North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye has some thinking he is the 2024 NFL Draft’s first overall pick and QB1.
Drake Maye NFL Draft Overview
Position: Quarterback
Height: 6’4″ (Unofficial)
Weight: 235 pounds (Unofficial)
School: North Carolina
Drake Maye 2024 NFL Draft Profile
Drake Maye walked into the University of North Carolina fully understanding the significance of that Tar Hell blue. The Maye family is essentially North Carolina royalty. Maye’s father, Mark, played quarterback at North Carolina in the 1980s. Drake’s older brother Beau, is currently playing for the UNC basketball team. And, of course, oldest brother Luke is a Carolina legend with his game-winner to send North Carolina to the Final Four just a few years ago. After waiting his turn behind Sam Howell, Drake got his shot in 2022 and did not disappoint.
Ever since his first start, Drake Maye has been nothing short of sensational. In 2022, Maye accounted for over 5,000 yards and 45 total touchdowns. His size, mobility, and arm strength were already tantalizing traits to NFL evaluators. As he continued to shine on the field, his draft profile grew. With his college career over, Maye has cemented himself firmly in the discussion for a top-three pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He has traits, production, and significant polish for an early declaration.
Drake Maye. 55 yards, no hitch, with pace. pic.twitter.com/OdexmQH2KF
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) December 9, 2023
Strengths
- Prototypical NFL size
- Great mobility from the pocket
- Arm strength that generates distance and velocity with ease
- Escapability to make off-script plays consistently
- Good feel for pressure in the pocket, can shift and rest quickly to throw cleanly
- Impressive field vision to move off of covered targets quickly
- Has displayed several “Capital-A” anticipation throws
- Excellent in structure and out of structure
- Elevates those around him
Weaknesses
- Small clean-ups of his base and mechanics certainly needed
- Tries to throw a fastball on seemingly every pass, and will have to learn when to take some heat off his throws
- Forced several poor decisions, trying to do too much
- Has too many plays where the ball doesn’t leave his hands soon enough
- Arm arrogance leads him to attempt throws that he simply does not need to
Another rollercoaster sequence from Drake Maye
Tries to no-look a crosser necessarily and spray misses, then three dropbacks later, he moves a safety to open the corner-post and delivers a perfect pass pic.twitter.com/XfS3lNe1af
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) December 14, 2023
NFL Comparison: Justin Herbert with a Carson Wentz gene
Projection: Top-Three Pick
Best Fits: Teams with a top-three pick
Bottom Line on Drake Maye
Drake Maye is as good as it gets. If you were to build an elite NFL quarterback in a lab, it would look a whole lot like number 10 in Carolina Blue. Maye has everything you want in terms of size, arm strength, mobility, and creativity. He is a natural playmaker at the quarterback position and can elevate the play of those around him. He is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and has some of that Josh Allen/Carson Wentz wildcard to him. Regardless, the debate for him to be the first player selected in April will rage on.
The fact that Maye still has many believing he is the best quarterback in this class says quite a bit about him. While most will have USC quarterback Caleb Williams going first overall, the race is closer than it was before the season. Drake Maye just put another outstanding season on tape in 2023. While he will ultimately not go first overall, it is certainly a conversation worth having. Five years from now, we may be looking at 2024 as the year that a franchise brought itself out of the gutter by drafting Drake Maye.
Main Image: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
