Joel Klatt believes it would be a mistake for Washington Commanders to pass on Drake Maye

Nobody will be surprised when the Chicago Bears selected USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft. But after that selection, all eyes will be on the Washington Commanders to see who they believe is their potential quarterback of the future.

North Carolina‘s Drake Maye and LSU‘s Jayden Daniels have dominated the conversation surrounding the No. 2 overall pick, with the room seemingly split between evaluators on who the second-best passer is behind Williams in this year’s class. But college football analyst Joel Klatt made it very clear who he believes Washington should select while he was ranking his top 50 prospects in the NFL Draft on Monday.

“If he’s passed over by Washington, I think it’s a mistake,” Klatt said regarding Maye. “That’s not a knock on Daniels, that’s how much I believe in Drake Maye. Drake Maye is phenomenal, just watch the tape. Even though he can make some bonehead mistakes from a mental perspective, the dude is — oh man. There are some people at this position … he makes throws that the rest of us dream of making and he does them without skipping a beat in live action. Those type of guys don’t come around all the time.”

Critiques surrounding Maye are primarily centered around the regression he showed last season, as his second year as a starter for the Tar Heels did not look as impressive as his breakout freshman season. But Klatt still believes that from a talent standpoint, only one quarterback in this year’s draft class can rival his ability.

“He makes throws that the other guys, outside of Caleb Williams, cannot make. And these guys are great players, they’re top 26 players in the NFL Draft from Bo Nix, to [Michael] Penix, to JJ McCarthy, to Jayden Daniels. And none of those guys can make the throws that Drake Maye makes from a top-end perspective. He’s got a gear that they don’t have. So I’m sorry, nitpick all you want, but it just doesn’t sound right,” Klatt explained.

The Maye versus Daniels back also centers around youth versus experience, as the 21-year-old Maye only has two seasons as a college starter under his belt while Daniels (23 years old) boasts 55 starts in his college career. Klatt compared Maye to the second quarterback taken in last year’s draft who had a standout rookie season for the Houston Texans.

“A lot of people are gonna knock Drake Maye over the next few weeks, for what reasons?” Klatt asked. “I’m not quite sure. He falls in the CJ Stroud category for me of why is everyone knocking him? The dude’s phenomenal, watch his tape and don’t give me this bull crap of well his feet aren’t that good. Watch the tape, watch the throws that he makes.”

Klatt is adamant that the tape doesn’t lie when discussing Maye, who’s drawn comparisons to some of the best quarterbacks in the league given his ability and 6-foot-4, 230-pound frame. Quarterbacks that Klatt was wrong about in his prior draft evaluation process and believes Washington will be wrong about if they don’t select Maye with the No. 2 overall pick on April 25.

“I will not fall into the trap of what I did with Josh Allen coming out of Wyoming, Justin Herbert coming out of Oregon. I heard people nitpick about the offense they ran, the lack of accuracy, look at their footwork, and I would go back and I fell into it. Nope, not gonna do it. Drake Maye is a phenomenal player, I will stand by that,” Klatt concluded.