The category of 2024 is an fascinating one within the upcoming NFL Draft. It is among the extra stacked courses on the subject of quarterback expertise. With loads of choices throughout the board, every prospect on the place has his personal particular ability set, sturdy fits, and weaknesses. Whereas Caleb Williams is deemed probably the most full QB within the draft, the opposite prime QBs, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye are probably the most pro-ready gamers.
Jayden Daniels of LSU is among the extra gifted quarterbacks the league has seen in latest historical past. He has the suitable ratio of arm power, soccer IQ, bodily power, and resilience that makes him an entire quarterback who can over time set up himself as a constant quarterback able to main a franchise. It comes as no shock that Daniels is anticipated to be the second decide within the draft behind Caleb Williams.
Nonetheless, this draft class has a darkish horse candidate. It’s Drake Maye. The quarterback from North Carolina is being ignored to an extent over Daniels due to how his staff has fared this season. LSU ended with a greater document than North Carolina and Maye’s final two video games as a university participant ended up being his worst showings as his staff performed towards two of the most effective defenses in all of faculty soccer.
What’s particular about Drake Maye?
Regardless of the damaging hypothesis round Maye, he has what it takes to be higher than Jayden Daniels as a quarterback within the NFL. Right here’s why.
Firstly, with a 6’4″, 223-pound body, Maye’s construct places him within the class of taller quarterbacks within the league. His arm power is spectacular as a result of Maye’s expertise is well-rounded. He can throw a deep ball simply in addition to a short-distance bullet passes. In 2022, he had 4,321 passing yards and 700 speeding yards, making him the primary FBS participant with 4,000+ yards passing and 500 yards speeding since Kyler Murray in 2018.
So, wouldn’t it be honest to categorize Drake Maye as a taller model of Kyler Murray? Not precisely. Maye is what you get while you combine Lamar Jackson’s operating capability and athleticism with Matthew Stafford’s throwing capability. He has the potential to be a greater model of Andrew Luck. The numbers converse for themselves.
In 12 video games the place he performed final season, Maye accomplished 63.3% of his passes for 3,608 yards with 24 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. 2022 was a greater 12 months for him when it comes to numbers as he threw 38 touchdowns over seven interceptions all through 14 video games.
Nonetheless, one has to notice that his staff did change and Maye’s efficiency declined largely due to that. The narrative that Drake Maye had a fluke 12 months in 2022 needs to be stopped. He’s not the proper prospect; he receives criticisms over his footwork, however that may be mounted inside no time. One other concern was his interception numbers going up this season. Nonetheless, while you have in mind the truth that a lot of these turnovers had been a results of inconsistent wideouts and a subpar defensive position, Maye clears all of the packing containers a prime QB prospect ought to.
One other issue is that Drake Maye is held to a special customary when in comparison with the opposite quarterbacks in his class. In truth, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler believes Maye is the second-best quarterback on this draft behind Caleb Williams. Ted Nguyen, a famend movie skilled, additionally concurs and is of the opinion that Drake Maye is a greater quarterback than Jayden Daniels.
The first cause why Maye has extra skepticism revolving round him is owing to the decline in his efficiency, however in all equity, he can’t be judged on this 12 months’s stats alone. It’s a must to grade him on the totality of his performances in his faculty profession. As per Professional Soccer Focus, Maye ranked second to Caleb Williams when it comes to the proportion of pressures created by the QB with 25.9%, and confirmed distinctive expertise when he needed to evade stress to purchase time to throw or make a run for it.
So, if Drake Maye can run, has the fascinating construct to be the fashionable NFL quarterback, can throw deep passes, is artistic, and may adapt on the go, why is he being ignored to an extent? Effectively, as of right this moment, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels have an identical odds of going second total within the draft.
So the tide is shifting in Maye’s favor However groups stay uncertain about him due to his efficiency final season and scouts assume that Jayden Daniels has a better ceiling in the end than Maye. That is probably not the case. Maye is a quarterback you could anticipate to stay constant for a very long time. Does that imply he’ll find yourself being common and fail to face out within the NFL? Completely not.
Drake Maye won’t have a right away impression within the NFL, however he might be a quarterback that may get higher yearly and if he’s in a franchise surrounded with the suitable weapons and performs in a system that matches him, he’ll thrive. As of now, the New England Patriots ought to take Maye in a great state of affairs. It can’t be stated how he’ll fare in that system proper now as a result of there isn’t any readability on how Jerod Mayo fares as a head coach. Presuming that opts to retain the tradition established by Invoice Belichick and customizes his offensive playbook round Maye. That may be the best-case state of affairs for the quarterback.
Alternatively, if the Patriots go on him, the subsequent staff within the draft that’s more likely to take a quarterback is the New York Giants. Contemplating Daniel Jones is coming off of an ACL damage after a disappointing outing within the first few video games of the 2023-24 season, the Giants are on purple alert. Regardless of signing Drew Lock and having Tommy DeVito within the QB room, the staff is probably not against the thought of signing Maye if they don’t have complete religion in Jones.
Assuming Maye falls additional alongside within the draft, the Minnesota Vikings will decide him up, no questions requested. However that appears not possible that he’ll fall that far alongside. So long as Drake Maye winds up on a staff with an excellent system and an excellent tradition, he’ll thrive.
Why does Jayden Daniels have the sting over Drake Maye?
Jayden Daniels ranks greater than Drake Maye as a result of he has proven consistency in his time at LSU. In addition to, scouts view his ceiling to be greater than Drake Maye’s. In spite of everything, he did win a Heisman Trophy. One other key issue is Daniels was not thought-about to be a first-round draft decide earlier than getting into final season, however inside one 12 months he proved that he’s particular.
Daniels has proven extra endurance in remaining within the pocket and has exponentially developed as a passer whereas displaying that he can run when he must. The LSU Tigers had been ranked the number one scoring offense owing to his scrambling expertise.
The explanation Jayden Daniels is ranked greater than Drake Maye is as a result of he’s extra pro-ready than him at this second. His arm power, capability to learn the protection, and scrambling expertise give him an edge over Maye, who does possess all of those expertise. However within the long-term, Drake Maye will find yourself eclipsing him as a result of he may have a extra constant profession than Daniels.
The explanation for that is Daniels doesn’t shrink back from taking dangers to hurry the ball, which leaves him prone to being injured. Along with this, his skinny body doesn’t assist. Whereas throwing, Daniels has at occasions confirmed to be inconsistent whereas throwing quick passes and intermediate passes.
Each the quarterbacks are particular however from what they’ve proven, Drake Maye has the potential to be a long-term franchise quarterback who will in the end have a greater profession. Jayden Daniels deserves his flowers as nicely, however the query is will he be capable of show his longevity within the league? The reply to those questions might be delivered after seeing the 2 QBs play of their rookie season!
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