North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye is a big pocket passer with some athletic juice who has all the qualities NFL teams look for in a pocket passer.
Maye has the size (6-foot-4, 229 pounds), arm talent and athleticism to make almost any throw, whether it’s a deep ball from the pocket or on the run. His collegiate production is a result of these characteristics, as he was the only player in college football with over 7,000 passing yards (7,929) and 1,000 rushing yards (1,247) over the past two seasons. Maye also handles the football at a high level with a 1.8% play-worthy rate, tied for seventh among FBS quarterbacks with a minimum of 200 dropbacks.
There are clear arguments to be made that it is the second-best quarterback prospect in this draft class behind only Caleb Williams of USC. Here are his top five NFL teams before the 2024 NFL Draft officially kicks off:
The Denver Broncos currently have a void at quarterback after releasing Russell Wilson and opting to eat $85 million in dead money against their salary cap after he and head coach Sean Payton did not agree. are clearly not heard. They only have two quarterbacks on their roster, and both are career backups: Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci.
Denver’s supporting cast is decent with receivers like Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Tim Patrick and new Josh Reynolds. Additionally, young Broncos running back Javonte Williams (who turns 24 on April 25) is a fellow North Carolinian, like Maye.
The only problem here is that the Broncos would have to convince their ownership group to part with a number of first-round picks to move into the top five and take Maye, and Denver doesn’t have their second-round pick for 2024 This belongs to the New Orleans Saints since it was part of the compensation required to earn the right to hire Payton as head coach. However, they have the rights to their top picks in 2025 and 2026, which they will likely have to include in any move up the draft board.
“It was a great meeting with Coach Payton,” Maye said at the NFL Scouting Combine when asked about his meeting with the Broncos. “I think anytime you have one of the great offensive minds there, you know, meeting him was pretty cool, and [QB coach] Davis Webb, it seemed from the start, seemed like one of the great quarterback coaches to play for. It was just fun to be there with those guys, to have that experience. And Javonte Williams is a Carolina guy in Denver.”
Current Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones was asked to address the possibility of New York taking a quarterback with its first-round pick during a press conference nearly 10 days ago, and he compared his future with the G-Men to former running back Saquon Barkley’s situation in 2023. Barkley left the Giants for the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency after failing to come to terms with the team on an extension.
“[It’s] the same thing with that of Saquon [situation last year]” Jones said on AApril 15. “The nature of our business. It’s a competitive league, so the best way to deal with it is to focus on what I’m doing. Focus on myself and making sure I’m healthy and ready to play good football. That’s what I can control.”
Jones is entitled to $36 million in guaranteed salary in 2024, so he will be on the roster. After that, the Giants could save $19.4 million against their 2025 salary cap by releasing him while taking on a loss of $22.21 million in dead money. He regressed in 2023, throwing six interceptions and just two touchdowns in six games before tearing his ACL. Jones signed a four-year, $160 million contract last offseason after throwing 15 touchdowns and just five interceptions in 16 regular-season games before helping lead the Giants to the NFC divisional round following a wild card round against the Minnesota Vikings.
Maye could help revive the Giants’ passing game on the ground. Jones has never averaged seven or more yards per pass attempt during his five-season NFL career, while Maye has never averaged less than 8.4 yards per pass attempt during of his three seasons in North Carolina.
“Yeah, it was good in there,” Maye said during the NFL Scouting Combine when asked about meeting the Giants. “Meeting coach Daboll, big fan of his, offensive mind, one of the best. So it’s just about getting in there, getting to know these guys, Mr. [Joe] Schoen. So that was good in there.”
The New England Patriots offense is in the midst of a rebuild. They have a new offensive coordinator in Alex Van Pelt, and their top receivers currently (KJ Osborn, Kendrick Bourne and DeMario Douglas) are more like complementary pieces than true top options. Re-signing tight end Hunter Henry provides a solid security blanket above the middle. The Patriots can also be active in the reduced free agency period on June 1 with a projected effective cap hit of $38.1 million, according to OverTheCap, which is the highest in the league.
