Joel Klatt debates Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye as QB2 in 2024 NFL Draft

The 2024 NFL Draft truly starts at No. 2 with who the Washington Commanders select. That conversation has been repeated over and over but now, during draft week, Joel Klatt has determined which of two quarterbacks that he thinks they’re going to go with.

Klatt discussed LSU’s Jayden Daniels versus North Carolina’s Drake Maye on his show on Monday where he released his final mock draft. If it were up to him, he’d take Maye, a prospect that he has been high on throughout the process. However, with too much smoke regarding Daniels and Washington as of late, he went ahead and made him the No. 2 pick in his projection.

“What is it going to be? I’ve been hearing a lot of things about Washington,” Klatt said. “I, personally, would draft Drake Maye. He has got the higher upside. I just hear way too much in the NFL circles about Jayden Daniels and how much these guys love Jayden Daniels.”

Klatt then dove into the last bits of analysis on each of the two quarterbacks.

With Daniels, he understands that, for the Commanders, he may be a better bet in the present. He has experience, has a lot to work with in his skillset, and can end up being an impactful starting quarterback for their franchise.

“Part of that is that he’s a bit of a safer pick. He might not have the overall ceiling that Drake Maye does but he is a safer pick. I know that Kliff Kingsbury loves Jayden Daniels and I think that Washington goes with Jayden Daniels,” said Klatt. “He has obviously got the ability to run. That’s going to be a huge feather in his cap because defenses and defensive coordinators hate seeing that. It’s the one thing that they cannot stand. He obviously throws the ball well and that’s the thing. He’s not just a runner. He throws the ball beautifully from the pocket, outside of the pocket, he reads defenses, he’s very smart, he’s mature, he has got arm strength.”

“He has got it all,” Klatt said. “Love Jayden Daniels and I think Washington takes Jayden Daniels at number two.”

Still, Klatt continues to express his own belief in Maye as being the better of the two in the end, even if it takes a few years of development. New England may be a rocky place to start, if they even keep the pick at this point, but, under the assumption that he does pan out eventually, he thinks that the Patriots would be getting a top talent in Maye as their next quarterback.

“At number three with New England? Now this is what’s interesting. I think New England, depending on how much they love J.J. McCarthy, could be willing to deal this pick and I think that that’s an interesting little insight there. Now, if they stay pat, I think it’s Drake Maye,” Klatt said. “Drake Maye for me, again, has got a ridiculously high ceiling. Now, of all the places to draft quarterbacks, New England, I would say, has the least around the young quarterback to succeed early in his career. I don’t know what they’re doing on the offensive line, they don’t seem to have a ton of weapons. This might not be the most advantageous place to go for one of these guys. Still, you would want to get drafted as high as you possibly can.”

“I think it’s Drake Maye. Again, Drake Maye? High ceiling. When you watch his tape, I understand some of the criticism. Does he play loosely at times? Yes. I believe that’s because he’s hyper-competitive. He had a team around him that wasn’t the best and he was trying to do everything in his power to win,” said Klatt. “This guy has all the tools that you would possibly need to succeed at the next level. I hope that he does.”

We’ll find out which of the two quarterbacks will go to Washington and to New England later on tonight. For Klatt, that order, while not necessarily being what he would do, will be Daniels with the Commanders and Maye likely with the Patriots by the time the first three picks are made.