Rookie Quarterbacks - Who is your preference?

I've argued a lot for taking BPA on the Defense and then getting Penix or Nix later in the 1st.

But then a certain poster went scorched earth on Drake Maye because Chris Sims doesn't like him. The same Chris Sims who had wonderful insight like Matt Coral is awesome and Kellen Mond is a legit Starting Quarterback.

So I went back and watched tape. And listened to a dozen evaluators who do this for a living. Some of them were former career backup QBs, which is exactly what Sims was. Some of them work for gambling sites or fantasy sites. Many of them were doing a second evaluation after hearing all the rumors that Maye might fall.

The Consensus? He's the second best QB in the Class. Why? Only Caleb Williams has a higher ceiling. Why don't the other QBs have as high a ceiling?

Let's lay it out. First, only Penix has the same caliber of arm. Second, he's big. Not Josh Allen big, but there's zero concern about him getting crunched like Daniels. Third, he's smart. Go watch Underdog Fantasy with Colt McCoy breaking down a single game of his. He's reading the Defense pre-snap and post-snap. Throwing beautiful passes all over the field.

Fourth, he's got that thing where he's absolutely not afraid to throw the ball to a covered Wide Receiver. With the Elite arm talent to make it work. Arm talent isn't strictly strength. It's also accuracy. Drake Maye has tons of throws that display Elite arm talent.

So what are the knocks? He's inconsistent. Footwork is sloppy at times. Gorgeous throw on one play and then the next he misses a wide-spanking open target. When pressure gets to him early in games he can start to vacate clean pockets after that.....And still make plays happen.

That's the thing. He still makes plays when he bails early from perfectly clean pockets. Because he has Elite arm talent. Maybe too much of a gunslinger mentality. But let's have an adult conversation about that. Caleb Williams has far more of a 'play off-schedule Hero Ball' plays than Drake and he's a virtual lock to go number one. And Caleb had 2 WRs who will get drafted this year.

Drake had no talent until the NCAA finally let Tez Walker play. None. His best WRs from two years ago left, including Josh Downs. He was also dealing with a bad O-Line. And a new Offensive Coordinator. With the knowledge that he came into last year as a presumptive challenger to Williams being taken at the top of the Draft.

Caleb Williams couldn't elevate a UCS Team with awful Defense but some good weapons on Offense. Drake Maye couldn't elevate a Tarheel Team with less. One is going #1, the other is 'falling'.

None of these kids have perfectly clean footwork. None of them. Maye's problems are easy to fix according to basically everyone. I believe Kevin loves the way that Drake will fire the ball into covered dudes. Let's not forget how many pressers O'Connell had when he got to Minnesota about coaching Cousins to stay on his primary read longer. To take more chances with the ball.

The comp I think is the most accurate is Matt Stafford. Big QB with a cannon of an arm that isn't afraid to throw it to anyone anywhere on the field. And Drake is more dangerous with his scrambling ability. I don't like the Josh Allen comps because Maye has been more accurate in college and isn't as thick and bruising as a runner.

The other comp I don't like is Justin Herbert. Herbert is much more conservative throwing the ball down the field. Both in college and in the NFL so far. That was my initial comp but I've come off of that since.

And he's 21. That's a plus for JJ McCarthy, so it has to be one for Maye.

He can bust. Quite easily. And if he does the Vikings will start over with a new GM and likely a new Head Coach. I'm now OK with that level of a swing. Kwesi hasn't been a great drafter so far anyway. Take the swing. Spend all the money next year on IOL & IDL.

But seriously, swing the f*cking bat. I'm 53. Seems like I'm one of the younger posters here because some very loud, obviously older ones just wanted to keep Kirk until he was 90 or go conservative with Penix or Nix, who also have legitimate issues with footwork I might add, and significantly better talent around them.

Swing for Maye. Settle for McCarthy. Stock up on IDL and IOL and pick a QB next year. It's all good because at least they're trying to do something other than hope Kirktober didn't turn into the pumpkin it inevitably did year after year after year.