This is a pretty good read from one of the Patriots staff writers who was at both Daniel's and Maye's pro days.
Pro Days and reactions from Pro Day workouts might be the most polarizing aspect of the draft process. The bottom line is that the tape is king, and your opinion on a quarterback prospect shouldn't sway drastically based on how a player threw at their Pro Day. If you had Drake Maye as QB2, he should still be QB2, regardless of what you saw.
Still, there's a reason these showcases take place. Some of it is for the schools to hype their programs for incoming recruits and future NFL prospects. There's also some truth to the fact that a lousy Pro Day can hurt more than a good showing helps a prospect's stock.
Ultimately, the real-world implication it has on a prospect's pro outlook is that this is an opportunity for Maye, Daniels, or whoever to show teams their strengths: what do they do best for an NFL coaching staff to build an offense around their skill set? If you want to put your nose up to Pro Day, chalking them up to meaningless, non-competitive workouts, then fine. Be my guest. To each their own, I'm not here to convince you otherwise.
However, it is a piece of the puzzle during the pre-draft process, and every piece counts for something. Furthermore, these workouts come off differently in person than they do on TV. I've always watched Pro Days at home like the rest of you, but I was lucky enough to be at Daniels and Maye's workouts over the last two days. Let me tell you: it hits differently live.
With nine Patriots staffers in attendance, Maye solidified himself as a top-three overall player in this draft on Thursday. He did so by showing what he does best, airing it over 60-plus yards from moving pockets and different platforms/arm angles with ease. His drive throws on seams, in-breakers, and skinny posts were on his receivers in a hurry, and Maye's deep ball was excellent once he settled into the 70-throw script.
Maye can flat-out spin it, and the degree of difficulty far exceeded what we saw in Baton Rouge a day earlier from Daniels. That's not to say the reigning Heisman Trophy did poorly or that Maye was perfect because the UNC quarterback had two erratic misses on deep outs early. However, Maye's coaches were simulating pressure by "blitzing" him to move him off his spot, forcing him to throw off-platform, adding as much of a challenge as possible in this setting to stay on time and throw accurately.
Team executives and coaches were also impressed by the workout. Along with the Patriots top decision-makers, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters stood next to head coach Jerod Mayo and director of scouting Eliot Wolf for the entire session. It was almost like those four men knew Maye wasn't making it past them.
After watching him hit go-to receiver Tez Walker in stride on a 65-yard bomb, my immediate thought was, "How do the Commanders pass on this guy at No. 2 overall?" Washington, who controls the Patriots destiny in this draft, could fall in love with Daniels' dual-threat ability. But when it comes to who has more clubs in their bag, there's no question that Maye brings a much bigger repertoire of throws to the table as a pure passer.
Assuming they stick and pick a quarterback, New England's decision will extend beyond Daniels and Maye, as Michigan's J.J. McCarthy is a real possibility for the Patriots as well. However, after seeing the consensus top-two quarterbacks throw live, my rankings for the Patriots haven't changed: Maye is the guy if he's available when the Patriots are on the clock.
There's more nuggets about how the talks with the QBs, coaches, and media went if you want some more insight into what typically goes into the pro day.
In general, the summary seems to be:
- Tape is still king
- Pro day means only a little if you're good, but a lousy pro day will probably hurt you more
- It's a much different atmosphere in person than online
- Maye's throws were higher difficulty than Daniel's pro day and seemed to wow those in attendance more
- Maye was already QB2 for him but it solidified his opinion and thinks the Patriots might have to choose between Daniels or McCarthy
Both QB's Pro days if you missed them
6 comments
The common theme going back to before this season began was the second you see Maye throw in person, you’re smitten. Just like Caleb, when you see it up close, you know this guy is different.
Tldr drake or josh?
The biggest thing for me on pro days is what happens when they miss a pass. Do they stick with the program, or do they reset and try the pass again. I didn’t watch much of Daniel’s pro day, but I did see Maye do this during his, with the added touch of the closuos of him calling routes for the receivers.
There was no throw in Maye’s pro day that was more difficult than this throw at 1:14 from Daniels
https://youtu.be/ReDRu_SMwZo?si=Zw_6Jm2rEm5ME45b
From the 34 to the 11, off of one foot, while rolling out to the right, and dropping it into the basket on the sideline for a toe tapper. Wasn’t to Nabers or Thomas. But even if it was – the wr didn’t have to do anything.
Regardless of which QB you prefer…you’re not being objective if you don’t consider that the best throw from either QB.
The fact Maye had 74 throws and Daniels 56 throws and they still had the same amount of incompletions with 3 when Maye had 18 more throws. Maye shown more difficulty of passes and deeper throws. I would loved to see Daniels run the ball that being a big part of his play style and does raise some red flags that he didn’t. I do prefer Maye he is 2 years younger with a higher ceiling.
https://youtube.com/shorts/QpDSUwqtVg0?si=u9rRslC8tBbu9L19