Rookie Profile: Drake Maye, Quarterback, New England Patriots
Welcome to the Rookie Profile for Drake Maye, a Quarterback from North Carolina. He is from Huntersville, North Carolina, and was a 5-star recruit out of Myers Park High School.
As a freshman for North Carolina, Maye got into only 4 games where he threw for 89 yards and 1 touchdown. He was redshirted and did not appear again in 2021.
In 2022 as a redshirt freshman, he appeared in 14 games where he exploded for 4,321 passing yards and 38 touchdowns as he was easily one of the top quarterbacks in all of college football.
His final season in 2023 saw him appear in 12 games as a sophomore where he totaled 3,608 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. Despite taking a step back statistically, Maye continued his precision passing and showed his accuracy was a permanent fixture in his game.
Measurables
Draft Capital & Landing Spot
Draft Capital- Round 1 Pick 3
- Maye got the draft capital we all expected and for better or worse, a top-three selection should allow him ample opportunity to prove himself. We’ve seen in the past that even busts like Zach Wilson and Trey Lance received multiple years to win a starting job and even after repeated failure, they were shipped off to new teams for a second chance. The moral of the story here is that whether you believe Maye is a hit or a bust, he will have several years of insulated value before his value tanks if he is a miss.
Landing Spot- New England Patriots
- The draft capital is about as good as you could hope for, but the landing spot was the worst of the possible answers. Maye landed with the Patriots, devoid of any talent or offensive weaponry. He will walk in and be the starter from day one, but this situation doesn’t scream fantasy football success. The caveat to this rather bleak outlook is that we said the same thing about CJ Stroud last year going to the Houston Texans and they were able to turn things around instantly. Ultimately, talent wins out and the situation isn’t as important as you would believe. Things change quickly in the NFL.
Team Depth Chart
Expected Role: Starting QB
Depth Chart via Fantasy Pros
Fantasy Impact
The New England landing spot has seemingly knocked Maye out of the top three at quarterback and dropped him below JJ McCarthy. He still finds himself consistently in the first eight players off the board in superflex rookie drafts, but he has slipped from an ADP of 1.05 to 1.08. In some drafts, he is even falling behind Brock Bowers and Xavier Worthy. This was not an optimal situation for Maye’s value but is still more than good enough to keep him in the first round.
Check out The Fantasy Football Universe Sneak Peek Video of Drake Maye
Check out our 2024 Rookie Rankings Page for a full breakdown of this rookie class.
