Drake Maye keeps climbing, and every step up the ladder seems to sharpen the spotlight on the quarterbacks drafted around him.
CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan put together a ranking of the top 25 players age 25 and under for the 2026 season, and Maye landed at No. 4 overall. That made him the highest-ranked quarterback from the 2024 draft class, ahead of Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels, who checked in back-to-back at No. 7 and No. 8.
For Maye, the placement is another sign that the league is treating him like a true headliner now. Sullivan pointed to a Patriots run to the Super Bowl last season and Maye’s jump to MVP-caliber play as the driving force behind the ranking.
“A key reason the Patriots found themselves on a Super Bowl run last season was Drake Maye blossoming into an MVP-caliber quarterback.”
The second-year quarterback finished second to Matthew Stafford in the 2025 MVP race, helped New England go 14-3, and became the youngest quarterback in NFL history to lead the league in completion percentage and yards per attempt in the same season. Sullivan also noted that Maye’s playoff work was held back by problems up front, ending with “a dud in Super Bowl LX.”
Even with that finish, the case for Maye is strong. Sullivan called him “one of, if not the best, young quarterbacks in the league,” and added that he was “arguably the NFL's best deep-ball passer in 2025.”
With A.J. Brown now in the mix, the expectation is that Maye keeps rising in Year 3.
That’s where the pressure starts to spill onto the quarterbacks picked ahead of him.
Williams, the No. 1 overall pick, landed just behind Maye and got a favorable nod from Sullivan for finally looking like the player he was projected to be. The write-up said:
“Williams finally looked like the generational quarterback he was billed as entering the league in 2024 and delivered several clutch moments throughout the 2025 campaign. Entering Year 2 in Ben Johnson's system, it'll be fascinating to see how high Williams can climb among the NFL's quarterbacks.”
Williams had the kind of flashes that remind everyone why he went first, including playoff heroics. But the turnover issues, sacks, and risky decisions still left Chicago short of a championship. Ben Johnson has helped unlock more of what Williams can do, but there’s still more polish needed, and the Bears quarterback still has to keep growing as a leader.
Daniels’ path looked different. His rookie year was electric, but his second season was derailed by injuries. CBS Sports’ explanation made that clear:
Jayden Daniels was hobbled by injuries last season, and his numbers suffered because of it. He missed 10 games with multiple injuries, and the Commanders went just 2-5 in the seven games he started in 2025.
Still, Sullivan gave Daniels the benefit of the doubt because of what he already showed as a rookie, when he led Washington to the NFC Championship and a 12-5 record. That season included 31 total touchdowns, nine turnovers, and a 100.1 passer rating. The report also said Daniels is back to full strength and has a better supporting cast, including a revamped defense, so a return to that level in 2026 would not be a surprise.
The uncertainty is still greater in Washington than it is in New England or Chicago, though, especially with Dan Quinn replacing Kliff Kingsbury with David Blough. That leaves Daniels with more questions to answer than Maye, even if the talent is obvious.
In the end, the ranking says what the last two seasons have already made clear: Maye has earned the edge over Williams and Daniels right now. But the bigger picture is just how loaded that 2024 quarterback class looks.
The real measure, as always, won’t be the rankings. It’ll be the rings.
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