Exploring the range of strongly held opinions on the matter
We’re about five weeks away from the 2024 NFL draft, and in some respects, there’s not much to talk about. That, however, doesn’t stop people from talking about it, or about offering increasing intense opinions on this year’s prospects.
Given that it’s a virtual certainty that Washington will be taking a quarterback with its first draft pick this year, I wanted to curate a selection of evaluations, each aimed at making the case that a separate quarterback is the best option available. Where available, videos of those prognostications are linked below, along with highlighted transcriptions of the key points in each:
Caleb Williams
One doesn’t have to look far for analyses declaring Williams as the top prospect in the draft. In fact, he’s the closest thing to a consensus choice there is this year. That said, let’s see what former NFL QB and current analyst Chris Simms has to say about Williams:
“A tier by himself in a class of own is Caleb Williams. Caleb is one of the greatest QB talents I’ve ever evaluated coming out in the draft. He has got it all. There is nothing I look at in his game that concerns me. I feel about as confident in him as I did with CJ Stroud, with Joe Burrow, or with Patrick Mahomes.”
“Let’s get into physical ability. This guy is an all-time thrower. This all-time special arm. This is maybe the Mahomes’ effect of kids watching him. The power in the arm is second to none. He’s one of the best on-the-run throwing QBs I’ve seen in my life. He is one of the most machine throwing QBs in a clean pocket I’ve ever seen in my life. He does not miss throws. The athleticism is phenomenal. He’s a really a good runner. He runs with a little power. I like scramblers. He has a rare ability. One of the greatest scrambling QBs I’ve ever seen in college. He was doing a lot with his pure ability. Pocket awareness, moving in the pocket. He is the most patient person in the pocket in the draft. He’s mechanically the best in staying the pocket.”
“His ability is almost the best I’ve ever seen. Joe Burrow was better. Caleb Williams is as good as I’ve see at this level going through the full set of reads. He’s found the perfect blend like a Mahomes of Allen, like I can be crazy aggressive and I won’t make a ton of dumb mistakes or decisions. He has a gift of gifts, where he can drop back and see and feel the pressure and still see downfield to make the throw (like Mahomes).”
“The dude is generational. He’s got a big time arm, big time athlete, and he really knows how to play the position.”
Drake Maye
Depending on where you look, Maye is generally rated from the second best quarterbacking option in the draft to the sixth best (h/t Chris Simms). At least one analyst, however, has Maye at the top of his board: Tim Hasselbeck.
The former NFL quarterback and 15-year ESPN analyst loves Drake Maye.
“I believe the best prospect in this class is Drake Maye. I think his physical talent and size combination puts him in the rarified air of guys like Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, and Pat Mahomes. That is the kind of elite company he keeps in terms of size, athleticism, accuracy, and arm strength. That’s a big deal.”
Interviewer: What are the intangibles that a Drake Maye has?
“Mahomes was a really raw prospect, and there was a reason he did not play his entire first year except for the last game of the season. The amount of football you play is one of the things you should pay more attention to [nods to Parcells]. Decision making, competitiveness, resiliency of a guy. There are going to be bad thing that happen. How does he respond to those things in those moments. I spoke to Mac Brown about this regarding Drake Maye. He grew up in a very competitive family. He’s flexed the competition muscle his entire life. I would put Eli Manning in a similar category.”
“What I am saying is that I don’t think there’s some unanimous Caleb Williams discussion around the league with everybody but one or two teams. I think he’s the best prospect. I think he’s going to be a better pro than college player. I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I think that Drake Maye is the best prospect I’ve evaluated through this process (better than Stafford, Luck, Lawrence).”
Jayden Daniels
ESPN analyst Louis Riddick was asked by Dan Patrick who he would choose between Williams and Daniels. Riddick came down on the side of Daniels.
“Justin Fields upside is lower that what I feel Jayden Daniel’s upside is. I’m picking Jayden Daniels. Last year, when the debate was raging about CJ versus Bryce. Everyone was like, “Bryce is magic outside the pocket. Bryce is magic outside of structure. Don’t think about this year, think about his Heisman year. With CJ it was like: He’s the guy who benefitted from his weapons, OSU QBs never turn out right, he messed up his S2 test, Houston didn’t like him.”
“CJ Stroud had some of the best throws I’ve have seen in a long time. The people there I trust gave me the straight and narrow about him. Jayden Daniels, the more people I trust are giving me the straight and narrow about him, how he’s conducting himself here, and the way I watch his progression from ASU to this year…”
Patrick: If you’re the Bears and you like Daniels best, how do you play Washington?
“You start leveraging relationships among the rest of the GMs. I say to Washington, who do you want? I would let Washington take the deal to move up for Caleb in that situation. If Kingsbury is hammering Peters and Quinn, perhaps they give the Bears a call.”
Former NFL QB and current analyst Dan Orlovsky is a Daniels guy as well:
JJ McCarthy
Perhaps no one knows the former Michigan QB than the man who coached him for two years and helped guide him to a national championship. Former NFL QB and current Chargers’ coach Jim Harbaugh is all in on JJ.
“Let me make a prediction: Don’t be surprised if he goes all the way to the number one QB off the board. When people see him throw, in person. When they watch him run, see the athleticism. When they start doing interviews, and they really start digging into how this young man is wired. And he’s only 21, he just turned 21 a couple weeks ago. Yeah, mark my words, don’t be surprised when he might be the number one QB off the board.”