The 26-game Tar Heels starter landed at No. 3 overall.
The 2024 NFL draft got underway under center for the New England Patriots.
The war room in Foxborough selected North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye on Thursday night, standing pat with the No. 3 overall pick in the first round to do so.
Here’s an initial look into why and what’s ahead.
Two-year starter with the size, mobility and arm to modernize an offense
Twice a team captain, Maye started 26 games during his North Carolina career after enrolling early and redshirting behind previous draft choice Sam Howell. He completed 64.9 percent of his passes altogether for 8,018 yards, 63 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Added as a rusher were 1,209 yards and 16 scores across 302 carries.
With a live right arm, mobility to climb or flee the pocket, as well as a willingness so stand in and deliver with eyes downfield, Maye received first-team All-ACC, ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Player of the Year and FWAA Freshman All-American accolades in 2022. He did so while setting the single-season school record for passing yards and tying the single-season school record for passing touchdowns. And as a redshirt sophomore last fall, Maye picked up second-team All-ACC honors en route to ranking third in the FBS in total offense per game. He finished 17-9 as the UNC’s starter, creating plays outside of structure that align with where the NFL finds itself now.
Maye, listed at 6-foot-4, 223 pounds, had been well-connected. He met with head coach Jerod Mayo’s contingent at the NFL Scouting Combine and the Tar Heels pro day before taking a pre-draft visit to Gillette Stadium.
Developing on the depth chart as a rookie with 2025 in mind
Time will tell when Maye takes his first snaps beyond the preseason for the Patriots. The scouting report leaves room to grow in terms of ironing out throwing mechanics, footwork and decision-making. But the 21-year-old has room on his side with a 48-game NFL starter in Jacoby Brissett bridging a quarterback depth chart that also includes Bailey Zappe and Nathan Rourke.
Competing and developing are not mutually exclusive. And from that vein, Eliot Wolf believes the roster as currently constructed is in position to support a rookie quarterback.
“I do,” New England’s director of scouting said during his pre-draft press conference last week. “I read a lot of that storyline. I’m not really sure what that means. We have a solid offensive line. We re-signed Mike Onwenu. We have David Andrews coming back. We have three rookies that we drafted last year that are developing. We signed [Chukwuma] Okorafor from the Steelers. Hunter Henry. I mean, a good running game, a solid foundation and a solid system in place with Coach [Alex] Van Pelt on the offense. So, I definitely feel like we can support that.”
Needing to get it right at quarterback outweighed trading back
The Patriots do not intend on picking at No. 3 again next April. That draft slot needed to go toward the position that can change the long-term trajectory of a team that went 4-13.
At quarterback, where USC’s Caleb Williams and LSU’s Jayden Daniels had already left the board, the offers to trade down did not match the value of staying put behind the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders. At least not by Thursday evening.
Accumulating capital could have brought New England to Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy or Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. But at the risk of waiting and seeing as the draft’s premier offensive tackle and wide receiver prospects heard their names called, too. And at the risk of being leapfrogged around the league in the QB tiers. It wasn’t worth overthinking after trading former first-round signal-caller Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars in March. The rights to organization’s highest selection since in 1993 were exercised. And with the rights to Nos. 34, 68, 103, 137, 180, 193 and 231 overall ahead, the flexibility to move back or forward remains.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login