New England Patriots
Maye will face one of the seven players on this list this week when the Patriots travel to Baltimore.
When the Patriots travel to Baltimore on Sunday, Drake Maye will have an opportunity to prove himself against one of seven players in league history to win the MVP award at age 24 or younger.
With three games left in the regular-season, the 23-year-old Maye leads the Pro Bowl vote and is among the favorites to win MVP.
Both DraftKings and FanDuel give Maye the second-best odds to win the award, trailing only Los Angeles’ Matthew Stafford. He was in the lead before last week’s loss to the Bills.
The 23-year-old signal caller has been the catalyst behind a dramatic turnaround for the Patriots this season. New England won a combined eight games over the past two seasons. They won 10 in a row before the Buffalo loss and are within striking distance of clinching a playoff berth.
Maye is completing a league-best 70.9 percent of his passing attempts. He’s in the top-5 for passing yards (3,567) and quarterback rating (109.1), passing touchdowns (23) and yards per completion (8.7).
As the Patriots close out the regular-season, Maye has a chance to put himself in elite company.
Five of the seven players to win the MVP award at age 24 or younger are Pro Football Hall-of-Famers. The other two, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, are still active in the league.
Jackson became the youngest two-time MVP since the AFL-NFL merger in 2024. The Patriots will face him this week.
Here’s a look at Jackson, Mahomes, and the rest of the exclusive list that Maye would join if he happens to win the MVP award this season or next season, since Maye’s summer birthdate (August 30th, 2002) would make him 24 at the end of next season, too.
Jim Brown
First MVP win: 1957 (age 21)
Total MVP wins: 3
Super Bowl wins: Technically zero, since Brown retired two years before the first Super Bowl was played. He did, however, lead the Browns to an NFL Championship in 1964.
Key Stats from first MVP year: 202 carries, 942 yards rushing, 9 rushing touchdowns, 4.7 yards per carry.
Notes on the campaign: This was a season of many firsts for Brown. It was the first of his three MVPs. He won the Rookie of the Year award. He led the NFL in rushing yards and touchdowns for the first time. It was the first of nine consecutive Pro Bowl appearances.
Earl Campbell
First MVP win: 1979 (age 24)
Total MVP wins: 1
Super Bowl wins: 0
Key stats from first MVP year: 368 carries, 1,697 yards, 19 touchdowns, 4.6 yards per carry.
Notes on the campaign: One of three consecutive seasons where Campbell led the league in rushing yards. His 19 rushing touchdowns were a career high. His only NFL MVP award came just two years after winning the Heisman Trophy at University of Texas.
Lamar Jackson
First MVP win: 2019 (age 22)
Total MVP wins: 2
Super Bowl wins: 0
Key Stats from first MVP year: 265-for-401 passing (66.1 completion percentage), 36 passing touchdowns against six interceptions. 113.3 quarterback rating.
Notes on the campaign: Jackson became the second player to be unanimously voted as league MVP, joining Tom Brady as the only players on the list. No one has won the award unanimously more than once – Jackson fell one vote short when he won again in 2024. The Ravens cruised to a 14-2 record in 2019 before falling to Mike Vrabel’s Titans in the Divisional Round – after Tennessee knocked Brady and the Patriots out of the playoffs in the Wild Card.
Patrick Mahomes
First MVP win: 2018 (age 23)
Total MVP wins: 2
Super Bowl wins: 3
Key Stats from first MVP year: 383-for-580 passing, 5,097 passing yards, 50 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. 105.3 quarterback rating.
Notes on the campaign: Mahomes kicked off a string of six-consecutive Pro Bowl appearances. He made his first appearance in the AFC title game against the Patriots, throwing for 295 yards and three touchdowns in an eventual overtime loss to New England. He tied Brady’s mark of 50 passing touchdowns, which is the second-most all time for a single season.
Dan Marino
First MVP win: 1984 (age 23)
Total MVP wins: 1
Super Bowl wins: 0
Key Stats from first MVP year: 362-for-564 passing, 5,084 yards, 48 touchdowns against 17 interceptions. 108.9 quarterback rating.
Notes on the campaign: Most of the records that Marino set during this season have since been surpassed, but it still holds up as one of the greatest individual seasons for a quarterback ever. It was also the peak of his performance – his only time winning the MVP and appearing in the Super Bowl, which Miami lost to San Francisco. He went on to lead the league in passing yards five times and make nine Pro Bowls.
Walter Payton
First MVP win: 1977 (age 24)
Total MVP wins: 1
Super Bowl wins: 1
Key Stats from first MVP year: 339 carries, 1,852 yards, 14 touchdowns, 5.5 yards per carry.
Notes on the campaign: This season made Payton the first NFL MVP winner from an Historically Black College (Jackson State). Steve McNair (Alcorn State) become the second when he was co-MVP with Payton Manning in 2003. It was the only time Payton led the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He broke O.J. Simpson’s single-game rushing yard record with 275 yards in a game against the Vikings that year. The mark is still in the top-five all-time.
Emmitt Smith
First MVP win: 1993 (age 24)
Total MVP wins: 1
Super Bowl wins: 3
Key Stats from first MVP year: 283 carries, 1,486 yards, nine touchdowns, 5.3 yards per carry.
Notes on the campaign: Smith, who eventually became the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, won both MVP and Super Bowl MVP this season despite missing the first two games. He turned in a signature performance during the regular-season finale against the Giants, going for 168 rushing yards and 61 receiving yards while playing with a separated shoulder that he suffered in the first half.
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