North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye is expected to be selected very early in the 2024 NFL Draft in April, but his actual landing spot in the top 10 has been hotly debated among experts.
Add former Carolina Panthers scout Bucky Brooks to the list of analysts who have projected Maye as one of the top three players at his position.
While Maye, a Charlotte native and Myers Park High School graduate, was a popular target of the Washington Commanders with the second pick in early offseason mock drafts, Brooks — who served as a regional college scout for Carolina from 2003-07 — has the North Carolina quarterback as the third-best signal caller ahead of this year’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
In Brooks’ NFL.com rankings of the top five quarterback prospects of the 2024 class, Maye ranks behind Caleb Williams of the University of Southern California and Jayden Daniels of LSU.
“Maye is coming off a disappointing final season in Chapel Hill,” Brooks wrote as part of his analysis, “but he is attracting a lot of attention in scouting circles because of his prototypical size and exceptional throwing talent.”
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Brooks, who now works as a draft analyst for NFL Media, says Williams has “All-Pro-level talent” and Daniels “shines on the periphery as a dual-threat quarterback with outstanding talent as a runner and passer.”
While Maye is behind Williams and Daniels in Brooks’ rankings, he is still ahead of Michael Penix Jr. of the University of Washington and JJ McCarthy of the University of Michigan.
Brooks’ colleague Daniel Jeremiah ranked Maye as the second-best quarterback behind Williams in his ranking of the class’s 50 best players. Maye is the fourth-best prospect on the NFL Media Analyst’s big board entering the Combine.
Maye goes into the draft with a lot of quarterback talent. Fortunately for the class, there are several teams that need reinforcements at that position.
The Commanders, Chicago Bears (No. 1 and No. 9), New England Patriots (No. 3), Atlanta Falcons (No. 8), Minnesota Vikings (No. 11), Denver Broncos (No. 12) and Las Vegas Raiders (No. 13) are among the teams that could target a signal-caller in the first round. The Seattle Seahawks (No. 16) and Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 20) could also make early moves at the position.
Either way, if Maye impresses in field drills and interviews at the Combine next week, he should be selected fairly quickly on Day 1. He can also bolster his chances later in the offseason at UNC’s Pro Day.
