Latest report does nothing to guarantee Patriots’ plans with No. 3 pick

The New England Patriots will select third overall in the upcoming NFL Draft. We all expect New England to select a quarterback to replace the now-traded Mac Jones, ushering in a new era of Patriots football under head coach Jerod Mayo. It gets tricky, however, when trying to decipher which QB the Pats will take.

De facto GM Eliot Wolf has a history of developing talented QBs behind established vets. New England went out and signed Jacoby Brissett early in free agency. While Brissett and the No. 3 pick will (probably) battle it out in training camp, the "winner" — and day-one starter — could very well depend on which prospect lands in Foxboro.

Clarity has been hard to come by as far as the Patriots' plan is concerned. We have heard rumblings connecting New England to three of the top four QBs on the board, with Caleb Williams excluded for the simple reason that he will not fall past the Chicago Bears at No. 1 overall.

Drake Maye has been the logical target all along. Jayden Daniels, if he falls, is a scout's darling who can revamp the Pats' offense with his dual-threat ability. And then there's J.J. McCarthy, who has experienced the greatest surge in momentum of any prospect in the pre-draft process. People like him, he won a championship, and he has the distinct allure of upside (he didn't throw much at Michigan, but he looks good when he does throw!).

ESPN's Adam Schefter took to his podcast to provide clarity on the situation. Even he cannot untangle the web that has encased New England's No. 3 pick, though.

Adam Schefter hints at potential answer to Patriots' NFL Draft questions at No. 3

The rundown from Schefter is fairly simple. The Bears are going to pick Caleb Williams. We never know for sure until the name is read aloud on air, but frankly, there is nothing standing between Chicago and the USC product. At No. 2, Schefter expects LSU's Jayden Daniels to be the pick. He's careful to hedge his bets like any responsible reporter, but Schefter's tone is unambiguous. As the board currently sits, Daniels is the favorite to land with the Washington Commanders.

With New England on the clock, Schefter offers a fairly blatant prediction — the Patriots would have "the possibility" of selecting North Carolina's Drake Maye at No. 3 — but he offers far less detail and clarity compared to the first two projections. Factor in the recent surge in Patriots-McCarthy speculation, and it's hard to feel any better about which direction New England will ultimately go.

Maye is the obvious pick. He's the QB one might construct in a lab, 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds with a rocket arm and enough mobility to operate outside the pocket. He doesn't present the same dynamism on the ground as Jayden Daniels, nor does he have the benefit of playing for a winning program like Michigan. But, in terms of translatable talent and physical tools, Maye outstrips the smaller, less experienced McCarthy virtually across the board.

That said, we know the Patriots love to hype up the "Patriot Way" and finding players who fit with "The Way." Bill Belichick is gone, but Jerod Mayo has been learning at Belichick's altar for two decades now. McCarthy is the kind of QB who wins in college and wins over front offices in interviews. He screams "Patriots mistake pick," perhaps in the same vein as Mac Jones a few years ago.

We shouldn't compare McCarthy to Jones — he's a more dynamic athlete and probably a better prospect — but New England has passed up elite athletic tools in favor of college winners before. So, let's not count the eggs before they've hatched. The Patriots' plan is as unpredictable today as it was yesterday, and it will stay that way tomorrow.