Will Drake Maye be a Top-2 NFL Draft selection?

Former UNC standout Drake Maye was one of the best quarterbacks in college football last year. He could be taken higher than third overall.

As soon as March Madness ends in early April, the focus immediately turns to April’s NFL Draft.

We’ve seen a super-active offseason so far this year, with moves such as former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley signing with the Philadelphia Eagles, Jerry Jeudy moving from the Denver Broncos to the Cleveland Browns, plus Russell Wilson and Justin Fields both heading to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Oh – did we mention Kirk Cousins is heading to the Atlanta Falcons? You can find the full list of offseason moves here.

Despite all these moves, there are still some holes teams need to address in the NFL Draft – most notably at quarterback. The Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots are all expected to head this route, but the order of quarterbacks taken in the first round is still up for debate.

One of the top quarterback prospects is former UNC gunslinger Drake Maye. He’s exciting to teams: not only because he has a cannon for an arm and can run fast to evade pursuers, but he was a major reason North Carolina remained somewhat relevant over the past two seasons.

Maye wound up ending his collegiate career with 8,018 passing yards, 63 passing touchdowns to just 16 interceptions, 1,209 rushing yards, 16 ground touchdowns, plus a 2022 ACC Player of the Year honor.

A good portion of preceding mock drafts have Maye going third overall to the New England Patriots, but one has him up further.

In Pro Football Focus’ latest mock draft, Maye goes second overall to the Washington Commanders. He’d be replacing another former Tar Heel, Sam Howell, who was recently traded to the Seattle Seahawks.

With Howell’s departure, Washington now has a pressing need at its most important position. The Commanders do have Marcus Mariota and Jake Fromm under contract, but Fromm has never started and Mariota’s starting tenure never previously panned out.

Could Maye be the breath of fresh air Washington needs to re-gain its competitive edge in the loaded NFC East?

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