New York Giants Draft Preview: QB Drake Maye

Nick examines quarterback Drake Maye, who has often been linked to the Giants in mock drafts.

Author:
Nick Falato
Publish date:
Apr 16, 2024

In this story:

New York Giants

Drake Maye

NFL Draft

Drake Maye, QB

Height: 6’4
Weight: 219 lbs
Hands: 9 ⅛”
Arms: 32 ¼”
Wingspan: 76 ⅛”
Class: RS-Sophomore
School: North Carolina
Stats

A former five-star recruit out of Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was the number one recruit from the state, and the fourth quarterback prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle.

Maye comes from a family of athletes; his brother Luke played forward (basketball) at UNC and was an undrafted free agent for the Milwaukee Bucks. His brother Cole was a pitcher for the Florida Gators. His brother Beau was an impressive athlete who, due to injury, had his potential stifled; still, Beau was Drake’s roommate at UNC and walked on to their basketball program. Maye is the youngest of the four boys.

Maye was Charlotte’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2019. He completed 72% of his passes for 3,512 yards, 50 touchdowns, and just two interceptions. However, his senior season in high school was canceled due to COVID-19.

Maye established himself as a top-tier college quarterback in 2022. He won ACC Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, and ACC Rookie of the Year, and he was First-team All-ACC with an 8.4% big-time throw percentage and a 2.4% turnover-worthy play rate. His overall statistics were down in 2023, as he earned a spot on the All-ACC Second-Team, but his turnover-worthy play rate was down to 1.9%, with a 7.7% big-time throw rate.

Maye’s aDot (10.4% / 11%) and adjusted completion rate (75.4 % / 75.3%) were consistent in both his starting seasons. UNC's drop rate was 8.2% in 2023, up 2.6% from the previous year. Maye was the only FBS quarterback to accumulate 9,000 yards or more over the last two seasons.

Strengths

* Big physical athlete with great mobility
* Impressive lateral agility and juke move for a man of his size
* Has made several defenders look silly in short-area
* Handles protections at the LOS
* Coaching staff trusted him at an early age
* Good presnap comprehension to see pressure and throw hot
* Recognizes and will punish defenses to the field when aligned soft-leverage - takes what the defense gives him
* Held defensive players in place with his eyes to leave throwing windows ajar till the last second
* Will hold a side of the field with his eyes, quickly snaps to open concept - gets defenders moving
* Creative and strong rusher - will run through arm tacklers
* Tough runner - not easy to bring down
* Sight of an opening, and he’ll run if defense doesn’t account for his ability - taking the B-Gap like 2022 Daniel Jones
* Strong and sturdy in the pocket
* Will slide away from blitz and reset in the pocket to buy time
* Solid overall poise in the pocket - didn’t seem frazzled
* Multiple throws with defenders hanging off of him
--NCST Q4 14:01 1st & 10 dig over the MOF with touch when hit
--Duke Q3 7:56 4th & 4 found out route with defender on him for 2+ seconds
--Duke OT 12:30, 2-point conversion where Maye was NAILED, found open TE
--PITT Q2 1:07 2nd & 4
* Just a clean-looking thrower from the upper body with a solid release on his deep passes
* Impressive understanding of timing and how to find receivers in a crowded area
* Anticipatory passing extends throwing windows while ajar
* Fantastic ability to throw with anticipation over the middle of the field
* Will hit receivers in stride - does change trajectory when warranted
* Can layer throws over linebackers and in between safeties
* Good control of velocity and pace on the football
* Albeit inconsistent with accuracy, flashes ELITE arm talent
* Flashes elite level touch over the middle of the field
* Strong arm with very good overall arm strength
* Flicks his wrist and the ball travels
* Ball zips out of his hand in quick game slants/sticks
* Throws a beautiful pass over the middle of the field - tight spiral
* Throws a beautiful deep post - hits WR upfield in stride
* Will throw unorthodox flip passes - has creativity
* Will change his arm angle to enhance creativity as a thrower
* Can make a full-field read, patient with time, will extend play
* Reacted well to safety movement
* Clemson Q3 6:52 2nd & 6 found backside dig to Walker
* Clemson Q4 9:21 2nd & 3
* Duke Q4 4:33 1st & 10 safety dropped, hit post on the move, dropped
--Miami Q1 6:30 3rd & 18 anticipatory seam TD off over buzz SAF
--Miami Q3 10:04 1st & 10 safety didn’t gain depth, deep post TD, TOUCH
--Virginia Q1 8:40 2nd & 8 beautiful cover 3 seam for TD
--Virginia Q1 5:56 3rd & 7 patience w time hit in second window
--Virginia Q2 00:58 1st & 10, full field read, found curl, good job not throwing 1st
--GT Q1 11:25 2nd & 4 read front side clearout, found BS cross, touch before SAF
--GT Q2 11:00 2nd & 6 beautiful COP read to split safeties
--GT Q2 6:09 3rd & 9 beautiful C2 MOF throw, touch, timing, dropped
* Beautiful throw under pressure, off backfoot
--Clemson Q1 4:39 33 yard TD on deep crosser
--PITT Q1 4:56 18 yd far hash throw near SL
--South Carolina Q3 6:34 TD in 1v1 (lucky more than beautiful, extreme toughness)
* Was getting beat bad vs. PITT in beginning of the game - displayed grit to battle and find answers later in the contest
* Has 3 to 4 insane HIGHLIGHT throws every game
* Has playmaking style to extend play outside of structure
* Blindside sack - took huge hit - vs. Miami; two dimes on the next two throws (Q1, 3:40)
* Had clutch moments in college (Duke, 2023)
* Rebounded well from bad mistakes - mental toughness
* Played in two types of offenses - Phil Longo’s air raid and Chip Lindsey’s more balanced approach
* Two-time team captain

