Zolak & Bertrand

Where does Drake Maye rank among best QB prospects since 2021?

The UNC product compares very favorably among the last four draft classes.

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The New England Patriots have a golden opportunity to land their quarterback of the future in the 2024 NFL Draft. But what are the odds they land a Zach Wilson instead of a Trevor Lawrence?

The 2024 draft class is deep at QB, with USC's Caleb Williams and North Carolina's Drake Maye headlining as the projected No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks, respectively. The Patriots would have the No. 2 pick if the season ended today, so they have a realistic shot at drafting either Williams or Maye next spring.

That means Patriots fans should be interested in how both signal-callers compare to recent first-round QB prospects. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer recently asked a handful of NFL executives where they would rank Williams and Maye among the best QB prospects in the last four drafts, dating to 2021. According to Breer, they're viewed quite favorably.

"The universal answer (I got) was, other than Trevor (Lawrence), (Williams and Maye) are the two best," Breer said Thursday on 98.5 the Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand, as seen in the video above. "One person had Caleb in front of Trevor, but it was, generally speaking, Trevor one, Caleb two, Drake Maye three."

That's an encouraging sign, as Lawrence rebounded from a rocky rookie season under Urban Meyer to become a Pro Bowl quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Only four QBs have more passing yards than Lawrence since the start of the 2022 season, and his 43 touchdown passes in that span rank in the top 10 as well.

Williams may be the closer comparison to Lawrence, but execs still are very high on Maye: Breer noted he's heard Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert mentioned as potential comps for the UNC star.

"I think one of the things with Drake Maye that you're not guessing on is the type of person he is, and that you're gonna get an A-plus person," Breer said. "His dad was a quarterback at North Carolina. His brother was a starting power forward on the basketball team there. He comes from good stock.

"He is by all accounts the right type of kid, and as much as you don't want to throw a young quarterback into a bad situation, I do think if you have the first or second pick, the two quarterbacks in those spots are probably too good to pass up on."

While Williams possesses higher upside, it sounds like Maye is viewed as the more "safe" pick of the two who could handle the challenge of being thrown into the fire as a starter on a bad team.

That certainly would be the case in New England, where the Patriots potentially could have a new head coach trying to succeed a living legend in Bill Belichick and trying to revive an offense that currently ranks last in the NFL.

That's a lot of pressure to put on a young QB, but Williams and Maye both seem like bets worth making.

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