The Drake Maye hot takes just keep coming from former NFL running back Merril Hoge.
Weeks after labeling the North Carolina quarterback as “the kind of player that will get you fired,” Hoge doubled down on his criticism Wednesday, dubbing Maye “marginal at best” on the eve of the 2024 NFL Draft.
“Inconsistency alone, the inconsistency in throwing the football and processing, that’s just some of the problems. There’s a whole litany of things you have to correct,” Hoge said to WEEI’s Andy Gresh and Christian Fauria, according to NESN.
Maye, who completed 63.3 percent of his passes in his final year at North Carolina, is widely regarded as one of the top-three quarterbacks of this year’s draft class, along with USC’s Caleb Williams — the presumptive No. 1 pick to the Bears on Thursday — and LSU’s Jayden Daniels.
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Daniels, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner, has been heavily linked to the Commanders at No. 2, potentially leaving Maye, 21, on the board with the rebuilding Patriots at No. 3 — for now, anyway.
Hoge, who played eight NFL seasons for the Steelers and Bears, then stressed some things cannot develop as the learning process continues — accuracy, specifically.
“There will be a lot of people that go, ‘Oh you can teach that, you can fix that, you can work on that.’ Well, you can teach and fix anything you want, but can it ultimately be learned and applied? And there are some things you can’t change and there are some things you cannot fix and accuracy is one of those things,” Hoge said.
“You can dial it in a little bit, but if you’re not an accurate passer, you’re an inconsistent passer, that is going to be magnified in the National Football League.”
Hoge later warned of the potential years-long ramifications for quarterback-needy organizations, such as the Patriots, if Maye is picked.
“What are you guys trying to do there? You’re trying to build a team. You’re trying to build a championship, a championship team. Teams win championships, no quarterback is gonna win you a Super Bowl all the time,” he said.
“… But that guy can set you back five years in the organization based on all the issues that he had in college, and that will be magnified in the National Football League.”
The Patriots are coming off a dismal 4-13 campaign that saw the organization part ways with longtime coach Bill Belichick after 24 seasons.
Former linebacker-turned-coach Jerod Mayo was named Belichick’s successor, with the new regime trading quarterback Mac Jones — the Patriots’ 15th overall pick in 2021 — to the Jaguars in March.
The Post’s Steve Serby predicts the Patriots will select Maye at No. 3 on Thursday in his latest mock draft.
