Overview:

Ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, the main narrative surrounding the draft was: who will be the second overall pick, Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye? As it turned out,  Daniels went second to the Washington Commanders, and Maye went third to the Patriots. Daniels came out hot, while Maye is having a spectacular second season.

Theo Diesenhaus, Assistant Sports Editor 

There is no debate, Drake Maye is undeniably a better quarterback than Jayden Daniels. Not only has Maye continued to progress in his second year, while Daniels has struggled with injuries and has taken a step back, but his “historic” rookie year stats are not as good as Maye’s stats from this season. 

You can’t argue with the stats, and they say that in only 13 games this year, Maye has put up similar numbers in passing yards and touchdowns to Daniels’s 17 games last season. Not to mention that his expected points, which is essentially a stat for how valuable a quarterback is, totals to over 25 points higher than Daniels’s. 

There is no doubt that Daniels had a great rookie season; however, he wasn’t top five in any major passing category, even falling out of the top ten in yards, touchdowns and interceptions. Maye, on the other hand, is top five in every one of those categories this season.

While some may say that stats are not the most important thing in evaluating a QB, Maye still passes the eye test. He makes throws on a week-to-week basis that no other human on this planet can make, while Daniels is an above-average passer. Maye can place the ball perfectly, while being on the run, while Daniels certainly can’t do that. Maye is also the most efficient deep ball passer in the NFL.

Even though Daniels is an exceptional runner, Maye has some talents in that category as well. Maye has over 700 career rushing yards and four touchdowns, which is certainly not as impressive as Daniels’s, but for someone not known for rushing the football, it’s quite notable. 

The one thing Daniels has that Maye does not is a conference championship game appearance. You can’t deny it’s impressive; however, in the same year that Daniels went to the conference championship game, Maye had arguably the worst coach in NFL history, the worst offensive line, the worst receiving core and a bottom-five defense. 

As for key pieces around the quarterbacks, Daniels has all-pro wide receiver Terry McLauren, who was putting up elite numbers before Daniels was drafted, as his best weapon. Maye has an aging Stefon Diggs and guys like Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins that he is making look like Pro Bowl receivers. Maye’s offensive line is slightly better than Daniels’s; however, the talent level across all sides of the ball is essentially equal. 

Finally, if someone wants to talk about Maye playing an easy schedule, it can’t be ignored that Daniels didn’t play an easy one last season. Sure, he played some good teams like the Eagles, Buccaneers and Ravens, but other then that, there was not a single other good team on that schedule. Not to mention, Daniels went 1-4 against eventual playoff teams last season and had to beat bad teams like the Bears on a Hail Mary and other flukey plays. So far this season, Maye has taken advantage of his opportunities against good teams and is 3-1 (still has to play the Bills and Ravens again) against teams that are in playoff contention.  

Maye’s limit is the sky, while Daniels may not be able to achieve his ceiling. Maye’s most valuable asset is his availability and that is an ability that Daniels has lacked.

Jeremy Moyer, Senior Staff Writer:

Despite the Washington Commanders’ rocky season, Jayden Daniels remains the best quarterback from his draft class and is undoubtedly superior to Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. 

Daniels and the Commanders have had nothing go their way this year. Injuries to about every position group, including Daniels himself, have ended their season early. In Daniels’s seven starts this season, he has been missing key contributors on offense. One game that sticks out is when the Commanders faced off against the Dallas Cowboys in week seven. Daniels, who was just coming back from injury, was missing all three of his starting wide receivers, multiple offensive linemen, his starting running back and was playing alongside a defense that was one of the worst in the league. Despite these dire circumstances, Daniels played well, earning a 92.2 passer rating. In other games, such as week one against the New York Giants, week five against the Los Angeles Chargers and week six against the Chicago Bears, Daniels has looked just like himself, dominating despite the lack of talent around him.

The second reason why Daniels is far superior to Maye is that he has already proven he can go on a deep playoff run. In Daniels’s rookie season, he led a Commanders team that went 4-13 just one year earlier all the way to the NFC Championship. In this playoff run, Daniels was the best player on the field in both the wild-card and divisional rounds, and still played very well against the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. He continued to deliver clutch performances and prove that he was not afraid of the moment. Maye has yet to prove he can perform well in the playoffs, and this year, the Patriots have not faced many contenders, making it impossible to assume they will continue their success into the playoffs. 

Both quarterbacks are incredibly accurate; there is no denying that. Daniels showed multiple times this year and last year that he has one of the best deep balls in the league. Maye has also been impressive this season, being incredibly efficient with the ball. What Daniels has that Maye could never replicate is his rushing ability. Last year, Daniels rushed for 891 yards, the most ever by a rookie quarterback. Daniels’s versatility is what makes him such a transcendent quarterback because he can make every throw on the field while also making plays with his legs that only he could make. 

Coming out of college, the biggest concern with Daniels was that his small frame would make him susceptible to injury in the NFL. So far in Daniels’s career, these fears have been justified, already having four significant injuries, most notably a dislocated elbow in week nine.  Maye, however, does not have this issue, only suffering a minor concussion throughout his career thus far. If Daniels continues to be in and out of the injury report, it will not matter how much talent he has because the best ability is availability. There are no fears, however, that Daniels will not be able to get healthy; he played all 20 games last year, and this season has been bad injury-wise for the whole team, leading to the belief he can stay healthy, and he will in the future. 

In conclusion, despite the statistical regression in year two, Daniels is still a better quarterback than Maye. I am confident that if  Daniels can stay healthy, he will continue to have a better career than him for years to come, given what he has already shown and the sheer talent he possesses.