Drake Maye has a new home.

The New England Patriots selected the former UNC star quarterback and 2022 ACC Player of the Year with the No. 3 overall pick in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night. It’s the highest a Tar Heel has gone in the draft since Mitch Trubisky was selected at No. 2 overall by the Chicago Bears in 2017.

Maye is the 252nd Tar Heel to be selected in the NFL Draft and the 25th to hear his name called in the first round.

“This is a dream come true and something I’ve been working towards for a long time,” said Maye. “I’m thrilled to be part of the Patriots organization, and I truly appreciate them trusting me to lead the franchise into the future. I got to live out a dream playing at North Carolina and now I get to do it in the NFL with New England. I can’t wait to get started and get back to playing ball.”

Though Maye only started 26 games for Carolina, by the time he left Chapel Hill he had cemented himself as one of the best quarterbacks in program history. Maye’s 4,321 passing yards as a redshirt freshman in 2022 are the most ever by a Tar Heel in a single season, beating Trubisky’s 2016 mark by nearly 600 yards. Maye tossed 38 passing touchdowns that year, equaling Sam Howell’s single-season record set in 2019. Maye also ranks in UNC’s all-time top 10 in career passing yards (8,018, fifth) and career passing touchdowns (63, fourth). He appears twice in Carolina’s all-time top 10 for passing yards in a single game, with his career high of 448 at Wake Forest in 2022 ranking fourth. Maye threw five touchdowns in a game on three separate occasions, joining Howell as the only Tar Heels in history to do so.

Maye earned numerous awards and honors during his time at Carolina. In 2022, he became the first Tar Heel to win ACC Player of the Year in football since Lawrence Taylor in 1980, won the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year award, was a finalist for the Manning Quarterback Award and a semifinalist for the Walter Camp National Player of the Year Award. Though his numbers dipped slightly in 2023, Maye still earned second team All-ACC honors and was once again a finalist for the Manning Award.

“It’s been an absolute joy to coach Drake Maye and we couldn’t be more excited to see him drafted in the first round by the Patriots,” said UNC head coach Mack Brown. “I’ve been lucky enough to watch Drake grow up in the Carolina family and we’re so proud of how he’s represented both his family and the Tar Heels. As a player, he’s smart, accurate, dedicated and loves the game. He’s a great teammate and someone people gravitate towards. He’s got the ‘it’ factor and I think New England very lucky to have him.”

The Tar Heels went 17-9 in Maye’s 26 starts. In 2022, he led the team to the ACC Coastal Division crown and an appearance in the conference championship game for the second time in school history.

The 2024 NFL Draft runs through Saturday in Detroit.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Reinhold Matay

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