New England Patriots - NESN.com
Drake Maye continues to draw national recognition after steering the New England Patriots to a Week 5 win over the Buffalo Bills.
Buzz is building around New England’s signal-caller, who has begun his second season with a 107.8 quarterback rating through five games. Maye could be quickly cementing himself among the league’s top passers.
NFL.com’s Nick Shook moved Maye up his weekly quarterback rankings, sliding the 23-year-old two spots to No. 10. An injured Lamar Jackson was removed from the 32 starters ranked, but Maye leapfrogged Jordan Love to headline the third tier.
“Drake Maye has been on fire over the last couple of weeks while continuing to play within himself,” Shook wrote. “He took plenty of what the defense gave him in a blowout win over the Panthers in Week 4. Then he played the hero in front of a national audience in Buffalo, introducing himself (and his talents) to the greater football populous with a fantastic, fearless performance in a raucous road environment. Maye has guts and skills, as the rest of the league now understands.”
Shook’s rankings appear to reward recent performance more than track record. Baker Mayfield took the No. 1 spot away from Josh Allen, and Sam Darnold soared to No. 5. Former Patriots quarterback Mac Jones skyrocketed to No. 14 after leading the San Francisco 49ers to an upset over the Los Angeles Rams in place of Brock Purdy.
Yet Sunday night’s upset at Orchard Park has taken control of the league’s weekly headlines. Maye amassed 273 passing yards after completing 13 of 14 pass attempts in the second half of a monumental AFC East triumph.
Following the Week 5 victory, Maye ranks second in completion rate (73.9) and fifth in yards per attempt (8.2) this season. He’s gone two straight wins without a turnover since surrendering an interception and a fumble in a Week 3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Maye will look to avoid a letdown and keep the hype train rolling when the Patriots play the New Orleans Saints this Sunday.
