It’s a foregone conclusion that USC quarterback Caleb Williams will be selected No. 1 overall by the Chicago Bears in next month’s 2024 NFL draft.
Some view the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner as a generational prospect. Some have said he’s the best quarterback since Joe Burrow, while others say he’s the best since Andrew Luck.
Regardless, Williams is the unquestioned No. 1 prospect for the 2024 draft class.
Well, not for everyone.
Nate Tice of Yahoo Sports and The Athletic covers the NFL draft and does an excellent job in his quarterback evaluations. He loves Caleb Williams. But he likes North Carolina’s Drake Maye just a little bit more.
In his top 50 big board, Tice has Maye ahead of Williams. Here’s what he said about both passers.
After fully studying Maye and Williams, I view both as elite-level talents and both a full tier above the other options in this year’s group of quarterback prospects. Maye is an excellent combination of age, size, athleticism and arm talent, with more feel in the pocket and creativity to his game than he has gotten credit for.
Williams has superb accuracy, clean footwork and has more overall soundness to his game than he has gotten credit for, along with the ability to extend, create and work throws from angles that other quarterbacks cannot fathom.
While both have plenty to work on — Maye with slowing down his heat checks and Williams with trying not to press, and both with cutting their sacks down— they are true prizes in a draft group with MVP-level upside.
Ignore what you see or hear about Maye not being a first-round pick or needing multiple years to develop. Whether he goes No. 2 to the Washington Commanders or not, he falls no lower than No. 3 in the draft.
In case you’re wondering where LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels is, Tice has him ranked as his 19th overall prospect.