Colin Cowherd: “What do you make of Drake Maye? You’re not a huge fan – why?”
Merril Hoge: “His processing. I watch him function under pressure, but I don’t think I’ve yet to see him execute a pressure correctly. Identify it – often times he misses it. Sometimes when you see his head in that position, he doesn’t acknowledge it and make the throw. Those are concerning.
When I talk about ‘processing’, there’s not a lot of things I’m really confident about that he processes well, especially pressures. He’s completely erratic when it comes to throwing the football, it’s a big concern. Can you button those things up, can you get a little better? Here is what my ultimate belief is from playing in this league, coaching, studying this league for nearly 40 years – you just don’t correct that. It is actually magnified when you get to the National Football League. That'w when you become MORE erratic.
It’s on ALL throws – short, intermediate, long... Now, he’ll do enough to dazzle you. Here’s where the problem is – you'll say ‘I’m going to fix that. I’ll make him smarter, I’ll make him more accurate’, and that’s where people get fired when you do that. There’s just too much there. I would not give him a first-round grade. I wouldn't take him in the first round, and if I did, I would be very concerned of how long I’m going to be around as a coach or a GM.”
Watch former NFL running back and long-time ex-ESPN analyst Merril Hoge join The Herd with Colin Cowherd to explain why he would not draft North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye in the first round of April’s 2024 NFL Draft despite Maye being nearly unanimously heralded as the second-best player in the Draft behind USC’s Caleb Williams.
Maye is widely expected to be the second overall pick to the Washington Commanders barring a blockbuster trade, or a late surge from LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, but Hoge says Maye doesn’t even get a ‘first-round grade’ from him. Hoge says he has serious concerns to Maye being able to operate under defensive pressure, saying his inability to process under duress is going to make him too erratic to be a dependable NFL quarterback.
Check out the segment above as Hoge says he would be ‘very concerned’ for the head coach or general manager who is going to draft Maye.
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