2024 NFL Draft: Drake Maye scouting report
Hyped up right alongside fellow quarterback Caleb Williams these past two seasons is North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, who looks to cash in similarly to his USC counterpart. Can Maye capture the hype even with a bit of a down year?
Here is everything you need to know about the Tar Heels signal caller:
Vitals
Height: 6-4
Weight: 230
Class: Sophomore
Strengths
Chalk full of all the physical tools a quarterback at the next level needs, Drake Maye oozes talent that NFL scouts and front office members yearn for. Maye truly pulled through for North Carolina these last few seasons as a bonified leader of men and showed even with a dip in talent surrounding him he can be a productive quarterback.
Possessing elite arm strength, a quick whip arm, high level athleticism, excellent ball placement, and has enough zip to fit balls into tight windows that make it hard to defend. His arm talent is complimented by excellent athletic traits that make him a real threat to make plays on the ground, running almost like a running back at times and sneakily beating defenders to the boundary. Maye is a creative playmaker that can make ridiculous throws in the most out of position places and this made him quite impossible to defend at times.
Maye put all his talents together to put on quite a show for the Tar Heels. In those two season Maye scored 78 total touchdowns between the ground and the air and threw for 7,929 yards. Maye maintained an impressive passer rating of 157.9 and 149.0 in how two years as the starter.
Weaknesses
While Maye is a creative playmaker sometimes his need to extend plays and attempt throws from off angles gets him into some serious trouble. For every two big time splash plays coming from an out of position play is a turnover worthy throw. NFL coaches aren’t going to be a big of his wild playmaking style if it leads to too many turnovers.
Maye is also inconsistent on his deep ball, sometimes outright missing receivers and sailing over the heads of others. This stims from his habit of abandoning his footwork once a play breaks down.
Projection
It’s not often a quarterback with the tools and playmaking ability of Maye comes around, and teams are going to be eager to get him into their lineup and develop him as perhaps the next Justin Herbert. Maye is likely going to have a chaotic rookie season if he can’t nail down his mechanics and his sometimes head scratching decision making, but he should grow out of those things with time and take full advantage of an elite physical skillset.
Projection: Top 5
