How does Drake Maye's start for UNC football match up with the ACC's best QBs of all time?

The biggest part of Drake Maye's career has yet to be played. But the first seven starts for North Carolina's redshirt freshman have been as good or better than most of the Atlantic Coast Conference's greatest quarterbacks.

Maye's passing and running have led the No. 21 Tar Heels to a 6-1 overall record and 3-0 start in ACC play entering Saturday's showdown against defending league champion Pitt (4-3, 1-2) in Chapel Hill (8 p.m., ACC Network).

The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder from Huntersville enters that affair as the national leader in total offense (380.1 yards per game), third in passing efficiency (184.8), passing yards (326.1) and points accounted for (164), and second in touchdown passes (24). Maye leads the ACC in all five of those categories.

"Drake continues to do some amazing things,'' UNC's Hall of Fame coach Mack Brown said. "He is a special player.''

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Overall, Maye has completed 162 of 231 passes (70.1%) for 2,283 yards and 24 touchdowns while only being intercepted three times. He's also racked up a team-best 378 yards rushing and three scores on 84 attempts.

Those statistics are comparable to what was produced in their first seven college starts by four future Heisman Trophy winners (Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke, Jameis Winston, Lamar Jackson), six ex-ACC Players of the Year (Philip Rivers, Tajh Boyd, Joe Hamilton, Matt Ryan, Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence) and six first-round NFL draft picks (Watson, Ryan, Winston, Lawrence, Rivers and Michael Vick).

Only Weinke accumulated more passing yards (2,510) in his first seven starts than Maye, while Boyd matched his 24 touchdown passes in leading Clemson to a 7-0 record to open the 2011 season. Jackson's 596 rushing yards, which included a 226-yard effort against Texas A&M in the 2015 Music City Bowl, were also ahead of Maye, but with 33 more attempts.

The auspicious beginning has thrust Maye into the Heisman Trophy conversation where he's listed among the contenders in odds posted by VegasInsider, FanDuel Sportsbook and BetMGM. VegasInsider has Maye tied for seventh with Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett and Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Though still a longshot at +4,000, Maye has the best odds among freshmen and the seventh-best quarterback, according to VegasInsider.

Maye isn't fazed by the attention. He's gotten used to it while carrying on a family tradition of high-profile athletes. His father Mark was a highly touted prep quarterback who set the then single-game passing yardage record at UNC (406) in 1987. Brother Luke was a starter on North Carolina's 2017 NCAA championship-winning squad, and three months later brother Cole was a pitcher for a Florida team that won the NCAA title. Younger brother Beau is currently a walk-on member of UNC's basketball team.

"Drake is very level-headed,'' Brown said. "He has gotten publicity his whole life. He was a five-star (recruit), he went through the celebration of an Alabama commitment. So I really don't think any of this (attention) affects him.''

Maye first made a verbal commitment to Nick Saban at powerhouse Alabama in July 2019. But Brown eventually convinced him to stay home and play for the Tar Heels.

“Coach Brown is one of the main reasons I ended up coming here,” Maye said last week while being interviewed by Jim Rome on CBS Sports Radio. “When he came back, he had the whole state ready for his appearance. ... Coach Brown is the ultimate player's coach. He’s always there for us. And when our playing days are done, he will take care of us.

"We got something special here in Chapel Hill.”

And that begins with Maye, whose passing yardage through his first seven starts is 230 yards better than Rivers, the ACC's career leader in that category, and 271 ahead of Boyd, who ranks third. His touchdown passes match ACC career leader Boyd's and are 11 more than Lawrence had. Lawrence is fifth on the ACC career list.

Maye has also produced the second-highest rushing total in his first seven starts among the aforementioned ACC quarterbacks, which includes elite runners such as Virginia Tech's Vick and Georgia Tech's Hamilton.

"He'll be playing on Sundays soon,'' Virginia Tech linebacker Dax Hollifield said after facing Maye.

But that will be some time down the road. For now, Maye is focused on leading the Tar Heels to more victories.

"It's been a dream come true (playing for UNC),'' Maye said. "It's been a little eye-opening on such a big stage. It's only going to get bigger from here. We've just got to keep winning games. So we've got a lot of work to do. But this has been a blessing.''

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: How does UNC football's Drake Maye compare to all-time ACC QBs?