Drake Maye DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah said on Thursday that he thinks the Minnesota Vikings "will put forth a strong effort to try and get up to get Drake Maye" in the upcoming NFL draft in April. The Vikings sit with the No. 11 pick in the first round of the draft, but they just made a trade on Friday with the Houston Texans to add another first-round selection (23rd overall), giving them more draft capital to potentially make a leap into the first five picks in order to acquire a franchise signal-caller like Maye. The Vikings started down this path of trying to trade up for a QB after Kirk Cousins left for the Atlanta Falcons in free agency. Minnesota signed former first-rounder Sam Darnold earlier this week, but he will almost certainly serve as a bridge QB for whichever signal-caller the Vikings take in this year's draft.

Five of six NFL executives polled when asked who they think the Washington Commanders will take with the second overall pick in this year's NFL draft chose LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels over North Carolina QB Drake Maye, but the one holdout for Maye said he heard that Commanders general manager Adam Peters was "really into" Maye. Incumbent Sam Howell and Maye were teammates at North Carolina, and Howell could open 2024 as the starter if the Commanders wanted to give Maye more time to iron out his mechanics. If Washington passes on Maye and goes with Daniels, there's a good chance Maye would be selected third overall by the New England Patriots, assuming they don't trade back. The biggest knock on Maye heading into this year's draft are his mechanical issues concerning his footwork.

North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, who is one of the top QBs available in this year's draft, has flashed exceptional creativity and aggressiveness as a downfield passer while also exhibiting the ability to create outside of structure. But his production took a hit in 2023 while his footwork and decision-making got sloppy as the season wore on. Maye attacks the middle of the field with anticipation and aggressively hunts for deep opportunities. The Athletic's Ted Nguyen compares him to Josh Allen and C.J. Stroud when discussing his creativity in the pocket and the way he manipulates defenses. Maye could need a year to hone is on his fundamentals and to clean up his foot work, but Nguyen believes the young QB has the skill set to take off as early as his sophomore season. It's why he could come off the board as early as No. 2 overall to the Commanders in April's draft.

North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye is not going to throw at the NFL scouting combine this week in Indianapolis and is solely planning to do "just physicals and interviews," according to a source. The top-three quarterback prospects for this year's NFL draft -- USC's Caleb Williams, Maye, and LSU's Jayden Daniels -- will all skip throwing drills at the combine this week. The 21-year-old Maye will instead do his throwing for scouts at his school's pro day. In his final season with the Tar Heels in college, Maye threw for 3,608 yards, 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions last year after throwing for 4,321 yards, 38 TDs and seven interceptions in 2022. Williams is widely expected to be taken first overall by the Bears in this year's draft, but Maye could easily go No. 2 to the Commanders and start immediately in his rookie season.