Drake Maye has seen his draft stock take a slight hit over the last few weeks. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
No first-round mocks are safe in the weeks leading up to the NFL Draft.
A lot can change in short order when it comes to blue-chip football prospects and their projected landing spots on the draft leaderboards — with Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy going from a potential second-round option to a viable top-1o selection in the span of a few weeks.
UNC QB Drake Maye hasn’t exactly been as fortunate when it comes to recent discourse regarding the draft.
For months, Maye has been tabbed as the No. 2 signal caller in this draft class behind USC’s Caleb Williams. But in recent weeks, Maye has dropped to No. 3 or even No. 4 in some mock drafts — with LSU’s Jayden Daniels and McCarthy leapfrogging him in some projections.
Earlier this month, former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky stressed that Maye might be better suited to not start in the NFL right away and follow a “Jordan Love-type of timeline.”
NBC Sports’ Chris Simms went so far as to rank Maye as the sixth-best QB in this current draft class.
These recent concerns regarding Maye’s viability as a franchise QB at the NFL level might be slightly concerning for Patriots fans — considering that New England is currently tabbed with the No. 3 pick in the upcoming draft.
But amid all of the talk of Maye’s shortcomings and New England potentially trading down from that No. 3 slot, former NFL QB and current ESPN analyst Tim Hasselbeck pushed back against some of the Maye discourse.
“[I’ve] been at ESPN for 15 years evaluating quarterbacks as they come out for the draft,” Hasselbeck said of Maye during an appearance on WEEI’s “Gresh and Fauria” on Thursday afternoon. “I think he’s as good of a prospect as I have evaluated in this entire time. So, you know, from the Matthew Stafford’s to the Matt Ryan, to you name ’em over that stretch — Andrew Luck … I think that he’s that good of a prospect.”
In 12 games last season, Maye completed 63.3% of his passes for 3,608 yards with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He put together a stronger 2022 campaign, tossing 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions over 14 games.
But even with that dip in Maye’s play this past year, Hasselbeck believes his mechanics and skillset might offer even greater returns at the next level.
“I think when people go through the process with Drake Maye, there is almost nothing to not like about him,” Hasselbeck said. “Now he’s a really big guy, so if you got really picky, could you say, ‘Hey, I’d like his delivery to be a little more compact?’ Yeah, absolutely you could say that. … I think that when I look at him, I think he’s going to be a better pro than college player. I think athletically, physically, mentally — like athletically, he’s going to be on par with the best.”
“And then I think mentally you’re going to be able to put so much on him to be able to control the game the way that great quarterbacks are able to control the game. Like I think he can digest that. So those are the reasons why I think he’s the best prospect in this group and as good as anybody I’ve seen over the last 15 years.”
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2024-03-22 02:54:20
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