UNC Football: Mel Kiper names top five 2024 NFL Draft prospects

With the 2023 NFL Draft in the past, is UNC football star quarterback Drake Maye among the top prospects heading into next year’s draft?

The 2023 NFL Draft has come and gone, as four UNC football players heard their names called over the three-day event.

For ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, there’s simply no break, as he’s already looking ahead to next year’s potential prospects!

One of the notable names is none other than North Carolina’s star quarterback, who is already drawing plenty of interest. At this point, Maye, along with USC quarterback Caleb Williams, are projected to be the first two signal-callers off the board in next year’s draft.

During day three of the NFL Draft, Kiper revealed his top five prospects for the 2024 draft, a list that included Maye.

"North Carolina’s biggest win of the offseason was getting Maye, who almost certainly had to deal with overtures from other teams, to return to Chapel Hill. There were times where he put North Carolina on his back and won games by himself — just pop on the App State tape, where he threw for 352 yards and four touchdowns to help the Tar Heels avoid a major upset. He finished his first full year as a starter, taking over for a 2022 NFL Draft pick in Sam Howell, with 4,321 passing yards and 38 touchdowns to just seven interceptions."

Kiper’s list is dominated by offensive players, as all five spots are filled by players from this side of the ball. Maye and Williams are the quarterbacks represented, while Marvin Harrison Jr. (wide receiver, Ohio State), Brock Bowers (tight end, Georgia), and Olu Fashanu (offensive lineman, Penn State) round out the list.

Tar Heels fans saw first-hand how good Maye was in his first season as the team’s starter, as he played a major role in the program’s appearance in the ACC title game. Not only will Maye look to replicate his success from a season ago, but will also look to help lead the UNC football program to its first conference title since 1980.

If Maye is able to perform once again at the high level we saw during the 2022 season, we won’t be waiting long to hear his name called by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on the first night of next year’s draft.

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