North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye possess all the qualities any NFL team would desire in a pocket passer prospect.
Maye has the stature (6-foot-four, 229 pounds), the arm talent, and the athleticism to make almost any throw, whether that’s a deep ball from the pocket or on the run. His collegiate production is a result of these traits as he was the only player in college football with over 7,000 passing yards (7,929) and 1,000 rushing yards (1,247) across the last two seasons. Maye also takes care of the football at a high level with a turnover-worthy play rate of 1.8%, tied for the seventh-lowest among FBS quarterbacks with a minimum of 200 dropbacks.
Here are his top five NFL team fits at this point in the NFL draft cycle.
5. New England Patriots (3rd overall pick)
The New England Patriots offense is a blank slate. They have a new offensive coordinator in Alex Van Pelt, plus the team’s top two tight ends (Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki) and both starting offensive tackles (Trent Brown and Mike Onwenu) are scheduled to be free agents. The Patriots are projected to have $69.3 million in effective cap space, according to OverTheCap.com, which would rank as the second-most in the entire NFL. They can do a complete makeover of their roster in the blink of an eye.
New England’s roster is guaranteed to look dramatically altered between the amount of cap space present and the start of the first year of the 21st century without Bill Belichick running the show. Maye would be a breath of fresh air from the quarterbacks who played for the Patriots in 2023: Mac Jones — who ranked bottom three in NFL in yards per pass attempt (6.1), TD-INT (10-12) and passer rating (77.0) — and Bailey Zappe — his eight turnovers from Weeks 14-18 were tied for the second-most in the NFL. Both of them played huge roles in the Patriots’ anemic offensive attack.
4. Chicago Bears (1st overall pick)
With the Bears likely to trade quarterback Justin Fields, the 11th overall draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Chicago puts itself in the market for a new quarterback with plenty of assets at its disposal. The first overall pick in the upcoming draft was acquired in the trade from a year ago that netted the Panthers Bryce Young with the 2023 first overall pick, so they have two top 10 selections with the Bears own pick being on the board at ninth overall.
They have a true WR1 in DJ Moore plus $66.2 million…
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