2024 Dynasty Rookie Profile: Drake Maye, QB

At the forefront of the 2024 NFL Draft is the million-dollar question: Who is the top quarterback in this year’s class? For the most part, Caleb Williams is the top QB1 without a doubt. However, University of North Carolina’s Drake Maye may be the answer for many NFL teams. We will break down the star quarterback and decipher some of his strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, his potential NFL fit and where he should be valued in dynasty rookie drafts.

Drake Maye (QB)  North Carolina – Dynasty Rookie Profile

Height: 6’4

Weight: 230 lbs

As a four-star high school prospect, Maye originally signed to play at Alabama but eventually flipped and signed with North Carolina. He would redshirt his freshman season appearing in only four games due to an injury to then starter Sam Howell. It wouldn’t be until 2022 that we would get a good look at the promising young gunslinger.

Maye would go on to battle for the starting job at North Carolina after Howell was drafted by the Washington Commanders in the 2022 NFL Draft.  He won the job outright and in his season debut dropped 294 passing yards and 5 touchdowns. Eventually, he would go on to win the ACC Player of the Year Award after setting school records for passing yards and passing touchdowns. The buzz about Maye had started already as being a potential top draft pick once he became eligible.

There was a lot of speculation about Maye hitting the transfer portal in 2023. Ultimately, he decided to return to UNC after signing a very lucrative NIL deal. Maye would lose his favorite weapon Josh Downs to the NFL Draft which left the talent at wide receiver thin. While he looked as talented as ever, Maye would finish his season with only 24 touchdown passes in 12 games. Needless to say, a far cry from the 38 the year prior.

Join us today as we break down the outlook for Maye in the NFL. More importantly, for your dynasty fantasy football rosters.

Strengths

Arm Talent

Drake Maye has one of the strongest arms in the 2024 NFL Draft. He can hit every pass he will be asked to throw in the NFL. Additionally, he uses his ideal size to drive the ball to all parts of the field with velocity and fits passes into tight windows with ease. Furthermore, Maye is the best in the class at throwing over the middle with anticipation.  He has no problem progressing his reads and making the correct decision which is something NFL teams covet.

Broken Play Ability

Upon watching his film one of the things that you will see is Maye’s ability to calmly navigate the rush. Anytime a defender got past his blockers quickly, he wouldn’t panic. Instead, he would step up or sidestep while also keeping his structure to make throws. Maye is very athletic as you can tell by his 1,100 rushing yards combined the last two seasons.

Furthermore, Maye can get out of broken plays when necessary and make plays with both his arm and legs. Finally, his ability to avoid the rush and still stay in the pocket and retain his mechanics is great to see from a prospect as young as he is.

Weaknesses

Footwork

While not a terrible weakness, Maye does need to clean up his footwork. At times you will see him taking unnecessary hops into his throws. Additionally, at times he can get off balance and tends to throw off his back foot which can impact his accuracy on deep passes. Because of his tremendous arm strength, he has gotten away with this working in college. However, any NFL team is going to have to coach the sloppy footwork out of him if they want him to be in the elite tier of NFL quarterbacks.

Staying In The Pocket

One of Maye’s biggest weaknesses is his pocket presence on plays with a delayed blitz or no blitz at all. As I previously stated, when he has to make a quick decision about the pass rush he excels. However, when the pocket is clean he sometimes gets antsy and leaves the pocket for no reason. Furthermore, It seems like his internal clock is a little off when anticipating the pass rush. Again, this is a minor weakness and can be easily cleaned up with proper coaching.

NFL Fit and Draft Capital

Because of his arm talent and athleticism, Maye will fit any NFL scheme with ease. He does need to go to a team that has the personnel to develop his footwork and pocket presence. Ultimately, he has all the tools you could ever want in a franchise quarterback.

Maye is a projected top-three overall draft pick and in most years would be completely worthy of the number one overall pick. Unfortunately, because this draft class also contains USC Quarterback Caleb Williams, Maye will likely not be the first overall pick. The UNC star is currently viewed as the consensus QB2 of the class.

Dynasty Outlook

For your dynasty fantasy football Superflex rookie drafts, Maye should be taken in rookie drafts no sooner than 1.03. Moreover, he should be viewed as securely behind both Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison Jr. In dynasty startup drafts he should be valued as an early-mid second-round pick along with the likes of guys such as Anthony Richardson, Jordan Love, and Trevor Lawrence.

Ultimately, Drake Maye has everything it takes to become a top fantasy option at quarterback. You will see Maye compared to guys like Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence. and that is exactly the type of quarterback he is. He has ideal size, arm strength, and athleticism which should provide him the ability to be a franchise quarterback for the next  15 years.