Getty University of North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.
The Washington Commanders rolled the dice on hosting four quarterbacks at the same time for a visit ahead of the 2024 NFL draft.
North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye talked about the visit on the This Is Football podcast with Kevin Clark on April 22. Maye was there along with LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., with all of the group meeting up at Top Golf.
“I thought it was one of the cooler visits I’ve been on,” Maye said. “Kind of all the places you go and (visit), there’s a steak dinner spot and you’re surrounded with the head coach and the GM and the quarterback coaches, but the Commanders took the approach of all of us being together to see how we interact and getting the chance to swing the golf club a little bit.
“I enjoyed being around the guys … I know J.J. well and I got to see Jayden and we all got our separate time with the coaches, it’s not like we didn’t do that. But Top Golf was just a way for us to get out and do something before.”
Drake Maye Projected at No. 2 Overall by PFF
PFF’s Nick Akridge has the Commanders projected to select Maye at No. 2 overall on April 25 in Detroit.
“Washington has been looking for its franchise quarterback for decades now, and the new regime takes its next swing with Drake Maye,” Akridge wrote. “Maye has all the tools to become an NFL franchise quarterback. He was elite over the middle of the field in 2023, earning a 94.8 passing grade on throws in between the college hashes, the best in the FBS.”
Maye, 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds, saw his numbers take a significant drop from 2022 to 2023. In 2022, Maye threw for 4,321 yards, 38 touchdowns and 9 interceptions along with 698 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns in 14 games on the way to being named ACC Player of the Year.
In 2023, Maye threw for 3,608 yards, 24 touchdowns and 9 interceptions along with 449 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns in 12 games and was named second-team All-ACC.
Maye Compared to Former No. 1 Overall Pick
NFL media analyst Daniel Jeremiah compared Maye to former USC quarterback and 2003 No. 1 overall pick Carson Palmer before the 2023 season.
Palmer was selected No. 1 by the Cincinnati Bengals and played 15 seasons in the NFL, earning NFL All-Pro honors in 2015 and making the Pro Bowl three times.
“There isn’t a perfect comparison that comes to mind after studying Maye,” Jeremiah wrote. “The closest comp would probably be former Bengals, Raiders and Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer. Both guys have all the desired traits: size, arm strength, mobility and accuracy. Palmer arrived in the NFL in 2003 with cleaner/crisper footwork, while Maye is a better overall athlete.”
Maye said one of the things he’s focused on in the time leading up to the draft has been tuning out the buzz around him — the bad stuff at least — even taking time to refer to himself in the third person.
“Not many people in the media know what it’s like to sit in the pocket and have someone coming for your head,” Maye said on This Is Football. “So you just tune some of that out and pay attention to the people you respect and have that approach to it. Everybody out there is going to have that opinion and those that aren’t that fond of me, you tune that out because there are plenty of Drake Maye fans.”