In a Fascinating Hypothetical, the Internet is Asking Whether Bill Belichick Would've Drafted Drake Maye

As Drake Maye comes streaking out of the tunnel, climbs into the ring of the NFL's Royal Rumble, and starts tossing everyone over the ropes to announce his presence with authority, one thing that should never be lost in his sudden success is that none of this was guaranteed. 

When he came out of North Carolina, he had his fair share of detractors. Not the least of whom was the perennially wrong Chris Simms. Sure, he's singing Maye's praises now. But in the predraft process, he had the 21-year-old somewhere in the "Also Receiving Votes" category:

It happens to every quarterback prospect in the draft. The first round projections especially. And the closer we get to draft day, the closer they get scrutinized, and the more their flaws get exaggerated. I have a very vivid memory of one pundit saying he didn't like the way a certain quarterback "gripped the ball." That QB in question started 45 games at U. of Tennessee and his name was Peyton Manning. (Still is.) 

So it's not surprising that Maye's scouting reports would be filled with doubt about his footwork, his decision-making, his accuracy, the fact he tended to take off with the ball if his first target wasn't open, that sort of thing. I'll raise my hand here and state for the record I bought into none of it. That I wanted the Patriots to take him because I saw him as the next great hope of the franchise. And when they wasted no time selecting him, I kept a vow I made to my brother Jack (God rest his soul) that I'd break out the best bottle of whiskey in the cabinet and pour two fingers to his future success. 

But others had their doubts. Most notably, the man who would've been calling all the shots in the Patriots war room if Mr. Kraft hadn't fired him and he hadn't mutually agreed to part ways. 

Bill Belichick expressed some of those doubts the moment Eliot Wolf put in the selection and it was announced:

And again on the "Coach" YouTube program he did with Michael Lombardi and Matt Patricia:

To be totally fair to Belichick, he had other criticisms of some of the other QBs in Maye's class, which you can check out here. Because that's what he does. He evaluates. What you call criticisms, he'd call "coaching points."

Historians call thought experiments like this "counter-factuals." What if Hitler died fighting WWI? What if Harry Truman decided not to use the Atom Bomb? What if Marty McFly didn't get his parents together at the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance and play "Johnny B. Goode" for Marvin Berry? 

What if Belichick was still the Patriots GM in April of 2024? Would he have selected Maye? 

Obviously, there's no possible way of knowing. You certainly can't ask Belichick. If you asked anyone whether they would've drafted the best player at his position in his draft class:

… the answer is always going to be a resounding "Fucking-A right I would have. I knew he'd be this good." As a guy who's been the subject of plenty of historic counter-factuals himself famously said, "Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan." 

The scary thing for me is, I can definitely envision a scenario in which he accepted one of the offers that teams were going hard in the paint against Eliot Wolf to get that No. 3 pick:

It's not hard to imagine GM Bill having the confidence that HC Bill and whoever his offensive coordinator would have been could develop Michael Penix, JJ McCarthy or Bo Nix. Or, God forbid, had enough faith in themselves that they could stock the depleted roster further by trading back further and taking their chances with Sam Darnold or whomever. Possibly even Bailey Zappe.

If I had to guess - and I do have to now that I've painted myself in this corner - I'll borrow a phrase from Ted Wells and say it's more probable than not that Belichick would've taken the motherlode of draft capital being offered. As opposed to taking his chances with a guy he saw as so flawed and in need of years of development. 

If I'm right, then this will be the one truly good thing to come out of the tough decision to fire the greatest football mind of all time. And make the disastrous 2024 season worth it. Right now, despite all the possible counter-factuals, we're living in the best timeline of all.