The New England Patriots' decision to take North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye with the No. 3 pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft was met with rave reviews.
Many experts graded the selection an A- or better, including our Patriots insider Phil Perry, who gave New England an "A" grade for the Maye pick.
One of the league's best young quarterbacks is a fan of Maye, too.
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Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, who won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award last season, was on Bleacher Report's draft show Thursday night and had plenty of praise for Maye.
“I feel like Drake Maye is (the most NFL ready),” Stroud said. “You watch his tape, just his arm talent jumps off.”
He later added: “When you watch (Maye's) tape, he scrambles when he needs to, he throws guys open, he has roll-out ability, different arm angles. I like Drake Maye."
Stroud helped lead the Texans to the playoffs in 2023 -- their first postseason appearance since 2019. He completed 63.1 percent of his passes for 4,108 yards with 28 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Stroud was the Texans' Week 1 starter and played 15 games (missed two due to injury) in total as a rookie. It's unknown whether Maye will be the Patriots' starting quarterback in Week 1 next season, but head coach Jerod Mayo didn't completely rule it out during his press conference Thursday night.
What we do know about Maye is his talent is off the charts. The Patriots now must figure out how to best utilize his abilities and surround him with enough elite skill on offense.