North Carolina’s Drake Maye is one of the consensus best quarterback prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft following two standout seasons in Chapel Hill.
While USC’s Caleb Williams is the presumptive No. 1 pick, Maye is viewed by many as a close second, or third, with LSU’s Jayden Daniels in the mix as well.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, appearing on “The Joel Klatt Show” this week, outlined the reasons why he believes Maye is an easy prospect to bet on.
“I think sometimes, people think there’s a perfect prospect or they think that all the pictures are going to be colored in, and that’s not how this works,” Jeremiah said. “… Let’s just look at all the things we know with Drake. With Drake I know his size — that’s irrefutable. He’s got outstanding size. Got a big-time arm, a live arm — that’s irrefutable. He’s an outstanding athlete, not only as you know you can use him in designed quarterback runs, you can move the pocket, he’s got a creative gene to him to be able to make things happen.
“Like, those things are all irrefutable and then when you talk to the folks at the school and you hear incredibly bright, incredibly tough leader, I’m like this is the foundation. Now, there’s some footwork stuff that gets away from him at times, he’s always under pressure, he tried to get a little too big at moments — he can dial that back. But if we’re talking about the foundation of a successful quarterback, he has all of it. So, now we’ve got to get the rest of it out of him and put the right pieces in place around him and I mean, that’s an easy one for me to bet on.”
Daniel Jeremiah sticking with Drake Maye as top-3 selection
Maye, 21, threw for 7,929 yards, 62 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in his final two seasons at North Carolina. He added 1,147 yards and 16 scores on the ground. Maye racked up numerous accolades in 2022, named the ACC’s Rookie, Offensive and Player of the Year. He earned second-team All-SEC honors in 2023.
In his latest Mock Draft, Jeremiah had Maye going to the Washington Commanders with pick No. 2.
“I don’t have any more clarity on this pick than I did in my last mock,” Jeremiah wrote. “The Commanders did move on from Sam Howell, and I’m sticking with Maye here.”
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