Sometime Thursday night, North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye will discover his next destination in life when an NFL team calls his name, hoping that he is their next franchise quarterback.
There’s some reality in that hope. Over three years and two starting seasons with the Tar Heels, Maye has completed 615 of 951 passes (64.7%) for 7,990 yards, 62 touchdowns, 16 interceptions, and a passer rating of 105.7. He’s also run the ball 121 times for 1.547 yards and 16 touchdowns. Last season, Maye completed 40 of 84 passes of 20 or more air yards for 1,452 yards, 13 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 113.5. As a runner last season, Maye had 315 yards after contact and forced 21 missed tackles on 41 attempts, which would be more than credible numbers were he a running back.
Now, Maye is in Detroit, waiting for the big moment, and working with Raising Cane’s to pass the time.
“Yeah, I’m out here in Detroit, getting ready to serve a shift with Cane’s at a food truck,” Maye told me on Tuesday. “They opened up a Cane’s restaurant in Chapel Hill in October, right during the season. So, it’s one of my favorite spots in town. I hope my new city has a Cane’s, but my favorite is the Box Combo with extra toast.”
Thinking of Maye as a Box Combo himself isn’t off the mark. He does a lot of things very well — well enough to make him a favorite among those in charge of evaluation for quarterback-needy NFL teams.
Maye has been visiting with a lot of those teams of late, and he told me what the common threads have been in those communications.
“Yeah, I think the two different systems. The Air Raid, and then Coach [Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Chip] Lindsey came in with more of the [Gus] Malzahn run game, and different one-high and two-high kinds of reads. He [Coach Lindsay] had a tough job, because we really threw it around the yard and had such a great offensive season in 2022. It was an explosive offense, and we threw for a bunch of yards.”
There was certainly a difference in the Tar Heels’ Air Raid passing game of 2022; a lot more vertical stuff out of four-receiver and empty sets, and that allowed Maye to get the clear reads downfield that made the most of his attributes. This 24-yard pass to receiver Bryson Nesbit against Wake Forest in 2022 was one such example, with all four vertical receivers bending their routes outside against Wake Forest’s Cover-0. Less than an ideal matchup for a defense without a deep safety.
Drake Maye told me today that NFL teams have talked to him about the difference in North Carolina's offense in 2022 and 2023 — going from Air Raid to what he called the Malzahn run game. This 2022 pass out of four verts bent outside was devilish against Cover-0. pic.twitter.com/wlli2Pmh1C
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 24, 2024
“In these meetings with [NFL teams], they liked the way I made plays, and they liked the way I can throw the ball to the middle of the field. That’s a big thing in the NFL.”
It was a pretty big thing for Maye as well. Last season, 12 of his 50 explosive throws were to the middle of the field, including this 28-yard tight-window bomb to Nesbit against Campbell’s Cover-3.
Maye also said that NFL teams have talked with him about his ability to throw deep over the middle. Big deal when the field isn't as wide, and everything is constricted. 12 of Maye's 50 explosive completions last season were over the middle. pic.twitter.com/PUNLr0BIan
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 24, 2024
“Yeah, that middle of the field is constricted in the NFL, as you know,” I said. “You don’t have that wide side of the field anymore.”
“Yeah, exactly – that wide side,” Maye responded. “Some of the throws are a little bit shorter, and that’s the good side, but the ball’s always in the middle of the field,.”
As a runner, NFL teams would prefer that Maye learn to take a profit at times.
Drake Maye on what NFL teams think of his running style: "They wished I would get down a little more with my body [instead of hurdling] some people and trying to break more tackles. Sometimes just giving up on a play and knowing when not to compete is a thing in the NFL when… pic.twitter.com/YrNkjnLZvs
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 24, 2024
“The other thing is that they wished I would get down a little more with my body [instead of hurdling] some people and trying to break more tackles. Sometimes just giving up on a play and knowing when not to compete is a thing in the NFL when you’re trying to stay healthy.
“They mentioned some of the drops in the passing schemes, but they just asked questions, because they don’t know what I’m being taught, and what I’m expected to do. I think the NFL does a good job of knowing what’s expected, and not making assumptions. Other than that, they’ve been awesome.
Maye’s daredevil running style? NFL teams may be worried about it, but it’s definitely an attribute.
As for the drops… yeah, it was a problem. Maye’s targets dropped 26 of his passes last season, and it wasn’t as if his offensive line was anything to write home about. You could credibly say that Maye did more with less than most top quarterbacks in this draft class (with the possible exception of South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler). But there are also things to be cleaned up with Maye’s short and intermediate throws. That shows up more than one might like, but as we like to say, these things are coachable.
One positive play from the 2023 season that showed Maye’s abilities as a quarterback was this 30-yard throw to receiver J.J. Jones against North Carolina State. Maye had bunch left, and calmly went through the concept for the big play against Cover-1.
Drake Maye on this 30-yard throw to J.J. Jones against North Carolina State: "It was a bunch set, and we were into the boundary a little bit. It was a snag concept, so this was kind of a switch snag. The outside guy, J.J. Jones, he comes in running a corner route. Usually in a… pic.twitter.com/2WNYmJdLNX
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 24, 2024
“It was a bunch set, and we were into the boundary a little bit. It was a snag concept, so this was kind of a switch snag. The outside guy, J.J. Jones, he comes in running a corner route. Usually in a snag concept, the point guy runs the corner, the outside guy runs a snag, and the No. 3 guy runs a flat. But we switched it up and had the point guy run the snag, the inside guy still running the flat, and J.J. stems inside to run that corner route. You just see leverage coming off the snap. I know it’s man free, and I want to keep the safety off the hash. From there, I just let it rip, and J.J. made a nice catch.”
As for the one play Maye would like to show NFL teams as most representative of who he is as a quarterback, he had a ready answer — a late touchdown to receiver Antione Green against his in-state rival.
Drake Maye's favorite collegiate throw? He had an easy answer for that.
"Three seconds left, we need a touchdown to force overtime against N.C. State in my first year [2022, Maye's first year as a starter]. They dropped eight into coverage and I threw a backside dig into the… pic.twitter.com/Frwt2DOdXD
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 24, 2024
“Three seconds left, we need a touchdown to force overtime against N.C. State in my first year [2022, Maye’s first year as a starter]. They dropped eight into coverage and I threw a backside dig into the end zone to force overtime. We should have won that game, but that’s a different story.”
Now, Maye’s story is his own to create, and he’ll soon find out where that story will be told.
