North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye has a portion of the Washington Commanders fan base who want to hear his name called when the No. 2 overall pick is called.
As part of the process that will ultimately lead to a final decision Thursday night the Commanders brought four quarterbacks in for top 30 visits. In addition to Maye, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. all made trips to Ashburn, Virginia to meet with team leadership.
That part is normal, what wasn’t all that normal was that Washington had all four come in at the same time and then famously or infamously depending on how you view it, took them all to Topgolf for some fun – and permissible – competition.
“I actually thought it was one of the cooler events I’ve been on,” Maye told ESPN’s Kevin Clark. “Different places you go and see kind of steak dinner spot and just you’re surrounded with the head coach and GM and quarterback coaches, and then the Commanders took an approach of all of us being together and seeing how we interact and getting a chance to swing the golf club a little bit. I enjoyed it, being around the other guys. I got to meet a lot of different guys throughout the process and a lot of guys I saw in high school recruiting…I think it was a really cool experience for me. I think we all got our separate time with the coaches when we need to. It’s not like we didn’t do any of that, but Topgolf is just a way for us to get out and do something fun the evening before.
Maye went on to say that he thought he was hitting the ball the best, but that McCarthy and Iowa tight end Erick All were both standouts as well.
The visit with the Commanders certainly stood out to a lot of people, and at least for Maye it appears to have had a positive impact.
We’ll see if his impact on Washington has been positive enough to land him a selection as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.