Patriots

Scott Zolak was impressed with Drake Maye’s football IQ in viral clip

"He digested it fast, which is good. That’s quick because that’s a lot of terminology at this level.”

Drake Maye's football IQ has impressed Scott Zolak so far. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

July 10, 2024

Drake Maye clearly made quite an impression on the New York Giants in the weeks leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft.

In a clip from the new “Hard Knocks” series featuring the Giants, Maye quickly processes a steady stream of plays, football jargon, and other commands from Giants head coach Brian Daboll — leaving New York’s top brass impressed with the promising QB.

Here are two guys working on speaking the same language: Drake Maye and Brian Daboll at the NFL Combine pic.twitter.com/uDzb7SikyU
— Henry McKenna (@henrycmckenna) July 10, 2024

Count former Patriots QB and current radio host Scott Zolak among those impressed with how New England’s new signal-caller showcased his football IQ under pressure.

Even though Maye barking out plays and making adjustments with his reads might sound like a garbled mess at first glance, Zolak praised Maye’s ability to confidently relay that information back to Daboll in short order.

“I would say yes because they gave you eight seconds of information. That’s a lot of overload right there,” Zolak said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” when asked if that clip was impressive. “Gun, dolphin right, 72, tundra, float, ready — break. And he’s gotta get up there, set it to the wheel. ‘Yeah, I got it.’

“Here’s one thing I’ve learned about him: He’s very excitable. ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, easy stuff.’ He’s a fast talker. When you’re a quick talker, you’re not slow, let me think as I’m talking, processing it. He digested it fast, which is good. That’s quick because that’s a lot of terminology at this level.”

Why @scottzolak is impressed with the Drake Maye Hard Knocks clip pic.twitter.com/BZb4KnxNmy
— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) July 10, 2024

Maye’s arm strength and pro-ready frame made him an appealing target for New England with the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. But the UNC product will not be able to thrive at the NFL level if he doesn’t master New England’s offense scheme and learn how to adjust and counter NFL defenses.

Zolak believes that Maye — when compared to Mac Jones — should fare better when it comes to adjusting on the fly to whatever opposing teams might throw at him once the ball is snapped.

“There’s a mixture of it to speed things up,” Zolak added of the varying approaches when it comes to offensive schemes. “But I think this really, really hampered Mac because he seems like he’s a structure guy.

“The guy wants to know the answers like it’s spelled out for you. I just wonder what type of offense you’re going to run here and what’s the terminology. It seems like he that processed that pretty well in eight seconds.”