NFL
By Bill Carroll
Is a rising Drake Maye moving into a drafting position to slingshot past superstar Caleb Williams? That is a question that scouts are already asking. NFL front office personnel are looking at a prospect who turns 21 on August 30, 2002, is likely to measure about 6’3 1/2″ 223, he is likely to run 4.66-4.64 in the 40-yard dash, and throws the ball with a combination of accuracy, power, touch and is becoming adept at realizing which of his receivers are becoming open.
When needed, he takes hits in order to make throws. Drake Maye has demonstrated that he understands how to throw receivers open. He has shown poise in the pocket, while not a super instinctive or natural runner, he can get those “must have” yards when he needs to. As he continues to play, he will likely improve in his ability to extend plays and make plays outside the pocket, but he has demonstrated that he is able and willing to do so..
When Drake Maye was at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. he was a national top-ten quarterback in the 2021 class as well as one of the state’s top basketball players and comes from a very athletic family. His father, Mark, played quarterback for the Tar Heels from 1984-87. Luke Maye, was a Tar Heel basketball great from 2015-19, another brother, Cole, won an NCAA baseball title at Florida, and Beau Maye, his younger brother, is a forward on the Tar Heels basketball team.
Drake Maye arrived in Chapel Hill, a four-star recruit, he played in two games in 2021 and passed for 89 yards on 10 attempts for a 70% completion percentage and an average of 8.9 yards per pass, with a TD, while taking a sack. This was while red-shirting behind current Washington Commanders quarterback, Sam Howell. In 2022 he became a 14-game starter and attacked the record books.
In his banner red-shirt freshman campaign he posted 342-of-517 passes ( a completion percentage of 66.2%) for 4,321 yards and 38 TDs, and added 698 yards rushing for seven TDs, becoming just the sixth QB since 2010 to post 4,000 pass yards, 35 pass TDs, 650 rush yards and seven rushing TDs in a season. On that exclusive list are: Kyler Murray (2018), DeShaun Watson (2015&2016), Marcus Mariota (2014), Johnny Manziel (2013) and Robert Griffin III (2011).
That season Drake Maye was a four-time Manning Award Star of the Week, two-time Davey O’Brien National QB of the Week (the Pitt and Wake Forest games), five-times Drake Maye honored with being named to the Davey O’Brien Great 8, additionally Drake Maye was ACC Rookie of the Week five times and ACC QB of the Week six times.
Despite all of that like any prospect, Drake Maye is not without flaws. He can be a bit too aggressive at times, he relies on his very live arm a bit too much and could throw with better anticipation and white he is quite athletic, Drake Maye can be a bit reckless and tunnel-visioned when running.
“In order the be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.” Ric Flair
While the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Caleb Williams. may not exclaim “Whoo!” when taking the field, the USC quarterback has taken the current QB championship belt, in Lincoln Riley’s shotgun spread offense. For the Gonzaga College HS graduate and Washington, D.C. native, his time with Coach Riley has been the ideal synergy of ‘singer and song.’
There is a tremendous level of excitement surrounding Drake Maye and rightly so, however Caleb Williams also sends the pulses racing of quarterback evaluators. He has even been granted the current gold standard of quarterback scouting comparisons, Patrick Lavon Mahomes II. While that is a bit of a “bridge too far” for me, I 100% understand the adulation.
While Drake Maye has drown ceiling to floor comparison’s to players from Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert to Daniel Jones, when I watch Williams, I see a blending of Jonathan Paul “Johnny Football” Manziel’s flair for out of the pocket improvisation with Stephen LaTreal “Air” McNair’s arm, stout frame and accurate and gorgeous deep balls, or even a supercharged version of Jeff Blake.
As previously noted Drake Maye had gaudy statistics in 2023, but not to be outdone, Caleb Williams set the single-season record for total offense (4,919 yards), scored the most total touchdowns passing and rushing at (52), as will as marks for: passing completions (333), passes attempted (500), passing yardage (4,537), touchdown passes (42), rushing and passing plays (613), lowest interception rate (1%, 5 in 500 attempts) and highest passing efficiency rating (168.5), in the long and storied history of USC Trojan Football.
Drake Maye has areas that could use growth and improvement and the same is true of Mr. Williams. Here I will quote my good friend and a great writer, Jeff Risdon:
“There are a few areas where Williams can make himself an even better prospect. Here are some things I’d like to see Williams improve during the 2023 college season at USC — from an NFL evaluation standpoint.
Reading the full defense
One of the big knocks on Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker in the 2023 draft was that his offensive scheme didn’t ask him to read the entire field consistently. That’s also true with Williams in head coach Lincoln Riley’s shotgun spread scheme.
Most of Williams’ throws are based on the pre-snap formation and initial reads created by the scheme. As was the case with former Riley QBs (at Oklahoma, where Williams began his college career) Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield, it leads to Williams not always seeing the breadth of the coverage when he has to progress beyond his initial read.”
I will elaborate, one of the scouting “Holy Grails” of quarterback evaluation, from the days of Slingin’ Sammy Baugh and “Cyanide” Sid Luckman, until the current era has been can a quarterback prospect effectively and efficiently move from the initial read that they have pre-snap, by correctly identifying man versus zone coverage, quickly identifying an open receiver and getting the ball into their hands, preferably with a chance for more yardage.
When a play designates a primary target, that is often based on down and distance as well as the tendencies of the defense. Many progressions focus on leverage, passing lanes, open windows, box, square or triangle read techniques. This holds true in everything from the Bill Walsh West Coast to the Air Raid philosophies. Specific overage reads are exclusive to the NFL. Coaches look at pictures that are taken up in the booth at the defense. Then it is relayed to the coach and quarterbacks on the field. Based on this analysis a play is designed to target a specific receiver in most cases.
By going up-tempo and using the threat of quarterback run, many “Spread Them and Shred Them” Air Raid offenses like Lincoln Riley’s, can simplify the defense and virtually eliminate some types of coverage. In fairness, this is also true of the offense that Drake Maye runs. As in most any offense, Williams has a primary, secondary and check down route with the exception of some RPO plays.
Again a quote from Jeff Risdon: ” It would still be nice to see Williams look off a safety or better anticipate a speedy linebacker closing on a route more often.” There are bad habits that nearly every quarterback with a very good to elite arm has gotten used to getting away with from high school and even in college. Williams has some of them, as does Drake Maye and so did: Josh Allen, Elway, Vick and so many more.
If it is as close, when the 2024 NFL Draft is upon us, between Drake Maye and Caleb Williams, as I think it will be, the deciding factor is quite likely to be which of these two rare quarterback shows the most growth in seeing to whole field, correctly identifying defenses and progressing through reads.
