New England Patriots - NESN.com
Drake Maye showed flashes of star potential during his rookie season with the Patriots.
And while nobody is going to argue New England has the best quarterback situation entering the 2025 campaign, those representing the Foxboro Faithful likely would back Maye as a top-20 talent. Pro Football Focus, however, believes Maye is on the outside looking in.
The well-known outlet ranked all 32 starting quarterbacks and listed the Patriots second-year signal-caller No. 22 overall. Sure, Maye is behind the obvious Patrick Mahomes (No. 1), Joe Burrow (No. 2) and Lamar Jackson (No. 3), but a few others include Bo Nix (No. 19), Bryce Young (No. 20) and even J.J. McCarthy (No. 21).
“Maye went through the expected rookie growing pains, finishing the year with a 64.9 passing grade and more turnover-worthy plays (16) than big-time throws (14),” PFF’s John Kosko wrote. “He faced one of the league’s worst offensive lines and had limited support in the receiving corps.
“With Mike Vrabel taking over as head coach and upgrades around him, the No. 3 overall pick from 2024 is positioned to take a step forward in Year 2.”
McCarthy might be the toughest for Patriots fans to rationalize. The Minnesota Vikings rising sophomore did not even play his rookie season after tearing his ACL. Kosko wrote McCarthy’s ranking was rooted in his “personal evaluation” and said he viewed the Michigan product as the best signal-caller in the 2024 NFL Draft.
With Vrabel, Josh McDaniels and a much-improved group of skill-position players, Maye has a real chance to perform better than his PFF ranking this season.
