Drake Maye didn’t slowly materialize as a prospect for the 2024 NFL draft final fall at North Carolina. He burst upon groups’ radar as a redshirt freshman with a blazing begin that featured 16 landing passes and just one interception via the primary 4 video games.
“I had three scouts call me last year when they were leaving North Carolina, and they were all like, ‘Holy (crap)! This kid at UNC is the real deal,’” one senior personnel evaluator mentioned. “I know he’s got a ton of physical talent. When we get down to nitpicking time, which is inevitable, I don’t know what it’s going to be for Drake.”
The uphill battle for Maye — who has led the Tenth-ranked Tar Heels to a 6-0 report this season with a mean margin of 16.3 factors — is closing the hole between himself and USC quarterback Caleb Williams because the potential No. 1 draft decide in April.
The consensus among the many 11 evaluators the Tribune spoke to for this story and an accompanying piece on Williams is that Williams would be the first decide, which the Chicago Bears would personal if the order have been primarily based on present standings.
“I think they go 1-2,” an NFC normal supervisor mentioned of Williams and Maye. “That’s unless (Ohio State wide receiver) Marvin Harrison Jr. sticks his head in there.”
On a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon two weeks in the past at Kenan Memorial Stadium, Maye piled up video-game numbers in a 40-7 thrashing of Syracuse: 33-of-47 passing for 442 yards and three touchdowns — finishing passes to 11 targets — plus 14 rushes for an additional 55 yards and a fourth rating. Bears assistant director of faculty scouting Breck Ackley was current.
It was take a look at in opposition to an Orange protection that employs a number of coverages and aggressive pressures, one nationwide scout famous, and a wanted large sport after Maye had solely 5 landing passes and 4 interceptions via the primary 4 video games.
In a six-minute span within the second quarter, Maye made performs that may pop when NFL groups dive into the tape.
Facing a six-man stress, he dropped an ideal ball on a slot fade to tight finish Bryson Nesbit for a 23-yard landing. He threw a bullet alongside the left sideline to broad receiver J.J. Jones for a 15-yard acquire. Off a play faux, he drove a ball to Nate McCollum for a 48-yard acquire, exhibiting well-above-average arm power. Displaying his athletic capacity at 6-foot-4 and 230 kilos, Maye scrambled to his left for 12 yards.
Maye adopted that up with a four-touchdown effort final week in a 41-31 win over Miami, taking a ton of hits whereas propelling the Tar Heels to their greatest begin since 1997. One evaluator mentioned that’s key when contemplating a quarterback who doesn’t come from a blue-blood program: Does he elevate the crew to a degree it hasn’t reached in a very long time?
Maye checks that field, definitely greater than former Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky did at North Carolina. Trubisky couldn’t beat out Marquise Williams, who by no means made an NFL roster, so he was the starter for less than the 2016 season. Maye, 21, instantly adopted Sam Howell, who set 27 faculty data and now begins for the Washington Commanders.
- “Mechanically sound, accurate, very good ball placement, good anticipation, just enough athletic ability to be a run threat,” mentioned one nationwide scout who has been to Chapel Hill this fall. “And he’s not surrounded by a lot. Makes a lot with a little. If he was at Alabama (where Maye originally committed), they would be in the national championship hunt.”
- “Size, athleticism, like the arm, deep and intermediate accuracy, he’s really good in the pocket,” an AFC normal supervisor mentioned. “Very good athlete. Elite wiring. Very good at the second and third levels. He will guide the ball a little bit and you can clean up his feet. Really good player.”
- “Has all the tools,” a nationwide scout mentioned. “Can he develop? He will need to right away with where he will be drafted.”
- “He’s good, but I still think he’s got a ways to go,” mentioned one other nationwide scout who was in Chapel Hill not too long ago. “I’m most likely within the minority in that, however I gave him a very good grade. He’s acquired a very excessive ceiling. Some of his choice making at instances just isn’t what you need. He generally is a future face of the franchise. He does issues the proper method.
“Maybe it was because I had heard so much about him that I was expecting more. He’s a good athlete. He tricks the defense at times with his athletic ability and speed to get first downs. He rolls pretty good. Big athlete. Good arm.”
Former Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman, who was the Bears director of professional personnel from 1997-99, has watched intensive tape of Maye and Williams in work he’s doing for The thirty third Team web site, his CBS Sports podcast “With the First Pick” and SiriusXM.
“He had no help until (wide receiver) Tez Walker started playing,” mentioned Spielman, noting the NCAA accepted Walker’s eligibility earlier this month. “He’s acquired a poor offensive line. He doesn’t have the identical weapons he had when he had Josh Downs (Indianapolis Colts) and Antoine Green (Detroit Lions) final 12 months.
“When he has time, he’s nice. He’s getting his ass beat virtually each different snap as they’re struggling up entrance, and Miami acquired after him. His toughness to stand up after among the hits he takes, boy. He has a powerful arm. He is athletic and might get outdoors of the pocket and do issues. He is an correct thrower on the transfer and he has greater than sufficient deep power and accuracy.
“He’ll force it, just like most of these guys will do, trying to do too much at times, but are you ready for this one? He is a poor man’s Trevor Lawrence. That’s what I saw in him.”
NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah made a parallel to Carson Palmer when describing Maye. Others have in contrast him to Justin Herbert, noting they’ve equally lengthy deliveries. That’s not essentially a hindrance and quarterbacks can overcome it with anticipation and arm power.
One nationwide scout mentioned Maye’s accuracy appears a tad off at instances. That’s moving into detailed observations, as he’s finishing 68.9% of his passes this season. He accomplished 66.2% final season, when he set a Tar Heels report with 4,321 passing yards — whereas additionally main the crew in speeding with 698 yards — and tied the varsity mark with 38 landing passes.
But the scout was referring to ball-placement accuracy — delivering passes the place the goal can acquire extra yardage. Facing a Syracuse blitz within the third quarter, Maye noticed the stress and recognized his goal, broad receiver Kobe Paysour, on an possibility route from the proper facet of the formation. The ball was behind Paysour, who reached again to tip it to himself along with his left hand earlier than racing 77 yards to the tip zone.
In the NFL, that’s most likely not a landing. It is perhaps an interception.
That’s an instance of the wonderful lens utilized in evaluating all gamers, particularly quarterbacks.
“He’s kind of like the guy who does a lot of things well,” an assistant GM from an AFC crew mentioned. “I don’t know if he does anything elite. He’s really tough. Really is like a poor man’s Justin Herbert. Herbert’s arm is a little more lively. He’s competitive.”
One factor faculty applications with elite quarterbacks have accomplished is use NFL-experienced and quarterback-savvy mentors to signal on as “analysts,” a imprecise position which means they will’t do on-field teaching however in any other case function coaches in conferences. Adding one can assist persuade a quarterback to remain put and never search the huge NIL (title, picture, likeness) cash different applications would possibly dangle.
At USC, former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, who guided Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech, is an analyst for Williams. Texas — whose quarterback, Quinn Ewers, is one other high 2024 draft prospect — has former Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst on workers as an analyst. Chryst was a good ends coach for the San Diego Chargers and was Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator when Russell Wilson performed there.
In Chapel Hill, coach Mack Brown has Clyde Christensen within the position. Christensen was the Colts offensive coordinator for Peyton Manning and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbacks coach for Tom Brady. The Tar Heels additionally rely as analysts former Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens and former Bears outdoors linebackers coach Ted Monachino.
Christensen can zero in on Maye’s footwork and progressions and supply the detailed teaching he’ll obtain within the NFL, a luxurious few applications have.
“Coach Christensen has done an unbelievable job,” Maye mentioned. “One of the most important issues, from two years in the past and final 12 months with (former offensive coordinator Phil) Longo, are particular person drills. It’s certainly one of our most intense durations of apply day-after-day. I really feel like I’m winded extra in our particular person, going via drills, than I’m at every other level in apply.
“He works us. We’ll go back and watch individual. We’re watching Tom Brady and Peyton Manning do the same drills. It’s a blessing to have him in the room just bouncing off ideas. Got a lot of good things going.”
Maye is from Huntersville, N.C., close to Charlotte. He flipped his dedication from Alabama to North Carolina after Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide wooed Bryce Young away from USC.
He’s persevering with a household custom in Chapel Hill. His father, Mark, was a extremely recruited quarterback who picked UNC in 1983 over Alabama and Florida State, amongst different faculties. His mom, Aimee, labored within the soccer recruiting workplace throughout Brown’s first stint as Tar Heels coach (1988-97), when Mark was a graduate assistant.
Maye has three older brothers. Luke was a standout for the UNC basketball crew, sending the Tar Heels to the Final Four in 2017 with a game-winning shot in opposition to Kentucky. He performs professionally in Turkey. Cole was a pitcher on Florida’s 2017 College World Series championship crew. Beau was a walk-on for the Tar Heels basketball crew.
It’s a tight-knit household with greater brothers — Drake is each the youngest and shortest — that makes scouts seek for glowing adjectives to explain Maye’s character.
“There’s just tons of competitive juices in that family,” mentioned David Morris, a quarterbacks coach primarily based in Mobile, Ala., who has educated Maye. “Anytime you’re a younger brother, you’re used to a couple things. You’re used to playing up so you become less intimidated. Then there is a toughness thing — you’re getting pushed around and beat up by the brothers — and all that stuff helps mold a competitive kid that is eager to get in an environment where he feels all that stuff.”
“Incredible makeup,” the AFC normal supervisor mentioned.
Maye is fueled much less by the prospect of the draft proper now than by what would possibly lie forward for the Tar Heels: a shot on the ACC championship sport — and probably the College Football Playoff. After a 9-1 begin final 12 months, UNC misplaced its closing 4 video games.
“Obviously the way we ended last year, lost a lot of close games,” Maye mentioned on the ACC Kickoff in July. “Anytime you end the season like that, I use it as motivation. That’s all we talk about.”
After internet hosting Virginia on Saturday, the Tar Heels play No. 16 Duke and defending ACC champion Clemson in consecutive weeks in November. The video games in opposition to the higher opponents are those NFL groups will keenly watch. If Maye can proceed to lift the profile of this system, he additionally would enhance his personal inventory.
“Does all the right things,” a scouting director mentioned. “All the stuff you want. He’s got a bright future.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com