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Chris Simms offers harsh critique of potential Patriots pick Drake Maye
"For every one of those throws, there's five of, like, what the hell is that throw?"
For over a month now, UNC QB Drake Maye has been regarded as a lock to go off the board with one of the top three picks in the 2024 NFL Draft.
But as other blue-chip QB prospects like Jayden Daniels and J.J. McCarthy have seen their stock soar over the last few weeks, Maye has drawn his share of detractors as of late.
While former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky stressed earlier this week that Maye might be better suited to not start in the NFL right away and follow a “Jordan Love-type of timeline,” NBC Sports’ Chris Simms offered a much harsher critique of Maye on Wednesday.
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Simms — who played in the NFL from 2003 to 2009 — ranked Maye as the No. 6 quarterback in this 2024 NFL Draft class. While USC’s Caleb Williams and Daniels occupied their own two tiers at the top of Simms’ list, he tabbed Oregon’s Bo Nix, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., and McCarthy in the third tier as “franchise starting” quarterbacks.
Simms then had Drake in the tier below those five, listing him as a “talented prospect.”
During the latest episode of his “Chris Simms Unbuttoned” podcast, Simms gave his reasoning for why he ranked Maye in such a low spot.
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“There’s things you watch, and you go, ‘Wow.’ If you watch the highlight package, you go, ‘Woah.’ You watch the highlight package and you go, wow, he looks the part, he’s got the prototypical size, and kinda has the look of a franchise quarterback,” Simms said. … You watch the best games in his career, and yeah, you’ll see a few of those (great) throws, but for every one of those throws, there’s five of, like, what the hell is that throw?
“There’s no way evaluators, coaches are going to be able to get behind, like, right now, Drake Maye and go ‘Oh yeah, he’s ready to go, he should be the No. 2 or No. 3 pick in the draft.’ No way! There are too many things about his game that need to be polished, better, improved.”
Simms added: “I think there’s potential here. That’s where it’s tough. There are some things where I go, yes, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near right around the corner. This would be like, hey, he needs to sit on the bench a little bit and needs to work on some real mechanical issues that he has.
“Going through reads, I don’t think he’s in the same class as the guys we talked about, and I mean all of them. I think they all go through it and do it quicker. In the pocket, he’s the worst in the pocket. The worst.”
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Even with Simms’ tough take on Maye, the Tar Heels’ QB is still expected to be a top pick next month. ESPN’s David Pollack called Maye “Justin Herbert 2.0” on College GameDay in November.
In 12 games last season, Maye completed 63.3% of his passes for 3,608 yards with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He put together a stronger 2022 campaign — tossing 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions over 14 games.
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