NBC Sports’ Chris Simms has revealed his ranking of the top quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft. While his top selection shouldn’t surprise anyone, some of his other rankings probably will.
In a post on X today, Simms ranked USC’s Caleb Williams in his “Tier 1 – A Class of His Own.” In “Tier 2 – #1 In Other Years” he had LSU quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
Simms then had three quarterbacks in his “Tier 3 – Franchise Starting Quarterback” ranking: Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Finally, Simms had North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye ranked as a “Tier 4 – Talented Project” draft prospect.
Simms’ ranking of Maye is probably the most surprising of them all. Most analysts have him ranked as the No. 2 overall quarterback prospects, with only a select few limiting him to the top five.
So for Simms to have the UNC quarterback outside of the top five entirely is quite a take and one that has a lot of social media users curious to see what happens in April.
“Whoa! This social media might explode if Drake Maye drops to the teens,” one user replied.
“Bo Nix over Maye isn’t crazy imo. Bo Nix got the crazy efficient numbers and underrated playmaking ability on the move,” wrote another.
But most fans took to the replies to remind everyone that Simms famously declared that Zach Wilson was the top quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft rather than Trevor Lawrence.
No analyst is perfect, but a mistake like that really hurts his credibility in ranking quarterback prospects.