[View more draft prospect scouting profiles.]

Weaknesses

* Does take some big hits when on the move - could get down to preserve health
Especially vs. Minnesota
* Does have poise in the pocket but would bail when unnecessary at times
* Loose/needless steps/footwork leads to accuracy issues
* Footwork lacks process - fluctuates from play to play on similar concepts
* Multiple hitches and mini-steps with front foot when stepping into the pocket
* Double or triple taps front foot when scanning
* When stationary, will throw football without being aligned (one cause for inaccurate passes)
* Unnatural with the lay-up, Steph Curry with the three
* Skipped football into target - short-changed passes
--Clemson Q1 13:41 2nd & 11 under pressure, LB blitz
--Clemson Q1 11:16 1st & 10 throwing into sunlight
--Clemson Q4 10:33 1st & 10
--GT Q3 12:10 2nd & 10 skipped open dig route
--Miami Q1 12:27 2nd & 10 skipped far hash flat inside the numbers
--Miami Q2 14:37 2nd & 11 skipped curl into WR
--Syracuse Q1 14:23 1st & 10 multiple FF hitch, nose dive boundary comeback
--Syracuse Q1 3:38 1st & 10 noticed deep horizontal cross, missed long
--Syracuse Q2 9:23 1st & 10 rollout skipped hitch
--App State Q3 12:43 1st & 10 play action rollout, miss in flat
--App State Q4 5:26 2nd & 11 skipped football in on dig route
--App State Q4 00:35 2nd & 4 skipped football in on the side line
--South Carolina Q2 7:18 2nd & 14 missed bad on boundary comeback
* Bad ball placement
--NCST Q3 9:17 1st & GOAL boundary flat missed wide
--NCST Q3 6:26 1st & 10 overthrow on deep curl at numbers
--Duke Q2 5:18 1st & 10 on his own 1 yd line, terrible decision INT on overthrow
--Clemson Q1 5:53 1st & 10 slant thrown behind, still caught by Walker
--Clemson Q3 14:05 1st & 10
--Clemson Q3 2:39 1st & 10 under pressure, out route too far inside, almost INT
--Miami Q2 11:33 1st & 10 slant thrown behind, INC, hung front foot as he started throwing motion
--Miami Q3 10:04 1st & 10 hitch thrown behind and low, INC
--Virginia Q1 14:18 2nd & 10 airmailed an easy throw to the flat
--Virginia Multiple deep misses mid-Q2
--Virginia Q4 3L17 4th & 12 in RZ, multiple hitch on front foot, thrown high on SL
--Syracuse Q2 2:17 2nd & 5 missed CD high and outside over the MOF
--Syracuse Q2 1:53 3rd & 4 slant behind, 77 yd touchdown off great WR play
--PITT Q2 14:40 2nd & 8 missed out route wide
--MINN Q2 12:25 1st & 10 on the run INT, needed more touch on out route
--MINN Q2 9:47 1st & 10 throw to the inside of a flat route, WR fell
--MINN Q4 9:26 1st & 10 throw behind LOS, RB barley picked it off deck
--App State Q1 13:46 1st & 10 wide open seam off RPO thrown behind INC
--App State Q2 00:18 1st & 10 pressure on screen, erratic miss high
--App State Q3 10:16 1st & 10 ugly missed throw on screen, miscommunication?
--South Carolina Q2 10:02 1st & 10 sailed deep 9 out of bounds, was open
--South Carolina Q3 2:22 2nd & 8 on the move INT on crosser, thrown too inside
* Left easier plays on the field
--Clemson Q1 10:42 3rd & 8 threw field 7 when slant was WIDE open
--Clemson Q3 10:53 4th & 6 stepped up into sack, had hitch open
--GT Q1 9:45 2nd & 9 in RZ, 7 open for a bit, did not see to the roll side
--Syracuse Q1 7:02 2nd & 10 pick/flat route wide open to field, ran for 3 yds
--PITT Q2 3:31 1st & 10 corner route was open, hesitant and ate sack
--MINN Q2 13:51 3rd & 5 a bit late to see wide open player up seam, still 55 yd gain
--App State Q2 6:26 1st & 10 had WR wide open up seam, failed to see, CD for 7
--App State Q4 00:55 1st & 10 rollout, had WR on SL, waited and threw away
* Overall inconsistent accuracy is a real concern
* Can do a better job learning when to take a sack - will recklessly throw football to avoid sack - this happened vs. Duke, Minnesota (2023)
* Failed to account for apex when targeting flat, resulting in INT
--Minnesota (2023) Georgia Tech (2022)

