New England Patriots
Maye has statistically been one of the league’s best passers so far this season, showing high upside.
In the eyes of many, Drake Maye’s 273-yard performance in the Patriots’ upset win over the Bills in Week 5 served as a coming-out party. In fact, the performance elevated Maye’s quarterback ranking.
Out of the six notable publications and outlets that rank the quarterbacks on a weekly basis, Maye was ranked as either the 10th-best or 11th-best quarterback in all of them. Four placed the Patriots quarterback at No. 10 (NFL.com, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, The Athletic), while two ranked him at No. 11 (The Ringer, CBS Sports).
In NFL.com’s quarterback ranking, Maye was listed at the top of Tier 3. Maye climbed three spots in The Athletic‘s Jeff Howe’s ranking after Week 5, with an executive heaping praise over the Patriots quarterback.
“He looked great — comfortable and poised,” the executive reportedly told Howe. “He has all the physical tools to be special.”
Those physical tools were on full display in the Patriots’ victory over the Bills, with Maye living up to the comparisons to Josh Allen and Justin Herbert in that game. Two plays where Maye’s athleticism really stood out came on a pair of completions to Stefon Diggs in the second half. In the third quarter, he rolled to his right and threw a 32-yard completion to Diggs along the sideline. On the Patriots’ game-winning drive, Maye wrestled out of a sack before flipping a pass to Diggs for a 12-yard completion.
The pair of completions seemed to lead every highlight reel from Sunday’s game, but The Ringer’s Steve Ruiz would like to see Maye find success from the pocket on a more consistent basis before ranking him higher.
“If Maye could just cut out half the jump throws and off-platform YOLO balls from his game, he’d be on the fast track to the top 10. The rest of the necessary skills are already present in his game; he just needs to hone them,” Ruiz wrote. “Playing with a better supporting cast would help, but Maye has the individual ability to overcome New England’s weak roster.”
Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner made a similar remark earlier this week when he was asked if he thought Maye had taken the next step.
“I think Drake is playing some good football,” Warner said on “The Rich Eisen Show.” “But right now, a little of it is a little more backyard football than solid, consistent quarterback play.
“We’re seeing some big-time plays and some good quarterback play. But right now, I’m seeing too much look at one guy and go create.”
Maye has been one of the better pocket passers so far this season, though. His 84.9 completion percentage in the pocket is the third-best among starting quarterbacks, and his 7.2 yards per attempt on pass from the pocket are the 11th-most in the league, per Pro Football Focus.
Maye’s also been one of the best quarterbacks in the league in terms of box score stats. He’s fifth in passing yards (1,261), fifth in yards per attempt (8.2), sixth in passer rating (107.8), and second in completion percentage (73.9).
The advanced numbers paint Maye in an even better light, though. He’s sixth in expected points added (EPA) per play (0.288) and third in completion percentage over expected (CPOE) (9.6).
And while Maye has been one of the best quarterbacks at attacking the short area of the field, he’s also been pretty successful at airing the ball out, too. He’s completed 25 of 38 passes on intermediate throws (10-19 air yards) for 406 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, and a 108 passer rating this season. Maye has the highest passer rating (145.1) on deep throws (20-plus air yards) this season, completing 8 of 11 such passes for 225 yards and a touchdown.
So, if Maye can keep putting numbers up like that, it might be only a matter of time before he’s considered a consensus top-10 quarterback.
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