Trent Dilfer breaks down what makes UNC QB Drake Maye special

After a highly productive first season, North Carolina QB Drake Maye will enter 2023 as one of college football’s top quarterbacks and among the best prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft. That’s because, in Trent Dilfer’s eyes, he has all the makings of a player than can make an NFL team very happy in the future.

Dilfer had a lot to say about Maye in a Sports Illustrated piece by Albert Breer. He said that USC’s Caleb Williams is going to take a lot of the spotlight from him even though, with his skillset, Maye could make the case as the No. 1 overall pick in other draft classes.

“I have nothing bad to say about Drake. But it’s different now. This is not apples to apples,” Dilfer said. “Drake Maye has what you call the gift of smooth. Drake, yes, has good horsepower. Yes, has good twitch. But, really, his gift is making hard things look easy.”

“He’s very fluid, he’s very smooth, he’s a good processor. He has good athletic traits, not great,” continued Dilfer. “More of a wing forward in basketball where Caleb is the dynamic scorer. Because of Caleb and because of how notable he is? Drake’s not going to get the attention that he would’ve gotten from other drafts. Because I think he’d be No. 1 in other drafts.

From there, Dilfer spoke with Breer about comparisons for Maye at the next level. That’s where he continued his high praise as he named three quarterbacks who are among who many believe are within the Top-10 at the position in the league today.

“You’re just going to hear a lot of (Justin) Herbert and Josh Allen. You’re going to hear a lot of that when the evaluators start evaluating,” said Dilfer. “He’s a big guy but he’s really, really fluid, really smooth.”

“He’s (Joe) Burrow. That’s exactly who he is. He’s Joe Burrow, who we know is one of the great players in the NFL,” Dilfer said. “Burrow’s a very good athlete, he was a very good high school basketball player, he’s a great competitor. But what separates Joe Burrow is this innate quality, this nuance to his game that people want to say is something that’s it’s not.”

Maye, as a 6’4 redshirt sophomore, put in work as UNC’s QB1 last year. He cleaned house when it came to the ACC’s awards after he threw for over 4,300 yards and 38 touchdowns. After posting those numbers last fall, he will once again make a case for the Heisman Trophy in ’23.

He’ll definitely be able to do so if he can keep the Tar Heels on a better track than they found themselves on to end last season. From there, it likely won’t take him very long to hear his name called in Detroit next April if he continues to show what he already has as a collegiate player.