Drake Maye is heading into Year 3 with the New England Patriots, and the conversation around him still feels strangely behind the production. He was dropped into a team that wasn’t built to win, walked through the mess of a chaotic rookie season, and still came out looking like the franchise quarterback New England hoped it was getting.
Then Year 2 raised the bar even higher. With a new head coach and staff in place, and plenty of skepticism hanging over the Patriots from outside the building, Maye helped steer the team to its best season since Tom Brady left in 2020. New England ripped off a 10-game win streak on the way to 14 wins, an AFC East title, and a trip to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
Maye’s individual numbers backed up the team success. He led all quarterbacks in several categories, and his 72% completion percentage stood out as especially impressive. Even so, the national conversation has kept looking elsewhere, with Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels still getting the bulk of the shine from the 2024 quarterback class.
Daniels had the kind of rookie year that forces attention, taking the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game. Williams followed a similar path to Maye last season, and both are expected to keep climbing this fall. But that hasn’t stopped some analysts from treating Maye like the afterthought in the group.
ESPN’s Louis Riddick became the latest to do it, saying Daniels is "still the best QB of the '24 class."
That came in response to quarterback rankings that had Maye at No. 8 and Williams at 10. Daniels was listed as an honorable mention after Sam Darnold, with one NFL personnel evaluator saying he "would still take him over the other quarterbacks [from the 2024 draft class] from a pure quarterback, decision-making standpoint."
There’s no denying Daniels’ rookie success, and it would have been reasonable to lean his way after Year 1. But Maye’s own body of work, injuries and all in 2025, shouldn’t have him pushed out of the discussion this quickly. And it certainly doesn’t make much sense to lock in Daniels as the clear best quarterback from that class right now.
Part of the issue may be perception. The Patriots’ schedule last season may have made it easier for some people to dismiss what Maye was doing. But taking a 2025 Patriots team all the way to the Super Bowl, winning every road game including the postseason, and leading all quarterbacks in multiple categories is not something that should be brushed aside.
Now comes the next chance to settle it on the field. Maye enters his third season with a much better supporting cast, especially on offense, and that matters. He has what looks like his strongest group around him since arriving two years ago, with an upgraded offensive line and receiving corps, plus a secret weapon in fullback Reggie Gilliam.
That should help clean up the offensive issues that showed up in the postseason and the Super Bowl. It also gives Maye a real shot to deliver his best season yet in 2026.
The challenge is sitting right in front of him. The Patriots are said to have one of the toughest schedules in the league, and the first month is a grind: Seahawks, Steelers, Jaguars, and Bills. That opening stretch could define the season before it really gets rolling, and Maye’s play will go a long way toward determining how New England handles it.
There’s also no shortage of motivation. A frustrating performance against the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX left a bad taste, and the hope is that the Patriots use it to fuel another strong start in Week 1.
With more protection and more weapons, Maye has the chance to make life much easier on himself and keep stacking the kind of numbers that are harder to ignore. If he does that, Riddick and anyone else who has been quick to rank him behind the rest of the class may have to revisit their take.
Even if the doubters never fully come around, one thing is already obvious: Drake Maye is the future in New England. And for all the mistakes that piled up under Jerod Mayo, the Patriots got the biggest call right when they drafted him.
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