How Drake Maye Went From Top Draft Target To Top Target Of Critics

DETROIT – Drake Maye measured at just a hair under 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds at the Indianapolis Combine and, standing next to him on Wednesday, I can report he is all of that because he made me (not a little guy) feel like I was talking to the Jolly Green Giant – big smile and all.

But, amazingly, Maye's size and other prototype quarterback traits have been kind of pushed to the margins since the so-called draft season began. 

His size, instead, has worked to make him mostly a big target.

Apr 24, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye interacts with Special Olympics athletes at the Play Football Prospect Clinic at The Corner Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Critics Pile Up On Maye

The critics have been taking shots at Maye for months now. Merril Hodge called him "the kind of player that will get you fired."

There has been a chorus of unnamed NFL talent evaluators coming out of the shadows.

And there's NBC's Chris Simms, who refused to include Maye among his top 5 quarterbacks in this draft.

"You watch the best games in his career, and yeah, you'll see a few of those (great) throws, but for every one of those throws, there's five of, like, what the hell is that throw?" Simms said on his Unbottoned podcast.  There's no way evaluators, coaches are going to be able to get behind Drake Maye and go, 'Oh yeah, he's ready to go, he should be the No. 2 or No. 3 pick in the draft.' No way!"

So, yeah, Drake Maye is under fire. It's to the point that he just gives the criticisms a shrug of his broad shoulders.

"People are going to say things about everybody, all the picks," Maye said Wednesday. "They're going to find something to critique." 

Apr 24, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; NFL Network analyst Charles Davis speaks to the media at the Play Football Prospect Clinic at The Corner Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Maye 'Beaten Up' More Than Anyone

Well, actually, they're not saying this kind of stuff about everybody. 

"He's gotten beaten up more than anyone in this draft." NFL Network draft analyst Charles Davis told OutKick on Wednesday.

"He has, a little bit like C.J. Stroud, been kind of the one everyone wants to knock down this year," NFL Network draft analyst Joel Klatt echoed when speaking with OutKick. "And there's always going to be a quarterback that people want to knock down. I don't quite understand it, to be honest."

Klatt and Davis believe the criticism of Maye is tied to the fact he regressed from his 2022 to 2023 seasons. He went from 4,321 passing yards to 3,608. His touchdowns declined from 38 to 24, while his interceptions increased from 7 to 9.

So even the statistics are criticizing Maye.

But Klatt and Davis remain very bullish on him as a prospect. 

Davis explains the North Carolina situation betrayed Maye rather than the other way around.

"His first year, it was really good," Davis said. "Then came the offensive coordinator change. Offensive line changed. Receivers changed. So now the structure of how he played the first year wasn't there. He had to play a little more hero ball. He has a big arm, so I think he forced a few things, trying to make some plays for his team."

Apr 24, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; NFL Network analyst Joel Klatt speaks to the media at the Play Football Prospect Clinic at The Corner Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Maye Competitiveness Worked Against Him

It was a recipe for turning Maye from a target teams might select No. 1, to a prospect critics would target before anyone else. 

"I think he got himself in trouble because he's ultra-competitive," Klatt said. "He had a team that wasn't great around him – similar to Josh Allen with the drops he had when he was at Wyoming.

"He was going to do anything in his power to go out there and win. He didn't care about his completion percentage. He didn't care if he threw an interception, he was going to force the issue. That's not every player in college football, by the way. 

"I know a lot of quarterbacks who will protect their own stat line, protect their completion percentage, protect their touchdown-to-interception ratio. That wasn't him. And because of that, he's gotten knocked down."

So what's the truth about Maye? He probably isn't ready to start right away for a team picking atop the draft because most teams atop the draft are troubled to begin with.

And we just got done reading that Maye struggled when the team around him was troubled.

So Maye might need honing. And he's going to need the terrible team that picks him – assuming it's one in the top half of the draft – to get better around him.

Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert scrambles away from the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium. (Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

Drake Maye Like Justin Herbert

Then what?

"To me his [comparable talent] is a combination of Justin Herbert and Josh Allen," Klatt said. "He's big. He's strong. He makes throws that nobody else in the draft makes, except for Caleb [Williams]. So his ceiling, for me, is incredibly high."

Davis shares the same opinion.

"I know Josh Allen is his idol, and that's who he wants to be," Davis said, "but I see Herbert right now in his body type, the way he slings it. Can he be Josh Allen? We'd all like to be. Josh is a force of nature. 

"But, by the way, you tell me I can't have Josh Allen [when picking Maye] but I can have Justin Herbert, I lose zero sleep. I'm happy, really happy. I think Drake Maye's that guy."

Don't let the woke sports media program your draft night. Join Clay, Chad and Hutton for the first annual OutKick NFL Daft Watch Party. Find us streaming LIVE tonight at 8pm ET on YouTube, X, Facebook and of course, Outkick.com.