Drake Maye is almost to the big leagues. In the 2024 NFL Draft, the quarterback out of the University of North Carolina is expected to hear his name called early and take the reins for a team hoping for a franchise guy. Cam Newton is among the many believers in his talent — which certainly means a lot to Maye — but also holds some skepticism.

Maye grew up a fan of the Carolina Panthers and idolized Newton. The Panthers have a young QB in Bryce Young (and don’t even have a top draft pick to pivot to Maye) so Maye will look to have the impact that Newton did on another team.

Newton, on his show “4th & 1,” explained why he is such a big believer in Maye but also expressed some concern about his abilities at the next level.

“I think he has the biggest upside of any quarterback in the draft,” Newton declared. “I mean, you look at him. What is he, 6-foot-4? You know, he's a pro scout's prototypical quarterback. His NFL comparison: Justin Herbert. He's been a good prospect so far in his career, I would say. Thoroughly pleased with his play in LA for the Chargers.

“Now, my biggest concern with Drake Maye is he didn't really have a lot of production in college, so how does that translate? If you’re that guy where you know you’re supposed to be an elite player with your peers [in your age range]…if you had challenges leading they a*s, what about 31, 32, 29 [year-olds]?”

Cam Newton says Drake Maye has “biggest upside” of QBs in 2024 NFL Draft

Newton does have a point about the challenge of being a young quarterback and leading players much older, especially those who have established themselves in the NFL or may not have the patience to take things slower. Maye will have to prove himself right away that he's good enough to be the leader of an offense.

However, the take that Maye didn’t have a lot of production in college is absolute nonsense. He's not on the pantheon of all-time college quarterbacks but his numbers aren’t disappointing.

Over his last two collegiate seasons (26 games), Maye tallied 62 passing touchdowns, 7,929 passing yards, a completion percentage of 64.2 percent, 16 interceptions, 1,147 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. He even led his teams to a 17-9 record. In his final season at UNC, he threw for just 25 fewer passing yards than Caleb Williams, soon to be the No. 1 pick of the draft.

For comparison, Herbert tallied 61 passing touchdowns, 6,622 passing yards, a completion percentage of 63.2 percent, 14 interceptions, 216 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns over his last two seasons at Oregon (27 games).

Stats from college are not everything but how can Newton believe that Maye is similar to Herbert but not be impressed with what Maye did in college? Maye's numbers may not stack up to a bunch of other prospects but he’s not embarrassingly far off.

Regardless, Newton said that Maye is “the best-built quarterback in this draft for the NFL,” so his concerns with him seem to boil down to how quickly he can (or cannot) tap into that physical upside. Although Williams is the top dog in this year's draft class, Maye has the potential to be a great quarterback, too.