Drake Maye struggles expose cracks in the hyped Jayden Daniels narrative

When the Washington Commanders selected Jayden Daniels at No. 2 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, they immediately formed new rivalries with the teams that selected quarterbacks directly before and after them.

That would be the Chicago Bears (Caleb Williams) and the New England Patriots (Drake Maye). In Year 1, Washington won every battle.

Daniels was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and took the Commanders to the NFC Championship game. The other two clubs combined for nine wins.

Then, the script flipped.

The Commanders went 5-12 with the star passer injured for more than half the season. Williams and Maye both made the playoffs, with the latter reaching the Super Bowl.

Commanders picked the right guy in Jayden Daniels, and recency bias doesn't change that fact

Suffice to say, this debate is going to rage on for a long time. And Maye's absolute dud on the big stage might have just given Daniels the upper hand again.

Count The Team 980's Kevin Sheehan among those using the opportunity to pump the brakes on Maye, who came within one first-place vote of winning NFL MVP honors this season.

"Let's not sugarcoat it: Drake Maye had one of the most horrendous postseasons any quarterback has had in NFL history. For a guy that finished second in the MVP race, it was a terrible, terrible four-game run."

Kevin Sheehan

Maye was abysmal in New England's Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks, turning the ball over three times and racking up the majority of his inflated passing stats in garbage time. It continued a theme that's persisted throughout the playoffs, and this time, his defense couldn't bail him out.

Contrast that with Daniels, who had to put the team on his back in 2024 to give Washington a chance. He led the entire league in completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns during the Commanders' run, in which his offense scored more than 30 points per contest.

Washington ultimately lost in the NFC title game to the Philadelphia Eagles because Daniels' supporting cast couldn't stop fumbling the ball away, and Joe Whitt Jr.'s defense was no match for running back Saquon Barkley. The quarterback did all he could, but even his best simply wasn't enough.

Obviously, Maye's 2025 season was considerably better, and being able to stay on the field does matter. But as it stands now, only one of them has shone when the lights were brightest.

And it's not the one who was gifted a historically easy path to the Super Bowl.