Category: Tar Heels in NFL

The NFL draft is like the first day of school for young football players – they’re excited to venture into a new business, meet their new friends and discover their place in the league.

There’s also a lot of thought and preparation that goes into the pre-draft process. Nearly everyone participates in the NFL draft combine, with several players boosting their stock, while top prospects tend to interview with teams choosing early in the first round.

One of many preparation pieces that goes into draft day is a fit check.

Players aren’t yet wearing the unique combinations you see NFL stars don on game days, but instead flashy suits that make them look like GQ models.

Former UNC quarterback Drake Maye, projected to be a top-five selection in the 2024 NFL draft, has his outfit nailed down with a gray suit and a fresh pair of Air Jordans.

UNC QB @DrakeMaye2 in the Air Jordan 1 Low “UNC” PE for the #NFLDraft 🥶 pic.twitter.com/gmEITQGOTs

— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) April 25, 2024

As an ode to his alma mater, Maye is also rocking that sweet Carolina Blue neck tie. I feel pretty confident we’ll be seeing Maye wearing several fresh fits come day, as any NFL team who selects him will be lucky.

The greatest assets Maye brings to the table are his leadership, strong arm and ability to escape pressure. He combined for nearly 10,000 scrimmage yards and 80 touchdowns during his time in Chapel Hill.

While college football doesn’t pose nearly as challenging competition as the NFL, Maye’s skill set should transition over well.

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Whichever NFL team ends up with former UNC quarterback Drake Maye will be extremely lucky.

Tar Heel Nation got a front row seat to Maye over the past two seasons, watching him tear apart opposing defenses with his strong arm and ability to extend plays with his legs. Maye captured the 2022 ACC Player and Rookie of the Year Awards, then found himself in contention for the Heisman Trophy last year.

I feel confident that Maye will enjoy a successful NFL career, but it’s worth noting that a recent North Carolina alum, Mitch Trubisky, hasn’t enjoyed a ton of professional success.

Ahead of Thursday’s NFL Draft, USA Today’s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz listed Maye as one of his 11 boom-or-bust prospects.

“Finding the next Josh Allen or Justin Herbert is one of the optimal routes for any franchise to flip its fortune,” Middlehurst-Schwartz wrote. “Easier said than done, of course. There are only so many passers who can attack the entire field thanks to top-notch arm strength and comfort throwing on the run, and even fewer who can still patiently operate from the pocket when defenses try to take away the big play.”

“At North Carolina, the 6-4, 223-pound signal-caller often looked the part of a future No. 1 pick, dazzling with deep shots and off-platform throws on the move. But an overreliance on those rare tools seemed to create a tendency for Maye to play hero too often. Bad habits followed, from iffy decision-making and fluctuating footwork to erratic ball placement and poor processing. All that makes Maye an uneasy projection, especially for any team investing a top-five pick. A good number of his most pressing problems should be resolvable with proper coaching.”

Listen, I love Mack Brown as a coach. There’s no doubting UNC’s offense was among college football’s elite during Maye’s two seasons as a starter (7.929 passing yards, 62 passing touchdowns, 1,147 rushing yards, 16 rushing touchdowns), but there’s a reason several coaches have been in the NFL for so long.

A majority of mock drafts have Maye taken either by the New England Patriots or Washington Commanders. New England is led by former player Jerod Mayo, while Washington would have Maye playing under Dan Quinn, who led the Atlanta Flacons to Super Bowl LI (28-3 ring a bell)?

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I feel pretty confident saying that quarterbacks will be taken with the first four picks in Thursday’s NFL Draft.

Several teams are in need of their franchise guy. Some teams have addressed that need through free agency (Atlanta Falcons with Kirk Cousins), while others are relying on the loaded 2024 QB class.

Outside of Caleb Williams going first overall to the Chicago Bears, there’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding which quarterbacks will go where. This uncertainty has increased the closer we’ve gotten to Draft Day, thanks to possible trades and more evaluations of top prospects.

Drake Maye, the former North Carolina Tar Heels gunslinger, is projected anywhere from second-fifth overall.

According to the Touchdown Wire’s Top-8 NFL Draft quarterback rankings, though, Maye is the fourth-best available QB.

“Drake Maye was a four-star recruit out of Myers Park High School in Huntersville, North Carolina, and he eventually chose the option to stay close to home over offers from multiple major programs,” Doug Farrar wrote. “He first committed to Alabama, but when Bryce Young also committed to Alabama, North Carolina head coach Mack Brown swept in and scooped Maye up — even enlisting Michael Jordan in the recruiting process.”

“Maye is projected by many to be either the first or second quarterback selected in the 2024 draft, and the athletic potential is off the charts. In his third season as the Tar Heels’ starter, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Maye completed 269 passes in 425 attempts for 3,608 yards, 24 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and a passer rating of 100.2. As a runner, Maye gained 582 yards and scored nine touchdowns on 41 attempts. On throws of 20 or more air yards, he completed 40 of 85 passes for 1,452 yards, 13 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 113.4. When pressured, Maye completed 39 of 90 passes for 606 yards, seven touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 69.0.”

Touchdown Wire lists Maye’s strengths as not automatically running under pressure, the ability to make tight window throws with his arm talent, plus an ability to make accurate off-platform throws. His weaknesses are listed as forcing the ball on easy throws and inconsistent mechanics.

The same article also compares Maye to Ryan Tannehill, who’s started several years for the Miami Dolphins and, more recently, the Tennessee Titans.

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No NFL team can go wrong with any of the top five quarterbacks available in Thursday’s NFL Draft.

The Chicago Bears are practically guaranteed to select Caleb Williams first overall out of USC (Southern California), leaving the remaining 31 NFL teams to fight over Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix Jr.

Maye turned heads at UNC, combining for nearly 10,000 scrimmage yards and 80 touchdowns in his three seasons (two starting). Daniels won the Heisman Trophy for LSU last season, McCarthy led Michigan to its first National Championship since 1997, while Penix’s strong arm led Washington to an appearance in last year’s title game.

Any of the four quarterbacks listed in the above graph could go second overall, but ESPN’s NFL Draft Day Predictor narrows in on three of them:

“Jayden Daniels, though there’s still a fair bit of uncertainty,” ESPN Analytics’ Seth Walder wrote. “The model gives the LSU quarterback a 49% chance to be the selection at No. 2, with North Carolina’s Drake Maye at 21% and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy at 15%, respectively. The remaining possibilities consist of Williams and Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. — probabilities that are almost certainly inflated. Any model like this requires uncertainty, though there is little actual doubt that Williams will go No. 1 and the Commanders will take a QB at No. 2. The model believes Daniels has the edge — and he is probably an odds-on favorite if we mentally redistribute the Williams and Harrison probabilities — but it’s no slam dunk.”

I agree with these probabilities, as Daniels is the most talented amongst the three. He also played in the SEC, which has proven to sport tougher competition than the ACC or Big 10 in recent seasons.

Not too long ago, however, Maye was viewed as the favorite for second overall.

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