4. Marcus Maye, safety, New York Jets
In a vacuum, Maye landing with the Jets seems like a great fit. He’s a hard-hitting safety who has excellent character, is a leader and was productive player all four years at Florida.
But Maye didn’t get drafted to the Jets in a vacuum. Gang Green, before taking Maye in Round 2, selected Jamal Adams with the No. 6 overall pick of the draft. As we discussed in a bit of detail here, they drafted two strong safeties with their first two picks.
General manager Mike Maccagnan, in explaining his decision, said Maye was just too good to pass up, adding “We’re going to try to make every position as competitive as possible,” per Rich Cimini of ESPN.
Maye likely won’t start, not unless the Jets plan on moving Adams to free safety. But that wouldn’t be making the best use of his talents. He’s a strong safety in the mold of Eric Berry — a guy who is incredible at or near the line of scrimmage and who can also cover the back end. But he’s not a ball hawk.
This is the same exact description we can give to Maye. He’s one of the best safeties of the 2017 NFL Draft class, but he isn’t going to be in a position to play on a regular basis unless Adams gets hurt. It’s really too bad, because he would have a chance to start if he’d landed in another situation.