Between its abundance of cap space and high-end assets, New England’s roster is guaranteed to look drastically different by the start of the first year of the 21st century without Bill Belichick running the show. Maye would be a breath of fresh air from the quarterbacks who played for the Patriots in 2023: Mac Jones – who ranked bottom three in the NFL in yards per pass attempt (6.1), TD -INT (10-12) and passer rating (77.0) – and Bailey Zappe – whose eight turnovers from Weeks 14-18 were tied for second in the NFL. Both played important roles in the Patriots’ anemic offensive attack.
“Yeah, I was really impressed with them,” May said during the NFL Scouting Combine when asked about his meeting with the Patriots. “Coach Mayo, I congratulated him first. Anytime you become a new head coach, it’s a pretty cool experience. So just being there, and New England is obviously a great sports town, and meeting them, I thought it went well. I think New England is a great place.
For more coverage of the project, you can hear in-depth analysis twice a week on “With the first choice” — our year-round NFL Draft podcast with NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson and former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman. You can find “With the First Pick” wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Listen below!
The Commanders are hitting the reset button as they have a new owner (Josh Harris and his ownership group), a new head coach (Dan Quinn) and a new general manager (Adam Peters). After a spending spree in free agency, they remain flush with the cap ($35.9 million per OverTheCap), and Washington has five draft picks through the first three rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft.
They already have solid playmakers on the roster in Pro Bowl wide receiver Terry McLaurin, 2022 first-round wideout Jahan Dotson and 2022 third-round running back Brian Robinson Jr. The Commanders added touchdown magnet Austin Ekeler, three-time Pro Bowl tight end. Zach Ertz and Pro Bowl center Tyler Biadasz. Washington also had a familiar face in its quarterback room in Sam Howell – the passer Maye backed up as a freshman at UNC.
Howell is off to a hot start, leading the league with 3,339 yards passing through the first 12 weeks of the season. He finished the season ranked 12th in passing yards (3,946), but led the league in interceptions (21) and sacks made (65) in his first attempt as the starting quarterback. the NFL. He also compiled 21 passing touchdowns and averaged 6.4 yards per pass attempt for a passer rating of 78.9. The season’s adversity ultimately took its toll on Howell (as well as the entire organization), with the Commanders finishing 4-13.
This offseason, Washington traded Howell to the Seattle Seahawks, meaning it is committed to finding its next franchise QB. Washington can add more offensive firepower in free agency and the draft to ensure its roster is ready to roll for its new rookie signal-caller.
“First with Coach Quinn, it was great to meet, and we clicked immediately,” Maye said during the NFL Scouting Combine asked about his meeting with Washington. “He’s a great guy. A great coach with everything he’s done with the Cowboys over the last two years has been pretty special. Coach [Tavita Prtichard] (Commanders QB coach) recruited me out of Stanford High School, so he got to know me a little bit. Coach [Kliff] Kingsbury knows my offensive coordinator for college, so we had a lot of connections. »
With Kirk Cousins now on the Atlanta Falcons, Maye would find himself in one of the best situations for a rookie quarterback. He would immediately have one of the best collections of pass catchers in the entire NFL: 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson, two-time Pro Bowl tight end TJ Hockenson and 2023 first-round wide receiver Jordan Addison. Plus, Pro Bowler Aaron Jones at running back, someone the Packers have used as a threat in the passing game for years.
The Vikings have hired 16-year NFL quarterback Josh McCown as their quarterbacks coach. One of the main reasons he was able to last so long in the league was his highly regarded reputation as a mentor. Do you know who Maye’s high school quarterbacks coach was at Myers Park in Charlotte, North Carolina? Ding ding, you guessed it: McCown. He got his start as an NFL coach working in the same capacity with the Panthers on Frank Reich’s staff, but like Reich, he was fired mid-season without much luck .
The long-standing history Maye has with McCown, as well as having Jefferson, Addison, Jones and Hockenson at his disposal, would make Minnesota the best choice for Maye. The only caveat here is that Minnesota is currently projected to pick 11th and 23rd in the 2024 NFL Draft. They acquired this 23rd overall pick from the Houston Texans by parting with two second-round picks (one in 2024 and one in 2025) and a 2024 sixth-rounder.
Teams generally don’t do this this early in the draft unless they want to make a major move to trade up the draft board. The Vikings know they will have to pay a significant price to move up into the top five in order to select him, and it appears they are comfortable with that reality.