would be fun to see him concede a player he was skeptical about actually become a star.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.