ClutchPoints
For nearly two decades, the New England Patriots went as Tom Brady went. Now, they go as Drake Maye goes.
In 2025, Maye took them all the way to the Super Bowl before they fell to the Seattle Seahawks on the biggest stage. Despite the disappointment of that loss, which included a subpar game from Maye along with many others on the Pats’ side, New England still has plenty to look forward to with its star quarterback headed into just his third season.
As Maye heads into year three, he is only going to be getting better. He is even picking up more pre-snap responsibility and zeroing in on improving that area of his game, via Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald.
“I’ll have more on this in the coming days, but Maye’s development at the line of scrimmage may be the single-most important variable to the Patriots’ season aside from all of the annual staples (health, turnovers, luck, etc.),” Callahan wrote.
“Josh McDaniels and Co. successfully launched Maye for a Year 2 leap last season with a three-pronged development plan. This year, the focus is on system mastery to the point he can call, change or tweak any play at any time. It’s a large mental load for a third-year quarterback, but with the entire offense at his disposal, Maye should have all the answers.”
Maye already established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in all of football last season, finishing second in the NFL MVP race just behind Matthew Stafford. He did that thanks to plenty of arm talent, accuracy and ability to push the ball down the field effectively. If his mind catches up, it could get very scary for the rest of the AFC.
On top of Maye’s mental developments, the Patriots also have given him a true No. 1 receiver in A.J. Brown. Having the former Philadelphia Eagles star on the outside should give this unit a lot more explosiveness. Combine that with Maye’s potential improvement, and this has a chance to be one of the best offenses in the NFL in 2026.
The post The Drake Maye ‘variable’ that will make or break Patriots season, per insider appeared first on ClutchPoints.
