UNC Football: Tar Heels’ starting QB appears to be foregone conclusion

It appears as if the UNC football program has all but decided who next season’s starting quarterback will be.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are coming off of a disappointing season in which they were touted as a national title contender all summer long before compiling a record of 6-7 while underwhelming at virtually every turn.

The scary part about that for North Carolina fans is that their supremely talented junior quarterback, Sam Howell, will not be under center next season after declaring for the 2022 NFL Draft following the Tar Heels’ embarrassing blowout loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

But that doesn’t mean that all is lost for the Tar Heels, nor does it mean that good things aren’t on the horizon. After all, the Tar Heels reeled in top-15 recruiting classes each of the past two years and the nation’s 11th-best recruiting haul for the 2022 cycle.

One of the most exciting players they welcomed to campus in the 2021 class is now-sophomore quarterback Drake Maye, the younger brother of former UNC basketball standout Luke Maye. Maye was a fringe five-star recruit when he committed to North Carolina out of Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a quarterback that was considered a consensus top-10 player at his position.

There’s been much speculation regarding who would replace Howell as the Tar Heels’ starting quarterback in 2022, as Mack Brown and company have not only Maye but also four-star dual-threat QB Jacolby Criswell. It appears now, though, as we near the end of basketball season and the beginning of summer football workouts, that we may just have our answer.

Rivals recruiting guru Mike Farrell broke the news on Saturday morning that it’s Drake Maye that he believes will be the Tar Heels’ starting quarterback once the dust settles this offseason.

Farrell noted the confidence that the UNC coaching staff has in Maye and how impressed they are with his development. Maye has been compared to former Clemson signal-caller and current Jacksonville Jaguars starter Trevor Lawrence. Although Farrell doesn’t anticipate Maye being as good as Lawrence, he does feel like his ceiling is rather high.

As a freshman at North Carolina, Maye made it onto the field just twice, first against Wofford in mid-November and then again in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. He got just one pass attempt during his bowl game appearance but had an impressive showing against Wofford when he completed 7-of-9 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.

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