Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel and former NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert are breaking down the 2024 NFL Draft class of QBs.
So far, Manziel and Benkert have gotten into Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Michael Penix Jr. The pair has been high on all three so far, but there's a bit of skepticism on today's QB: Drake Maye. It's not necessarily because of Maye as a player, instead in fear of the situation he might be drafted into.
Let's get into Manziel and Benkert's breakdowns of the former North Carolina quarterback below.
Johnny Manziel
Playing in the ACC, a big question mark to me is why Maye's numbers were down this past season against that level of competition. Obviously, it comes with the team, fit, everything else like that that. Maybe the team was just better in 2022.
However, as far as just talking about Maye and where he is right now, I think this guy will be a long-term NFL player. I don't have any doubts about that. I think somebody's gonna absolutely take a chance on this guy early in the draft and he is gonna go off the board very, very soon. I think if he's in the right situation with a coach who really sees his potential, believes in him and molds him — I'm thinking of something like a Sean Payton who has a lot of history with quarterbacks — he'll be good.
I don't have him in my top-three quarterbacks in this draft class, but that appears to be where he'll be drafted.
I'm a prime example of what not to do as a rookie or an NFL prospect. I was a prime example of having character issues, red flags, things in my past that probably slid me down the draft board a little bit.
Maye is super clean-cut, studies hard from what you hear, works hard in the classroom on the football side of things. So, all of those question marks that are around certain players in the draft, he doesn't really have any of those.
It really is comes down to answering the question: Is he coachable enough to get his feet under him a little bit more to make and use the utmost of his ability when it comes to arm talent and lower body? That's what it takes into these big throws into the NFL.
Kurt Benkert
I think if you take the product that you saw in film last year from MAye and plop it into an NFL situation in Week 1 without any improvement, I don't think he's gonna find immediate success, especially being drafted high to a team that doesn't have the necessary offensive weapons around him.
If you're playing quarterback in the NFL, your goal is not to make as much as possible in two years and be done. You want to have a 10-15 year career where you want to be the guy you wanna create a legacy. I look at Maye and I watch what I saw in college and I could just see that if he doesn't go to the right spot, it won't shake out. He could be like a Paxton Lynch, one of those guys who's really big, big frame, big arm, but it just doesn't shake out.
That's not like a condemnation on who Maye is. I think he can do it. He just could really benefit from going somewhere with a strong head coach who can coach him up on footwork, making sure his timing is good, decision-making, all that.
I don't think the game that he was asked to play in the ACC last year and the scheme that he played in is the same game he's gonna be playing on Sundays in the NFL. It would be a disservice to all the talent that he has innately with him to not be in a situation that I think he can thrive in. So, I don't necessarily think he's my number two in this class. I have other guys that I really like, but I also think he could have one of the higher ceilings if he can get a strong foundation.
Johnny, you went to Cleveland in a weird situation when you came out, right? Had you gone somewhere else that was more prepped and better for taking you on, grooming you in a different way, your career could have shaken out differently. I think that goes with a lot of guys.
You look at Bryce Young last year, and he went to the worst football team in the NFL with the worst staff, probably the worst owner throw anybody out there. If he's in Miami, for example, with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, it probably goes differently.
Maye could really benefit more than other guys of going to the right situation where he can be groomed a little bit. I think if he could get a Patrick Mahomes year where he learns under an Alex Smith kind of veteran, he could be a big asset.
