DRAFT ANALYSIS
Drake Maye
Age: 21
College: UNC
Height: 6-4 3/8
Weight: 223
Hand size: 9 1/8
Drake Maye is one of the rawest prospects we have seen come through the draft. Once an Alabama commit, Drake Maye chose to flip his commitment to the University of North Carolina. When Sam Howell went pro, Maye emerged as the starting quarterback at UNC and never looked back. Although Maye’s raw talents are visible through his game film, it does not fully display his true upside and ceiling. As discussed by many NFL scouts and executives, UNC struggled to create an environment where Maye could fully excel in. With respect to multiple coaching and scheme changes and below average personnel around him, Maye has been subject to a difficult environment to succeed in college. These systematic offensive issues and surroundings have made Maye’s accomplishments at UNC even more impressive.
Strengths
Maye’s biggest strength is the power in his arm. Throughout his films, it is apparent that Maye has had the ability to make ridiculous throws off balance and at different angles. He can also launch the ball effortlessly, with accuracy. The velocity on his throws allows him to fit balls into tight passing windows. The ability to create plays on a poorly talented team and a below average offensive system, is why Drake Maye is such an intriguing prospect.
Maye’s large frame also allows him to extend plays and evade sacks. He is also a sneaky and very well disciplined runner, only running when necessary. He also does a good job protecting himself from unnecessary contact.
The NFL is a lot different from college football as defenders are much faster. But Maye has many speeds when throwing depending on the target window, he may change the tempo and pace of his tosses at any given time. Maye’s arm skill opens up the entire field for any offense to use. His efficiency in the fast passing game gives his WRs a chance to gain yardage following the catch. Maye has remarkable touch and passing arc layering passes across the middle of the field beneath opponents.
Middle Field throws of 10+ yards Among Top 4 Draft QBs in 2022 & 2023
– 299 Completions (#1)
– 4509 Yards (#1)
– 5 TDs (#1)
Unfortunately Maye had significant personnel issues to overcome in college at UNC. First, inconsistent WR play caused the highest drop rate of top Drafted QBs (8.2%). Second, a horrible offensive line did not provide the proper protection and time to throw passes, in fact in 2022 he had the worst rated offensive line in college football. Third, the team further suffered from a terrible defense and the absence of playmakers. Further bad news on the offense was that the new OC failed to execute a good offensive system.
In the final 2 college seasons, Drake Maye had the most “Big Time Throws” of any 1st round NFL pick.
The Full List:
– 1. Drake Maye (80)
– 2. Patrick Mahomes (72)
– 3. Deshaun Watson (66)
– 4. Joe Burrow (65)
– 5. Josh Allen (60)
Critiques
As stated earlier, Drake Maye is a raw prospect. His upside comes in the form of his size, arm strength and his ability to create plays out of nothing. Despite Maye’s high ceiling, this comes with visible performance issues. One of his heaviest critiques is his accuracy. Maye has the ability to sit in the pocket and deliver strikes in tight windows but on many occasions he’s been characteristic of having sloppy footwork causing inaccurate passing. This could be attributed to very poor protection but nevertheless his footwork in the pocket needs work.
After evaluating Drake Maye, it is apparent he has a very high ceiling. His floor could vary, depending on what team drafts him. It is also important to note that Maye is only 21 years old. The talent and size at this age would be very tough to pass up on for teams looking for a franchise quarterback. With the right development, Drake Maye has the potential to be a star in the NFL. I would be very surprised if Maye falls out of the top three draft picks. Again I think it would benefit Maye if he sat his rookie year and learned under a veteran. In the right situation he could be ready to produce a phenomenal rookie year.
Jayden Daniels
Age: 23
Height: 6’3 5/8
Weight: 210
This LSU Quarterback is coming off of a Heisman winning season and is a projected to be one of the top three picks in the NFL draft. Daniels played three years at Arizona State before transferring to LSU for his final two years. While playing on one of the most explosive offenses in Baton Rouge, Danels tallied an impressive 3812 passing yards and 40 touchdowns. Although Daniels excelled in the passing game, his rushing ability is the main contributor to his high ceiling. With 135 rushing attempts he accumulated 1134 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, these numbers highlight why he is a dual threat quarterback. LSU notably ran a quick offense, the lack of a strong defense required Daniels to play typically in high scoring games.
Strengths
Jayden Daniels’s biggest strength is his lightning quick speed. He is able to create space with his legs and seems to be untouchable in the open field at times. This is where Daniels true upside comes from. His ability to run in a league where dual threat quarterbacks are becoming more prominent highlights is why he will have a low floor in the NFL. His ability to run will keep him afloat if his passing game unfortunately struggles. In addition, Daniels has a very good deep throw. With one of the best completion percentages in college, his deep throws are very accurate whether its towards the sideline or to the middle of the field.
Critiques
Although Daniels statistics were over the top, he had one of the best offences in all of college football. With two of his receivers projected to be first round picks and a top 10 offensive line in the country, Daniels has also had significant playmakers around him.
Although his deep throw was exceptionally accurate, his mid to short range throws seemed to be inconsistent at times. A major factor in this inconsistency is his velocity. The LSU offense allowed for Daniels to make short throws outside the numbers. Standout wide receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas were able to optimize their post catch yardage following this system.
One of Daniels’ biggest concerns is his skinny frame and his susceptibility to big hits. Throughout his films it was apparent that Daniels left himself vulnerable to serious hits. It goes without saying that the NFL is very different when it comes to physicality. It may be a liability if he cannot adjust to an intense defence and protect himself from injury.
The last Critique I will mention is his pressure to sack percentage. This metric measures how often a quarterback is sacked when he is under pressure. It is also a very predictive metric as this stat seems to carry over to the NFL at a very consistent rate. Daniels’ pressure to sack percentage in 2022 was just over 30% in 2022, with a slight improvement in 2023 at just over 20%. Albeit the improvement, this metric can be very important when analyzing these quarterbacks. One example is Sam Howell. With a high P2S% in college, this translated over to the NFL becoming the most sacked quarterback in the league during his tenure with Washington. Daniels measured 6 foot 3 and 210 pounds in Baton Rouge at LSUs pro day. Over the past two decades, only three quarterbacks drafted in the first round have been roughly as tall and light: Teddy Bridgewater, Alex Smith and Robert Griffin III.
Overall, Jayden Daniels has the ability to be extremely effictive immediately in the NFL. The projected top 3 pick would benefit from going to an offence that utilizes his ability to run and throw the deep ball. Daniels seems to have a high floor because of his rushing abilities. However, this can be outweighed by his light weight and inconsistencies throwing short/middle of the field. Should he consistently scramble for yards running out of the pocket and throw intermediate passes, he may run into the same injury syndromes as previous NFL quarterbacks the likes of Robert Griffin lll or Teddy Bridgewater.