Cam Newton: Drake Maye Has ‘Biggest Upside’ of 2024 Draft QBs, is Best Built for NFL
Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVApril 25, 2024
Set Number: X164413 TK1
Former Carolina Panthers star Cam Newton offered a strong endorsement of North Carolina’s Drake Maye ahead of the 2024 NFL draft.
At the 1:05:02 mark in the newest episode of his 4th & 1 show, Newton said Maye “has the biggest upside of any quarterback in the draft.” He went on to compare the Tar Heels signal-caller to the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert.
The 2015 MVP shared his reservations with Maye, in particular what he believes to be questions over his production and leadership at UNC.
The Heels climbed as high as 10th in the polls in 2023 before dropping five of their last seven games, while Maye’s numbers (3,608 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 63.3 percent completion rate) were all slightly worse than what he delivered in 2022.
Still, Newton called the 2022 ACC Player of the Year the “best built quarterback in this draft for the NFL.”
Maye certainly has a great frame (6’4″ and 223 pounds) for the position and possesses enough scrambling ability to extend plays or gain positive yards on designed runs. Coincidentally, he recently told Bleacher Report’s Scott Polacek that Newton is one of the QBs he looks to model his game after.
Clearly there’s a level of mutual respect even if Newton isn’t totally sold on whether Maye will thrive in the NFL.
