The New England Patriots are in their first NFL draft since 1999 without Bill Belichick. This does not mean that the famous coach was not involved in the process.
After parting ways with the Patriots and not finding a new job in the coaching cycle, Belichick joined ESPN’s “Pat McPhee Show” to break down every first-round draft pick. Including the Patriots’ pick at No. 3.
That pick turned out to be North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, the Patriots landing a new franchise face with their first pick in the post-Belichick era. Maye widely mocked the Patriots, who were thought to be looking for a trade, but ended up with what he believed to be their best quarterback yet.
But Belichick seems less sold. He didn’t call Maye a bad quarterback, but he clearly believed the old team had drafted under center rather than someone who could take a Day 1 star.
“Well, I think that’s really a big need for them. It’s a quarterback, a tackle and a wide receiver, so that’s one of the needs. Drake compares himself a lot to Josh Allen, which he’s been doing for a while. We’re talking about some similarities, size and I think the Athletics are there, but Josh Allen is a special player right now.
“Very talented kid. Good size, runs well, has a good arm, hasn’t played a lot. He’s really inexperienced. He’s going to make some big plays … He needs some. Work on reading defenses, reading coverages.”
You can see his full list of tapes, including “Big Game,” “Quick Out of Receivers,” “Staying in the Pocket and Throwing,” and “Poor Throw.” Also, “Of all the quarterbacks, [Maye] It was the lowest rated pickpocket.
He also criticized May’s footwork in a pre-draft clip and a quick review of all the top quarterback prospects:
“Drake Maye, his footwork needs a lot of work. He’s all over the place here. He never gets his feet right. He’s never in a position to throw. He gets sacked. He’s moving around a lot. Up and I throw.”
Belichick believes Maye has talent and concluded that “he just needs some time and experience.”
To be clear, Belichick was criticized for selecting No. 1 Caleb Williams and No. 2 Jaylen Daniels. He seems more concerned with May’s game immediately translating to the NFL. He believes Belichick can be the one to develop Mayo into a quarterback under new Patriots head coach Jerrod Mayo.
Maye started two years at UNC as a redshirt freshman and sophomore. He had two very good years, though, with totals of 7,929 passing yards, a 64.9% completion rate, 62 passing touchdowns, 16 interceptions, 1,147 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns in 26 games.
Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice was a bit more bullish on May, ranking him as the top prospect on the board and saying, “I feel more in the pocket and in his creativity than I think he gets credit for in his game.”
Bill Belichick didn’t like the Falcons’ pick of Michael Penix Jr. either.
Another team with an interesting connection to Belichick in this draft is the Atlanta Falcons, who shocked everyone by drafting Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall despite signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract a month ago.
Belichick hasn’t made any team apart from the Falcons when looking for a new coaching job this offseason, so he was left hanging when the team opted to hire Raheem Morris in place of Arthur Smith.
Suffice it to say, the Falcons wouldn’t select Penix if Belichick were running the show, and they almost certainly wouldn’t make him with the ninth overall pick.
“Obviously, they like the kid. This is an example where they could trade back to take Penix. Maybe Denver or someone else thought he could slide, I don’t know. That seems a little high for him, but there’s a lot to like about Penix.”
“He’s very mature. They talk about the injuries, but he’s been healthy the last two years and won a lot of games on a good football team in Washington. It’s a very interesting pick, and look, having two good quarterbacks isn’t a bad thing.”
Belichick has charitably compared his situation to the Packers’ Jordan Love-Aaron Rodgers situation, but even that comparison falls short as Rodgers has been showing some complaints during Love’s pick, but the Falcons recently signed Cousins. And Love was the 26th overall pick, not eighth.