Devy Digest: Drake Maye

The Devy Digest, featuring UNC quarterback Drake Maye.

• Drake Maye
• Position: Quarterback
  
• North Carolina Tarheels
  
• 6’4” 229 lbs
  
• Age: 21
  
• Draft Eligible: 2024
  
• Devy Digest QB Rank: 2
  
  

  

  

Who is Drake Maye?

Drake Maye was a high 4⭐️ in the composites who attended Myers Park High in Charlotte, North Carolina. During his tenure he amassed over 6700 yards passing, 86 touchdowns and completed 68% of his passes.

At UNC, Maye was named the starter his Redshirt Freshman season. He burst onto the scene putting up gaudy stats in Phil Longo’s system with seven 300-yard passing games, but would slow down the final quarter of the season. Phil Longo would leave UNC and Chip Lindsey would become the new offensive coordinator in 2023.

The North Carolina got off to a good start, but Maye’s in-game performance took a hit. A couple of reasons could be derived from it. The new system wasn’t as spread out and pass-friendly. Maye was also without a true weapon in the receiving game. Tez Walker was ruled ineligible for the first quarter of the season and once Walker was put into the lineup, things looked smoother for Maye. Maye would struggle down the stretch again, but has declared for the 2024 NFL Draft. He should be a top 15 pick.

Strengths

Drake Maye brings prototypical size for the position. He has a strong arm and the ball jumps out of his hands. Maye is able to make all throws at every level. He has the touch to layer his throws and is able to make the anticipatory throws needed for the next level. Maye will not have any issues in the blustering winds and storms we tend to see on the east coast for December football.

The 21-year old has shown the ability to read and manipulate defenses. He is mobile enough to move around the pocket to bide additional time. Maye is not afraid to take off and scramble to move the chains and bailed out his offense numerous times in 2023. His style of play is similar to Justin Herbert. He is able to make all the throws needed, isn’t afraid to throw it into tight coverage and is a better athlete than expected. The ability to run is also in line with Justin Herbert at the next level; we don’t see him being a true scrambler nor a power rusher, but he brings that ability when warranted like we saw with Herbert in his rookie season in the NFL.

Maye did not have a lot of talent around him at UNC. Despite that, he was still able to make plays, throw receivers open and allowed himself to play within structure. And when needed, he was able to play hero ball and make off-platform throws and off-scripted plays. Maye was left on an island with the new offense this year and that arm talent was even more evident, even if his receivers could not make the play.

Areas of Improvement & Concern

One area of concern is Maye’s processing speed. He needs to continue to process defenses at a faster rate. There are times when he misses a read and will scramble to bide additional time for his receivers to work back to him.

At times, Maye has the ball float and sail on him, and can be off target on his deep passes. It’s not a consistent issue, but it does happen from time to time and is worth mentioning. This appears to be more technique driven. Coaching at the next level should alleviate some of those concerns.

Watching the film, I get the sense that Maye prefers an open pocket. At times he will move out of the pocket instead of climbing it. This could be due to him not wanting bodies around him and slightly panicking. There are times when he is quick to leave the pocket when he doesn’t need to. This can lead to dangerous throws that end up being 50/50 balls. It’s why his interception rate is a little bit higher than most top prospects. At times, the tape leaves you wanting more. But perhaps he didn’t have the skill set of players around him. Maye’s tape is good, his analytics are ok, and overall people are more enamored with the big plays that he’s made more than his overall tape.

Devy & C2C Value

Drake Maye has been the QB2 of this draft since the end of the 2022 season. The gap between QB2 and QB3 is still a lot closer than he is to Caleb Williams.

For fantasy, I would try to capitalize on the draft prospect hype of Maye to get an established NFL quarterback. Something around the Brock Purdy (plus some assets) or the Trevor Lawrence range. I think some fantasy managers who have Lawrence could be disappointed in what was supposed to be a breakout season this past year. Use that to trade Maye for an already proven QB in the NFL. Many managers are fearful of making this type of trade, but the idea in these leagues is to position yourself in the best spot possible. We know Lawrence is an established quarterback and the Jaguars will build around him. We are hoping Maye becomes that. If Maye gets drafted by the Patriots, would you have felt bad about being fearful in moving Maye for Lawrence?

NFL Outlook

My playstyle comp for Drake Maye is Justin Herbert. Maye should garner top 15 draft capital as his floor. He has the tools to be a top 15 quarterback for fantasy purposes. He could very well be a top 5 pick, but that doesn’t guarantee anything as we’ve seen top 5 QB’s flame out recently.

Maye’s game works at the next level and he’ll be given every chance to prove it. He will likely have all five years with a team to build around him. Maye is someone that has a strong arm and mobile enough to evade the pass rush and move the chains. He isn’t as location-dependent as some of the quarterbacks in this class.