QB Drake Maye 'Got a Lot of Connections' With Commanders at NFL Scouting Combine
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Washington Commanders met with no fewer than six quarterbacks at the NFL Scouting Combine.
One of them, Drake Maye from the North Carolina Tar Heels program, got to sit down and meet Commanders coach Dan Quinn for the first time, but already knows or has connections with quite a few members of the team.
North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
"With coach Quinn it was great, kind of clicked right off the bat. He's a great guy and a great coach. The stuff he's done defensively with the (Dallas) Cowboys over the past three years has been pretty special," Maye said of his time sitting down with Washington. "So meeting him there and (quarterbacks coach Tavita) Pritchard - recruited me from high school to Stanford so I got to know him a little bit - and (offensive coordinator Kliff) Kingsbury knows my offensive coordinator from college so I've got a lot of connections."
Both offensive coordinators Phil Longo and Chip Lindsey coached Maye during his time with the Tar Heels, and each runs a version of the classic Air Raid offense that Commanders coach Kliff Kingsbury is popularly tied to.
Earlier this offseason Longo told Commander Country that Kingsbury is "one of the best offensive minds in football."
Of course, Maye's most well-known tie to Washington is in friend and fellow quarterback Sam Howell.
Maye recently said in an interview, however, that it would not be ideal for him and Howell to wind up with the same NFL team.
"I think it's one of those things where it's not ideal, but at the same time it's part of a business," Maye said. "You know we've done it in college together, and I think the best thing about it is we'll help each other, and you know whether the scenario goes, one of my best friends, there's gonna be no hard feelings."
There are still almost two full months between now and April's NFL Draft and a lot can happen between now and then.
But when Washington gets on the clock, there's a high probability Maye's name will be among those named as possibilities for the team as coach Quinn sets off on his mission to bring back the glory days of football in the DMV.
