Ahead of next week's 2024 NFL draft, an anonymous NFL scout gave their thoughts on how North Carolina's Drake Maye stacks up to some of the current top quarterbacks in the league.
According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, an AFC scout graded Maye's arm strength as a 7 out of 10, noting that it is "good but not that good," and not on par with Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills or Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers, who are considered two of the strongest-armed quarterbacks in the NFL.
Even so, coaches who Fowler spoke to praised Maye's deep ball and noted that he is especially good on post routes.
Fowler was also told that Maye has "premium" mobility, and there are "shades of Allen" when it comes to his ability to make plays with his legs.
Maye has long been viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL draft, and a likely top-three pick along with USC's Caleb Williams and LSU's Jayden Daniels, although Michigan's J.J. McCarthy has recently entered the discussion as well.
In 2022, Maye took the college football world by storm, as he was named ACC Player of the Year after completing 66.2 percent of his passes for 4,321 yards, 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions, while also rushing for 698 yards and seven scores.
Maye lost some key players from his 2022 offense entering 2023, including wide receivers Josh Downs and Antoine Green, and offensive tackle Asim Richards.
The talented signal-caller wasn't as effective in 2023 as a result, completing 63.3 percent of his passing attempts for 3,608 yards, 24 touchdowns and nine picks, as well as 449 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
Comparisons to Allen make some sense due to the fact that Allen put up pedestrian numbers in his final collegiate season at Wyoming with little talent around him, completing just 56.3 percent of his passes for 1,812 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Allen has gone on to become an elite NFL quarterback, finishing fifth or better in the NFL MVP voting in three of the past four seasons.
He is also a top-flight dual-threat quarterback, having rushed for 53 touchdowns during his six-year career, and becoming the first player in NFL history with 40 or more total touchdowns in four consecutive seasons.
Maye not have the same elite arm strength as Allen or Herbert, which could make it tougher for him to navigate sticky situations at the NFL level, but he has an impressive and varied skill set nonetheless.
The BR NFL Scouting Department ranked Maye as the No. 3 overall player and No. 1 quarterback in the 2024 NFL draft on its latest big board, and in its latest mock draft, the BR NFL Scouting Department projected that Maye will go third overall to the New England Patriots.
