Tag: North Carolina Tar Heel Football

Drake Maye enjoyed his visit with the Commanders last week

Drake Maye enjoyed his time with the Commanders and discussed several things about the pre-draft process.

“They changed it up; I thought it was pretty sweet.”

That was how quarterback Drake May summed up the Commanders group activity visit, which some have severely criticized.

Maye, who will most likely be selected among the top five picks in Thursday night’s 2024 NFL draft, was a guest on the “This is Football” podcast on Monday.

Going through the NFL draft process, Maye said he was surprised by how “they know a lot about you. They do a lot of research. They do a lot of “recon” (reconnaissance). They know all about you in high school.”

The young 21-year-old who quarterbacked at North Carolina said he was determined to “just be truthful. I think it’s the biggest thing. They try to catch you in the got-you questions. So just be truthful because at the end of the day, just being honest, you never go wrong doing that.”

What did Maye think of the recent Commanders’ visit where several players were present?

“I actually thought it was one of the cool visits I’ve seen…The Commanders took an approach of all of us being together and seeing how we interact and getting a chance to swing the golf club a little bit. I enjoyed it, being around the other guys. I got to meet a lot of different guys throughout the process…We all got our separate time with the coaches when we needed to. It’s not like we didn’t do any of that. The Top Golf was just a way for us to get and do something fun the evening before.”

He was asked if the NFL teams interviewing him bring up a certain play(s). Maye didn’t hesitate, replying, “They’ve brought up a lot of good plays, and sometimes the bad plays are harder to talk about. I say, ‘I should have done this instead of that.’ They bring up some interceptions, like the beginning of the year against South Carolina. They love bringing up that one.”

Describing the play, Maye conveyed, “I scrambled up, scrambled right late and on a back-side dig late across the middle, I shouldn’t have thrown. They just want to hear what you say. If you make an excuse or admit to it, that’s the biggest thing.”

Maye was asked about one of his more memorable plays at North Carolina. The Tar Heels were at the Pitt 7-yard line. Maye took the snap, rolled left, was under heavy pressure, and stuck out his right arm, attempting to stiff-arm his tackler. Maye had just quickly switched the ball to his left hand as the tackler made contact right at the 10-yard line.

“The biggest thing that came to my mind was, ‘Hey, I don’t want to take a TFL (tackle for a loss) here in the red zone. I’ve got to get something out.’ I was stiff-arming the guy with my right hand and just tried to make a play with my left hand. It was just improv.” Indeed it was, as Maye completed the pass into the end zone for a touchdown.

Wanting to make wise use of his time, Maye has been working out some with former San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.

One NFL draft analyst is clear who he’d take if he were the Commanders

This draft analyst makes it clear who he’d pick if he were Washington.

Adam Peters has a lot of pressure to nail his first draft pick, the second overall in next week’s NFL draft…which quarterback will he select?

Pro Football Focus NFL Draft analyst Trevor Sikkema spent some time with Al Galdi on his podcast discussing UNC quarterback Drake Maye.

Here is yesterday’s summary of his evaluation of LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Here are selected quotes from Sikkema regarding his evaluation of Drake Maye.

“I would be taking Drake Maye, I really would. He is my quarterback No. 2; he has been since last summer, even with what people are saying was a down year. I would push back on that as well.”

“I believe that Drake Maye gives you the ability to step up and hit every single throw in every situation that is demanded of it.”

“Drake Maye does it on all three levels of the field. I mean that he does it short, intermediate, deep, and I also mean outside the numbers, inside the numbers and outside the numbers. He can do everything.”

“Yes, he’s got to clean up some things with his fundamentals. He had some frustrating misses this past year. All of that is correctable.”

“The natural God-given talent he shows, that is the stuff you have to gravitate towards. That is the stuff I always keep going back to. The overall arm talent, it’s that mentality. It’s something I look at and say, ‘Yes, give me this dude to draft and develop and invest in.'”

“Because he has great mobility, I think Drake Maye is always a threat to take it outside the tackles and run…I am not saying he is a one-read quarterback, because he is not…but he gets a little bit of ‘happy feet’. The feet are always bouncing and light but not always married up with where his eyes and arm are going.”

“Sometimes his feet are moving, and there is not really a rhyme or reason to it, and then all of the sudden you get these moments where, ‘Oh shoot, there it is, there is the throw, and I got to get rid of this football, the throwing window is right here’. But his feet are not always married up to where he is releasing the football.”

“That is a habit you have to improve with Maye to stay light on his feet, but be more compact, more married up, be more ready to THROW with more consistency and accuracy.”

Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye? Many analysts have lined up on both sides of the aisle, and Adam Peters has yet to provide a clue. We may not know until the card is read on Thursday night.

 

Draft analyst weighs in on LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels

Daniels’ fundamentals are great, but his arm talent isn’t the same as Caleb Williams or Drake Maye.

What does one draft analyst think of Jayden Daniels?

Pro Football Focus NFL draft analyst Trevor Sikkema spent some time with Al Galdi on his podcast, discussing Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. Today, what Sikkema said about Daniels. Tomorrow what Sikkema had to say regarding Maye.

“I just don’t think that Daniels’ arm talent is as good as the guys at the very top. He has the best fundamentals of anyone in this class. His throw is so repeatable and consistent that I totally understand why NFL teams go, ‘Give me that kind of consistency every single time.'”

“But I think that in the process of recognizing those fundamentals, recognizing how consistent that ball is every time it comes out of his hand, we have been romanticizing his arm talent a little bit.”

“He has a good arm, an adequate arm for the NFL level. But, it is not ripping through the wind like Caleb Williams and Drake Maye are able to show you on different platforms, off balance, scrambling, off balance, those type of things.”

You don’t have to make him be what he is not and say, ‘His arm talent is as good as Caleb Williams. It’s not. You don’t have to say he is this great scrambler, this great thrower outside of the pocket.”

“When you go back and look at his entire college football career trajectory, think about what he was at Arizona State. One read, I am going to throw a deep vertical, or I am going to take off and run.”

“When you get to LSU, you can tell in his first year he said to himself, ‘I am going to take care of the football.’ If I am going to be in the SEC and be a SEC quarterback, I cannot turn over the football.”

“He really honed in on lowering his turnovers and turnover-worthy plays. And he had one of the lowest turnover worthy plays in the country. The touchdowns went down, the big time throws went down. He was simply more conservative; he did not want to turn over the ball.”

“He really does not know how to protect his body. He is rail thin. And that is not a good combination at the NFL level. These hits are too hard; they are too fast. He is going to get hurt…”

Commanders season opener in 55 days: Washington’s best No. 55

55 Pro Football Hall of Famer Chris Hanburger days until Week 1 for the Commanders.

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Commanders Wire continues a countdown to the Commanders season opener for 2023 in 55 days. Who was Washington’s best player wearing number 55?

Andre Collins (1990-94) was a Penn State linebacker drafted 46th overall by Washington in 1990. An instant starter, Collins started all 75 games he was able to play for Washington in his five seasons. Collins had the distinction of intercepting Brett Favre’s first NFL pass and returning it for a touchdown. In fact, Collins intercepted eight passes, returning three for touchdowns. He forced three fumbles, recovered two and registered 18.5 quarterback sacks with Washington.

Chris Hanburger (1965-78) was a Hall of Fame inductee in the 2011 class. Many more had been enshrined, having accomplished less, but Hanburger was finally given his due. Out of North Carolina, the former Tar Heel was drafted 245th overall by Washington in 1965. By his second season, he was the full-time starter at right linebacker in a 4-3 scheme. In that 1966 season, he was a Pro Bowler. It would be his first of nine seasons being a Pro Bowler. Hanburger was AP All-Pro second team in 1969 and 1974. The AP voted Hanburger All-Pro first team in 1972, 1973 and 1975. In the 1972 season when Washington won the NFC before losing to Miami in Super Bowl VII, he was voted third place in AP Defensive Player of the Year. Hanburger finished his career with 19 interceptions, returning two for touchdowns. He recovered 17 fumbles, returning three for touchdowns, while recording 45.5 quarterback sacks.

UNC football program releases uniform combination for Virginia game

The UNC football program will go with a blue helmet, white uniform top and blue pants look for the game at UVA.

The UNC football program is coming off a big win over Pitt a week ago at home. With that win, UNC is now 7-1 overall and in control of the coastal division in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

But as we clip the calendar over to November, the Tar Heels have four games left on that ACC schedule. And all four are very important.

Next up for UNC is a road date at Virginia, a place that was a horror for them back in 2020. The No. 15 Tar Heels were upset by 1-4 Virginia that night on Halloween Weekend, proving that the South’s Oldest Rivalry is never easy.

This year, UNC has a lot on the line again. They are No. 17 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings and need a win to keep their spot or move up. And when UNC does take the field on Saturday afternoon, they will do so with a uniform combination featuring a blue helmet, white uniform top, and blue pants:

Kickoff is set for Noon ET on Saturday afternoon as UNC looks to improve to 8-1 overall.

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