Former NFL QB takes victory lap for ‘perfect’ 2023 Drake Maye take

Drake Maye has emerged as an MVP candidate in his second season, and the traits that led the Patriots to draft him look apparent now.

However the younger quarterback had his share of detractors when he was popping out of UNC. Merril Hoge famously called Maye “the form of participant that may get you fired” not lengthy earlier than the Patriots drafted him.

However clearly to be taken No. 3 general, Maye had his share of vocal supporters. Certainly one of them is former NFL QB Tim Hasselbeck, who took a victory lap on “The Dan Patrick Show” for his tackle Maye’s potential.

“Drake Maye is, to me, about as excellent of a prospect that I’ve ever seen in 15 years at ESPN,” Hasselbeck said in 2023.

Patrick had Hasselbeck on as a visitor once more this week, and praised him for being proper about Maye.

“I feel I stated to you again then, the new takes aren’t actually me. That’s not what I’ve carried out over the past 18 years or so, so I recognize the victory lap. I often don’t get these. I hear it after I’m improper rather a lot, so I recognize you for bringing that again.”

The Patriots are on an eight-game profitable streak, largely boosted by the event of their passing assault. New England had one of many worst offenses within the NFL final 12 months. Now they’re seventh within the league in scoring at 27.2 factors per recreation.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Maye has developed into among the finest deep ball throwers within the NFL. The Patriots are constantly producing explosive performs. Maye’s mixture of accuracy and operating capability make him a dual-threat that has been tough to defend this season.

“The bodily instruments had been clearly there,” Hasselbeck stated, when requested what he noticed in Maye. “That was a no brainer, and that’s the case a variety of occasions with guys. They’re simply bodily proficient and that sort of factor.

“However I feel there have been different issues about him by way of simply his make-up. What his path was by means of highschool, what his upbringing was, what his expertise was like at Carolina. The way it began, issues he needed to persevere by means of.”

Hasselbeck, who spent a number of years as an analyst masking prime time Atlantic Coast Convention soccer video games for the ACC Community, stated his conversations with Maye had been a useful a part of his analysis.

“When you’ll be able to sit with any person and say ‘OK, properly why did that occur? Or, ‘What did you see right here?’ That tells you far more than simply watching any person’s movie and making an evaluation on it,” Hasselbeck stated.

“I’ve been proper about different guys up to now. I’ve been improper about different guys up to now. To me, there was actually nothing improper with him as a prospect popping out and from my conversations with him, it was like, ‘This man completely will get it’. Will get all the things about taking part in the place and what it could be prefer to should be the chief of a franchise.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports activities Reporter

Khari Thompson covers skilled sports activities for Boston.com. Earlier than becoming a member of the workforce in 2022, Khari coated school soccer for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.