CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Down three points with 5:21 remaining in the fourth quarter, North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye stepped onto the field for what should be his last appearance at Kenan Stadium and a game to go win against rival Duke. And he did. Well, almost. The craziness was just beginning. On the second play of that Tar Heels possession, Maye threw a 43-yard bomb to receiver Tez Walker to reach Duke’s 35. After negative plays, penalties (including one that overturned a touchdown) and two key third-down conversions, Maye capped the drive by hitting tight end Bryson Nesbit with a laser in the end zone. Nesbit made a falling catch for the score. It was an impressive throw made in a crucial moment by one of the best players in the upcoming NFL Draft. But the game wasn’t over. Far from it.
Maye would step onto the field three more times Saturday night with opportunities to win or tie the game — the kind of moments that define quarterbacks, young and old. Those that change NFL evaluations. And Maye delivered in the clutch. Again, again, again and again. It’s the type of stuff you want to write about Chicago Bears quarterbacks but rarely get to, if ever.
At the very least, Maye’s performance felt like the type that general managers and coaches typically mention as noteworthy and as impactful in their drat evaluations after selecting him. Which team will get to say it, though? With the Bears potentially having the first pick because of the Carolina Panthers’ selection — and maybe two in the top five with their own — it was time to see another top quarterback in this year’s draft class. In mid-October, I went to see USC’s Caleb Williams at Notre Dame and he had his worst game this season. The Trojans have lost four of five games since then, too. The Drake Maye experience felt different in Chapel Hill because of the finish. Students and fans stormed the field after the Tar Heels defeated Duke 47-45 in double overtime. Tar Heels players rang the Victory Bell. And North Carolina coach Mack Brown called Maye the best college quarterback in the country twice afterward.
The school, jersey color and number certainly invoke flashbacks of former Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky. But Maye isn’t Trubisky. The evaluation of him is significantly different. Before the season, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah compared Maye to Carson Palmer, the No. 1 pick in 2003. ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said that Maye has “Big Ben” in his game, referencing former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, on “The Dan Patrick Show” last month after calling some of Maye’s games. “I think he’s a superstar in the NFL,” Orlovsky said.
“I do.” Tim Hasselbeck, an analyst for ESPN and the ACC Network, said earlier this month that he would select Maye over Williams, calling him as “perfect of a prospect (as) I have ever seen in 15 years at ESPN.”
Dane Brugler, the draft analyst for The Athletic, rated Maye as the top player in his updated list of the top 50 prospects. Brugler compared him to Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.
So, yes, Maye isn’t Trubisky. He’s a two-year starter for the Tar Heels. He was the ACC Player of the Year in 2022. Maye also committed to Alabama before switching to North Carolina, where his older brother, Luke, was part of their 2017 national championship basketball team.
Scouts see Maye’s athletic family as a plus and an advantage. Competing is in his blood. “He has all the physical traits,” a scouting executive said. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Maye fits the profile that teams look for in quarterbacks. He blamed himself for failing on two QB sneaks, including a tush push, on the goal line against Duke. “Quite honestly, that’s piss poor, ” Maye said. “I credit myself on being able to get a yard.”
His arm talent is apparent. Every evaluator mentioned it. Maye showed it off during warmups and throughout the game. Some of his strongest throws looked effortless. Early in the second quarter, Maye escaped to his left and tossed a 31-yard pass to receiver J.J. Jones for a leaping catch.
“He has all the physical tools,” a scout for an AFC team said before the game. “He can make all the throws.”
An AFC team executive, who wasn’t in attendance against Duke, said weeks ago that he had Maye rated better than Williams. Several reasons were later provided. It started with accuracy and ball placement. Another was being clutch.
In double overtime, North Carolina’s play for the two-point conversion seemingly broke down. The Tar Heels had four players spread out wide to the right of Maye, including three bunched together. Before the snap, it looked like North Carolina had a numbers mismatch and potentially an easy score with a quick throw.
Maye pumped, stepped up into the pocket and nearly took off into a hole that wasn’t there. But he saw tight end John Copenhaver streaking open in the back of the end zone. He released his pass right before he was hit a step away from the line of scrimmage. “I was trying to keep my head up,” Maye said. “I feel like that’s one of my best attributes. Never put my head down and just taking a sack, taking a tackle. I try to keep my head up and throw it if I’m getting tackled.
Maye showed off that attribute against Duke. In the third quarter, Maye pitched the ball to running back Omarion Hampton while getting tackled on a 1-yard run. Hampton took off for 15 more yards.
