UNC quarterback Drake Maye: Commanders took NFL draft prospects to Topgolf for top 30 visit

Topgolf has become a staple for companies — along with just traditional friend and family outings — to bring their employees, or even clients, out of the office and host an event over the last handful of years.

So much so that the Washington Commanders recently took around 20 NFL draft prospects to the nearby Topgolf in Virginia as part of their top 30 visit — including North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.

REQUIRED READING: Where will Drake Maye be drafted? Patriots lead list of 2024 NFL Draft landing spots

"It was one of the cooler visits I've been on," Maye told Kevin Clark on the Omaha Production's "This is Football" podcast."You always typically go and see, (we go to a) steak dinner spot and you're surrounded with the head coach, GM and quarterback coaches. The Commanders took the approach of all of us being together and seeing how we interacted. I got the chance to swing the golf club a little bit.

"I enjoyed it. Being around the other guys, got to meet a lot of different guys throughout the process. A lot of guys that I saw in high school during recruitment. I remember Amarius Mims, tried to get him to commit to Alabama when I was committed there in high school so full circle. ... It was a really cool experience for me."

Maye — the 2022 ACC Player and Offensive Player of the Year who finished with over 8,000 passing yards and 63 passing touchdowns in his three years at North Carolina — is a projected top-five pick in this year's NFL draft by USA Today Network's Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz.

The Tar Heels quarterback went on to say that while it was an unorthodox approach for a top 30 visit — which denotes all 32 NFL teams are allowed to bring 30 prospects to their respective city for an in-house visit leading up to the NFL draft — all of the prospects were still able to meet individually with Commanders brass, including head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters.

"We all got our separate time with coaches that we needed to do. It's not like we didn't do any of that. But TopGolf was just a way for us to get out and do something the night before," Maye said.

According to The Athletic, the Commanders brought all prospects to their facility in Ashburn, Virginia the next day for more one-on-one time with position coaches, Quinn, Peters and others. And before Maye was let go by Clark, he asked the most important question: "Were you the best golfer there?"

Responded Maye::

"I like to think I was. I think I had the best swing so I was hitting it good. But J.J. McCarthy was hitting it well as well."

Drake Maye NFL mock drafts

Here's a look at where Maye is being projected to go by NFL draft analysts with two days left until the 2024 NFL Draft:

• USA TODAY's Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz: No. 5 overall to the Minnesota Vikings (via trade with Los Angeles Chargers)

• CBS Sports' Josh Edwards: No. 2 overall to Commanders

• The Athletic's Dane Brugler: No. 3 overall to New England Patriots

• NFL Network's Peter Schrager: No. 3 overall to New England Patriots

• ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr: No. 3 overall to New England Patriots

• ESPN’s Field Yates: No. 3 overall to New England Patriots

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Commanders took UNC's Drake Maye, other NFL draft prospects to Topgolf