Anything and everything is noteworthy in NFL Draft speculation season, so when a Minnesota Vikings insider says the Vikings “adore” a certain quarterback in the draft you are obligated to take it seriously. Something like that, so let’s dive into this one about Drake Maye…
In his notebook of findings from the NFL Combine, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis wrote about the addition of Josh McCown as head coach Kevin O’Connell’s quarterbacks coach and noted that McCown coached Drake Maye in high school. Lewis then wrote these four words about Maye: “whom the Vikings adore.”
About three weeks ago, Lewis was writing about the Vikings when he said Oregon’s Bo Nix is Minnesota’s “preferred option” at quarterback in the draft, which was based on information Lewis said he gleaned from the Senior Bowl.
What do we make of it all? It’s hard to say, but Maye has been considered a top-three pick for a long time and it’s a mystery if he’ll slide to the Vikings at No. 11 in the draft or if Minnesota will have to trade the farm to move up and get a player of his caliber.
In Nate Davis’ new mock draft for USA Today Sports, Maye is falling to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 8 while Caleb Williams (No. 1 to the Bears), Jayden Daniels (No. 2 to the Commanders) and J.J. McCarthy (No. 6 to the Giants) are the first four quarterbacks off the board. Davis also has Nix going to the Broncos at No. 12.
But McCarthy moving up draft boards seems to be the hype after he worked out and threw in front of scouts, coaches and general managers in Indy whereas Williams, Daniels and Maye did not.
So many quarterbacks and even more questions about who will go where. The only sure thing at this point seems to be the Bears taking Williams first overall.
We haven’t even mentioned Michael Penix Jr., who seemed to wow at the Combine with the football popping out of his hand like a missile out of a rocket launcher. And it’s hard to ignore a player like Penix when he put up monster numbers at Washington, who say his ability to process at the line of scrimmage is elite.
My pre-draft QB2 Michael Penix Jr. talking about his ‘processing.’ Probably why as a pocket QB he’s only taken 16 sacks the past 2 seasons pic.twitter.com/Wx4HKVsoxj
— FIRST ROUND MOCK (@firstroundmock) March 1, 2024
Remember, O’Connell’s “non-negotiables” demand that a quarterback is accurate, tough and able to process a lot of information.
The Vikings could very well “adore” Maye, but they might be in a position come April 25 where they’re drafting based on who’s available rather than their optimal choice.
