The New England Patriots have selected quarterback Drake Maye out of North Carolina with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Maye has been high on most people's draft boards for the last two years now. Teams like the Patriots have just had to wait until the now 21-year-old was eligible to be drafted. His selection as a first-round pick, chosen at No. 3, comes as no surprise.
Part of that is because of the athletic family that Maye comes from. His father, Mark, played quarterback for the Tar Heels back in the 1980s and then briefly played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Two of his brothers, Luke and Beau, also attended North Carolina as basketball players, while his other brother Cole was a pitcher for the University of Florida. Maye looks to now exceed all family expectations with his upcoming NFL career.
Here is everything you need to know about Drake Maye, the Patriots' first-round pick and new quarterback.
Drake Maye's pre-college football career
Born in Huntersville, North Carolina, Maye eventually found himself attending William A. Hough High School in Cornelius, North Carolina. He, however, transferred after his freshman year to Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. There, he was a two-sport athlete, playing football and basketball.
As a junior for the Mustangs, he earned All-Conference and All-District recognition in basketball. In 2019, the Charlotte Observer named him the 2019 Male Athlete of the Year after helping lead the Mustangs to a conference championship. That year he threw for 3,512 yards and 50 touchdowns.
Drake Maye's college career
Maye, a four-star recruit coming out of high school, ranked as the No. 24 overall player in the class of 2021. He ranked as the No. 4 quarterback and No. 1 player in the state of North Carolina, according to 247Sports.
He flipped his original commitment from Alabama and spent the last three years playing quarterback for the University of North Carolina under head coach Mack Brown. Maye earned a majority of his playing time during final two seasons where he quickly caught the eye of many, including NFL scouts.
In 2022, he played in 14 games, throwing for 4,321 yards, 39 touchdowns to just seven interceptions, while rushing for 698 yards and another seven scores. He helped lead the Tar Heels to a 9-5 season, their best in seven years. His efforts also earned him the ACC's Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, and Rookie of the Year awards, along with being named first-team All-ACC. Maye also finished 4th in the country in passing yards, 5th in completions, 5th in attempts, and 6th in passing touchdowns.
Last season, Maye did take a bit of a setback, though. Playing in two fewer games, he threw for 3,608 yards, 24 touchdowns, and nine interceptions, with an additional 449 yards on the ground for nine more scores. That was good enough to earn him second-team All-ACC.
Drake Maye's NFL Draft fit with the Patriots
As mentioned, it has long been expected that Maye would be a high draft pick going back to his first season as a starter for North Carolina when NFL scouts started gushing over him then. Well, that came to fruition with the Patriots selecting him at No. 3 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Patriots could have gone a few different routes in this draft, including that of trading away their No. 3 pick to another quarterback-desperate team. But new head coach Jerod Mayo knows that in his first year, getting a franchise quarterback was probably at the top of his list of must-do's.
New England has now been trying to replace the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady since he left after the 2019 season. Former first-rounders in Cam Newton and Mac Jones were asked to fill that void, along with others, but none have even sniffed success, as the Patriots have gone 29-38 in the last four seasons.
Now, Mayo has the chance to build his own legacy in New England, starting with a cornerstone piece in what he hopes to be his franchise quarterback in Drake Maye. Mayo and his staff will certainly have their work cut out for them, though, as the next steps will be surrounding their rookie quarterback with suitable weapons for his success.
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