Drake Maye has another reason to keep pushing this season, and it comes straight from the same old NFL habit that has followed Patriots quarterbacks for years: the skepticism never really goes away.
That pattern was there with Tom Brady, who won 6 Super Bowls in New England, and it’s showing up again with Maye. Since the Patriots took him with the fourth-overall pick in 2024, he’s been treated by many as a quarterback who needed to wait, develop, and prove he belonged on the same level as his draft classmates Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels. Even after a 2025 season in which Maye led the Patriots to the Super Bowl on an MVP-caliber run after taking over as the starter in Week 6 of his rookie year, the doubt hasn’t disappeared.
Albert Breer’s recent poll made that plain. The Sports Illustrated insider sent a mass text to NFL general managers, assistant GMs, several coordinators, and others, asking them to choose between Williams and Maye as their quarterback of the future. Williams won easily, 12-5.
With the Patriots and Bears meeting on Thursday night in Week 7, the conversation around both quarterbacks only grew louder. Williams had what was described as his best game of the season, helped by the Patriots’ frustrating defense, while Maye answered with a strong performance of his own and showed he was not the quarterback seen in Weeks 1-3.
Still, the poll leaned heavily toward Williams. Respondents pointed to his “ceiling, creativity, and early record of clutch play” as the reasons they would build around him.
One assistant GM said, “You call a perfect D,” said an assistant GM, “and still get beat, just like Josh [Allen] and [Patrick] Mahomes.” Another offensive coordinator was even more direct: “It’s Caleb; it wouldn’t really be close for me.
More ability, keeps getting better, gives you a chance to win every game and he’s clutch.”
That view isn’t hard to understand. Williams entered the league as a Day 1 starter and has had more time to settle in, while Maye had to deal with the same kind of early turbulence without the same runway. Even so, the comparison to Allen or Mahomes feels early, but the league clearly sees Williams as the more polished bet right now.
The five who voted for Maye saw something different. They liked his “personality and sustainability,” and one general manager said he “would lean Drake, just falling back on the makeup and total package, not that Caleb is deficient, just maybe more volatility in his game long term.”
An offensive coordinator added, “Drake, but it’s close. Drake appears to me to be a little ahead of Caleb operating in the pocket and getting through progressions in the passing game, and still has athleticism to create. Caleb has great athleticism/speed and arm strength but is maybe a little less consistent.”
Maye’s case starts with the traits that already jump off the screen. He has the arm strength to attack deep, and he’s already shown he can punish defenses with his legs, rushing 38 times for 211 yards and two touchdowns. He’s also one of the league’s better improvisers, the kind of quarterback who can turn a broken play into something dangerous.
That’s part of why the doubters don’t seem to bother the Patriots much. New England has long worn that outsider label well, and its fans tend to embrace the idea that the rest of the league is slow to give their quarterback proper credit. Maye fits that mold, even if his chip on the shoulder may be smaller than some others.
He was one vote shy of MVP after delivering one of the best quarterback seasons in league history last year. This season has been bumpier, but the talent is still obvious, and the flashes suggest he could be the Patriots’ answer for the next decade and beyond.
There’s still time for him to change more minds. But even if the league keeps preferring Williams, the Patriots already have the most important piece in place: a quarterback they can build around for a long time.
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