On the same possession, Maye spun out of a would-be sack by linebacker Cam Dillon on fourth-and-4 from Duke’s 14 and threw a pass to receiver J.J. Jones for a 5-yard gain. Maye improvises. It’s part of his repertoire. He also has a left-handed flip of the ball into the end zone for a touchdown this season. Against Duke, Maye hurdled a defender along North Carolina’s sideline. He’s tough and creative.
Maye finished 28-for-43 for 342 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception against Duke. He ran in North Carolina’s first touchdown and then another in the second overtime from 5 yards out. He nearly ended the game in the first overtime, but receiver Nate McCollum missed the touchdown catch. But the Tar Heels wouldn’t have reached overtime if Maye hadn’t completed passes of 6, 10, 7 and 14 yards in the final 41 seconds after Duke took a 36-33 lead with a 30-yard score from quarterback Grayson Loftis to receiver Jordan Moore.
Maye benefited from a penalty and two timeouts. But he did what you’d hope he’d do as a top QB prospect: he got the Tar Heels into field-goal range.
Late in the second quarter against Duke, the receivers to Maye’s left went nuts. They waved and yelled to get Maye’s attention. On the far hash, Maye couldn’t hear the Tar Heels’ assistant coaches — three of them wearing different colored hoodies — on the sideline. A play apparently needed to change. In a matter of moments, you saw a concern in Maye’s evaluation after a highlight. All of that came two plays after Maye hit Walker for a 48-yard bomb down to Duke’s 11.
“These young QBs don’t have much time to prove their mettle once they’re in the NFL, ”said a scout for an AFC team, who wasn’t in attendance. “The more experience in college these guys have at huddling up, verbally calling a play, audibling at the line of scrimmage and ID’ing the Mike (linebacker), the better.”
The Tar Heels, who replaced offensive coordinator Phil Longo (now at Wisconsin) with Chip Lindsey, rarely huddled against Duke. And they’re so often in shotgun that reporters in the press box call out when they’re under center. “If you don’t have any experience doing any of those things, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn, but the learning curve is a lot steeper,” the scout said.
That’s college football nowadays, though.
One major difference at North Carolina is that Maye is surrounded by NFL experience. Clyde Christensen is a volunteer assistant. He coached Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. Christensen’s involvement is viewed as a positive by evaluators. He had a conversation with Maye on the sideline after halftime. Freddie Kitchens, the former Browns offensive coordinator and head coach, is North Carolina’s run game coordinator and tight ends coach.
Some projection is required with college quarterbacks. It’s on NFL teams to learn and then debate what’s real and what translates. You’ll always get different opinions on it. Some scouts have concerns about how Maye processes the field. He threw an awful interception out of his own end zone in the first half.
“There’s so much that goes into being an NFL QB, ”the scout from the AFC team said.
Despite the 48-yard strike to Walker, the aforementioned possession ended in another field goal for Maye and the Tar Heels. A lot of Maye’s possessions did against Duke, which entered the weekend with the 29th-best defense in the country, just behind Alabama (26th) and just ahead of Texas (33rd). Only nine teams had allowed fewer touchdowns than Duke before Saturday.
Maye struggled in the red zone through the first three quarters. It looked like North Carolina was due another loss, much like the leads the Tar Heels blew in recent losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech. Kicker Noah Burnette made six field goals, including a game-tying one as regulation time expired.
Every scout asked about Maye gave a thumbs-up on his character. But personality preferences always will vary by team. If you’re looking for a stoic, even-keeled quarterback, then Maye is your pick. But if you want a passionate leader — one with more outgoing intangibles — then it might be best to look at others. Teams examine everything about quarterbacks.
After the game, Maye appeared more than comfortable speaking to the media. He critiqued his throws, including his 15-yarder to Nesbit on third-and-14 in the fourth quarter that was nearly wrestled away by cornerback Chandler Rivers. He thought his placement could have been better. Maye also joked around with reporters before his news conference began, and he made jokes during it
During the game, Maye often engaged with his teammates and Tar Heels assistant coaches. He celebrated touchdowns with everyone. But he’s not a rah-rah leader. You didn’t see that before or during the game. But that doesn’t appear to be a negative for the Tar Heels
“Drake means a lot to this team,” defensive end Kaimon Rucker said. “Drake, he’s not that vocal but vocal when he needs to be. And he has full confidence in himself whether he has a good game or to a standard that he feels like he hasn’t reached. And I feel like that’s one of his best traits, is that he has unwavering confidence no matter what the game is looking like, no matter what the stats look like, no matter what the performance is looking like.
The Tar Heels have a playmaker. “It’s almost natural for Drake to make big plays, ”Nesbit said. “And when you have that, that rubs off on all of us as well.”