“They want to kick your butt in darts or rock paper scissors it doesn’t matter.”
Ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots coaching staff and personnel department took a visit down to Chapel Hill to meet with Drake Maye.
Beyond watching the quarterback’s Pro Day workout, a meeting with Maye including watching his final collegiate game — a 39-20 loss to their rival, NC State, where Maye tossed two interceptions.
When the entire trip was completed, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt had his answer.
“I was on the hook whenever we had our meeting down there in Chapel Hill, where he really just stood up and took all the bullets for a bad game that he played,” Van Pelt said Thursday. “We watched the NC State game where he played poorly. To me, that was the one like, I think this guy holding himself accountable, not placing any blame on teammates, or scheme, or any of that. That to me was the big piece.”
In addition to watching the game film, Van Pelt and New England’s coaches had quizzes prepared for the quarterback. Maye was bothered by missing one answer, so made sure he was prepared when he met with the staff later on in the pre-draft process.
“There was some quizzes that went on where he missed one and it kind of haunted him. So the next time we got back together he kept bringing up that one formation that beat him in the quiz,” Van Pelt said. “So, that’s the competitive nature that comes out that that you like to see.”
The competitive nature was an important trait for Van Pelt to see, as its one he’s seen in some of the other elite quarterbacks he’s worked with in his career.
It’s also part of what he believes helps transition a quarterback from the good to great category.
“There’s a lot of good quarterbacks. I think the greatness comes with the detail,” Van Pelt said. “I think the processing, to me, the great quarterbacks are the fastest processors. They can see the field, they can understand the issues, they can see the space in the field and process that quickly.
“Then the other part, the piece that I’ve always found with the great quarterbacks, is the competitiveness. Everyone I’ve been around from [Joe] Montana to [Jim] Kelly, they want to kick your butt in darts or rock paper scissors it doesn’t matter. Aaron Rogers, same way.
“So, it’s that ability to process. Obviously you have to have the skill set and then it’s that competitive nature… Those guys don’t ever want to be wrong. They always want to win and that’s that drive and that will.”
Through Maye’s first career eight starts, the 22-year-old has shown Van Pelt those traits of an elite quarterback. The staff has praised Maye’s ability to process and see the field throughout the year, while his competitiveness even shines outside of game days.
“I see the processing piece for sure,” Van Pelt said. “I think as he gets more comfortable as a leader you’ll see that take over as well. He is ultra competitive, just the chirping that goes back and forth between the quarterbacks and our QB drills is awesome. A lot of those qualities are there with Drake.”