Rookie quarterback Drake Maye is coming to the New England Patriots with a lot of expectations. However, those expectations are not without merit, particularly when it relates to North Carolina head coach Mack Brown, who gave a glowing review of Maye to the Patriots.
Brown has been around the game of football for decades and has seen it all. He most recently led the Tar Heels to an 8-5 record and their fifth straight bowl game appearance. He has seen solid quarterback play at the collegiate level, dating back to Vince Young during his Texas days.
Brown got the chance to see Maye up close, and the No. 3 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft was one of the best quarterbacks in North Carolina program history, throwing for 400 yards in three separate games in the 2023 season alone.
Now, New England hopes to unlock that same potential in their effort to rebuild on the offensive side of the ball. Brown is confident about what Maye brings to the table.
“I’ve learned that I want the high school coach to tell me the truth in recruiting, so I’m very honest with the NFL coaches,” Brown said, via NESN.com’s Sean T. McGuire. “This is important to them.
“So with Coach Mayo, I knew this is huge for him, just starting out in this first year. So I just told him, ‘If I was the coach of the Patriots, I would want Drake Maye. We all put our checks in the mouth of players, and that’s what you’re (Mayo) gonna do. And I would rather have Drake Maye than anybody in the country leading my football team.’”
The jury is still out on whether Maye will be able to live up to his draft stock at the NFL level. However, a positive review from someone of Brown’s stature certainly holds significant weight.