Drake Maye: The Next All Time Great Tar Heel

The University of North Carolina Tar Heels have produced some of the greatest athletes to ever touch Earth. In the football world names like Julius Peppers and Lawrence Taylor come to mind. In basketball, it was James Worthy and of course the Goat of Goats, Michael Jordan. Now, we have North Carolina quarterback (QB) Drake Maye – – and he is the TRUTH.

The former 5-star recruit has shown he has the tools, the mental capacity, and the leadership qualities to become a great NFL QB.

Is he the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft?

Drake Maye is Elite

The first thing that pops about Maye on film is his size. This North Carolina QB stands at 6-foot-4, 235 and has the size, weight, and thickness in body frame that teams would want for a franchise QB prospect.

Arm talent is special

He can make all the throws from sideline to sideline with ease and velocity. Add in his quick smooth release when he is protected and he quickly shows why he is such a highly touted prospect.

Underrated athlete

Maye is not a sitting duck. He can (and will) escape to run for yardage if given the opportunity. Maye shows good elasticity in his hips and throwing arm – – and occasionally makes off-platform throws.

Working in the pocket

This North Carolina QB is comfortable working within the perimeters of the pocket while going through his progressions and evading the rush. This is huge as it’s rare NFL pockets are ‘clean’ and still being able to make “BIG BOY” throws from a muddied pocket (pass rushers nearby) is what wins championships.

Explosive plays

This is important – – the ability to produce big plays – – and no one makes more big plays from the pocket than Maye. Every game I watch, he’s making high-level NFL-type throws in the pocket. I see him making deep posts, go routes, and deep crossing patterns. Don’t fall asleep on him in the pocket either because he can and will take off. Maye shows some twitch in the open field to make a man miss and pick up even more yardage. This Tar Heels QB can catch a defense off-guard on a QB draw play, RPO (run-pass option), and read option plays for first-downs and touchdowns occasionally.

There are no 10’s

In football and life, nobody is perfect.

The big thing Maye needs to work on, his main flaw, it’s his footwork. There’s no excuse why he has inconsistent footwork. I saw plays when Maye was throwing off one foot or throwing off both feet not using his hips, just his arm. It looked like his feet were playing crossword puzzles.

Why is this a concern?

It affects his accuracy.

Another issue is Maye can sometimes too the ball too long and get caught ‘loafing in the pocket.’ This causes him to take unnecessary hits, or take high-risk throws instead of taking the short throws or just throwing it away. He doesn’t do this often enough to label it as a flaw, but it’s something he can clean up.

Maye needs to strive to stay within structure. Sure, he can do some good things off script, but it’s not a strength of his. Sometimes he tries to do too much off platform and this is when his accuracy goes down and this can risk turnovers.

Scouting Report

Game Film Evidence (2022)

Clemson

Pitt

(2023)

South Carolina

Georgia Tech

Minnesota

NFL PROTOTYPE QB

He has elite arm strength, athleticism to extend plays and a sturdy frame to take hits. Has the ability to touch all areas of the field with velocity on the ball. Does have it within him to be quick going through progressions and deliver timely releases. Devastating when protected. Has the ability to be exceptional navigating the pocket, but does need to clean up his footwork on drop backs when throwing. NFL ready.

Tatum Round Grade: First-Round (Top-5 lock)

Looking forward to:

Seeing him cleaning up his footwork, while continuing to make big-time throws. He needs to show he can take what defenses are giving him more and finish the season strong.

Rashad Tatum has been a deep-rooted fan of football since his grandpa introduced him to the game at the age of five years old. He’s from Houston, Texas. He uses YouTube and All22 film to break down prospects to give his direct analysis of players. Rashad has a trained eye developed by his former high school coach Steve Strahan who was in the NFL and played at Baylor University. He currently covers the top-rated prospects in the NFL Draft for Firstroundmock.com. When writing about football he lives by the motto “Lover of football, fan of no team.”