Drake Maye Praised by Patriots Fans After Vikings, Giants Trade Rumors in NFL Draft

Drake Maye is off the board.

The North Carolina quarterback is heading to the New England Patriots after being the No. 3 overall selection during the first round of Thursday's NFL draft.

Maye was one of the fascinating prospects to follow heading into the event, as there were serious questions where quarterbacks such as Jayden Daniels, J.J. McCarthy and Maye would end up—and in what order they'd come off the board—after Caleb Williams went No. 1 overall to the Chicago Bears.

So once he was selected by Pats, social media was buzzing:

So, what is New England getting in Maye?

According to the B/R NFL Scouting Department, Maye is a plus athlete with "very good" arm strength and has both the "great ability to throw off-platform and under pressure" and "great accuracy."

The downside is that he's shown a tendency to take sacks or throw bad interceptions attempting to extend plays. He also sometimes struggles moving off his first, pre-snap read when defenses disguise coverages or surprise him.

Overall, the B/R NFL Scouting Department ranked him as the top quarterback and No. 3 prospect overall in this draft, calling him the "prototypical quarterback prospect. Size, speed, arm strength; he's got all the tools you look for in a franchise quarterback."

Maye's best season in college came in 2022, when he set career highs in touchdowns (38) and yards (4,321) while throwing just seven picks and completing 66.2 percent of his passes. One concern for evaluators may have been that Maye was worse in all four of those stats in 2023, although 3,608 yards, 24 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 63.3 completion percentage was hardly poor production.

It's a moot point now—the Patriots came into this draft process desperately needing a quarterback after the Mac Jones era was a disaster, and Maye brings a ton of upside to New England.

The Patriots still need to surround him with more playmakers—this is not an offense brimming with talent. But it's a new dawn in New England, as the future of the franchise is directly tied to Maye and new head coach Jerod Mayo.