Summary

Drake Maye is big, strong, mobile, tough, and his tape has highlight throws scattered throughout. He flashes an impressive understanding of timing and how to throw receivers open, with an aggressive penchant for attacking tight windows over the middle of the field. Ample confidence and arm talent allow Maye to attempt throws that most other quarterback prospects fail to try.

Drake Maye has a rare ability to generate throwing windows through anticipatory passing and ball placement that narrowly evades the defender over the middle of the field; in doing so, his receivers are forced to make tough but achievable catches at the limits of their catch radius. This happens when stagnant and on the move, vertically and horizontally.

Of course, any quarterback would benefit from having a top pass catcher on their team; however, not every quarterback will put that star receiver into a position to utilize his elite skill set by deliberately challenging the boundaries of the receiver’s orbit while accurately taking into account the receiver’s spatial relationship with the defenders.

Maye had several elite-level throws on tape that weren’t secured by the receiver. One may surmise the throw was off-target, for the pass wasn’t an easy catch, but, in many cases, it was the only location where the receiver could realistically haul in the pass. These throws put Maye’s offense in a position of success that does not exist with many other quarterbacks.

Great arm talent--with the correct pace/touch on the football, most of the time on intermediate to deep passes. Maye puts good zip and velocity on his passes, and he also has creativity as a passer. He doesn’t seem rattled and is poised in the pocket, with an ability to keep his eyes downfield as he extends plays.

So, why are there reservations, one may ask? Inconsistent accuracy, specifically on the layup passes. Maye lacks structure in his dropback - his footwork needs a refined process. His front foot is erratic with its placement, and he doesn’t always align his body to the target; this could be the catalyst for his frustrating propensity to nose-dive easy flat passes into the deck at the receiver’s feet. It’s not a once-a-game phenomenon - it happens far too frequently.

This problem may be attributed to Maye’s experience in Phil Longo’s air raid system, which has a dropback process different from conventional offenses. Maye played with Chip Lindsey last season, and some of the erratic footwork could be a product of his time in the air raid.

Overall, he is a good processor, but he also leaves some plays on the field and makes reckless last-second decisions when he gets hit. He’s talented and strong enough to complete passes with defenders draped on him - he should be applauded for that grit - but he’s also thrown directly to defenders in similar situations, so learning when to eat a sack could be useful, but hopefully, not employed often.

Few players in recent college football memory possess the combination of Maye’s size, athletic ability, arm talent, arm strength, and calculated aggressive nature to challenge windows that will be slightly ajar. For that, his ceiling resembles the Sistine Chapel in height and in beauty. However, he’s far from a perfect prospect or a sure bet.

I don’t like doing comparisons, but here it goes:

* Ceiling: Justin Herbert
* Floor: Sam Darnold

GRADE: 6.5B