The New England Patriots found themselves at a dead end at quarterback heading into the 2024 offseason. Neither Mac Jones nor Bailey Zappe had shown that they can carry the franchise into the future, and after a 4-13 season were both headed out the door. A restart was needed, and it came via the third overall selection in that year’s draft.
Drake Maye out of North Carolina was brought in hopes of reinvigorating an organization that had not won a postseason game in five straight seasons and had become a shell of its former dynastic self. While Maye did not lead New England back to the playoffs as a rookie, he did provide something the team had been missing for a while: hope.
Hard facts
Name: Drake Maye
Position: Quarterback
Jersey number: 10
Opening day age: 23 (8/30/2002)
Measurements: 6’4 3/8”, 225 lbs, 76 1/8” wingspan 32 1/4” arm length, 9 1/8” hand size, N/A Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: New England Patriots (2024-) | College: North Carolina (2021-23)
Growing up as the youngest of four brothers in a family of athletes, Maye started playing football at age 4. He later attended William Amos Hough High School in Cornelius, NC, as a freshman before transferring to Myers Park in Charlotte, NC. He won the Mustangs’ starting quarterback job right away, and ended his prep career with 6,713 passing yards as well as 86 touchdowns — all while also playing basketball at an All-District level.
A four-star recruit, Maye drew interest from some of the most prestigious colleges in the country from early in his high school career. He originally committed to Alabama, but later changed course and stayed home at the University of North Carolina.
After attempting only 10 passes as a freshman and eventually redshirting, Maye took over as the Tar Heels’ starting quarterback during his 2022 sophomore campaign. He burst onto the scene right away and after throwing for 4,321 yards with 38 TDs and 7 INTs received ACC Player of the Year honors, among other accolades. The following season saw a dip in production, in large part due to several departures on offense, but Maye still finished his junior campaign with a respectable 3,608 passing yards as well as 24 TDs and 9 INTs.
Despite having two years of eligibility left, Maye decided to leave school after the 2023 season. He ended up getting selected third overall by the Patriots in the 2024 NFL Draft, making him one of six quarterbacks picked in the first round.
And while he did not open his rookie campaign as a starter, he still managed to show why he was a highly-touted prospect coming out. A true dual-threat, Maye showed considerable promise in his 12 starts during the 2024 season.
Scouting report
Strengths: Combining ideal size and athletic ability, Maye is a prototypical modern day NFL quarterback. He can perform within the structure of a play and make every throw in the book, but is also comfortable when forced to improvise or extend plays either to set up the pass or advance the ball himself as a runner.
Maye has tremendous natural arm talent. He has a quick, uninterrupted release and keeps his velocity from different platforms and arm angles. He additionally possesses a good feel for varying the zip he puts on the ball; he is not just a cannonball passer but has shown the ability to deliver balls with touch. He is an accurate thrower whose ball placement, anticipation and timing especially in the intermediate range and over the middle of the field is advanced.
His accuracy also remains steady targeting other areas of the field, though, and he is both willing and able to push the ball downfield.
Even though he lacks experience and began his rookie season preparing as a backup — albeit one that saw some quality reps in practice as well — Maye has shown promise as a processor and communicator. He confidently went through his progressions against NFL-level competition, and was trusted with some full-field reads from early on. He has shown that he can see the field both pre- and post-snap, and also hat he can identify blitzers, pressure looks and coverage disguises.
Besides his arm talent, Maye also offers dual-threat ability. Despite standing at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, he has good acceleration and agility, and can break contain in an instant. In general, he has good lower-body flexibility and nimble feet both as a dropback passer and when running with the football in his hands.
That said, he is not over-reliant on carrying the football and is willing to step up in the pocket. Even though he took off on scrambles 45 times as a rookie, he is a passer first and tries to only move out of the pocket as a runner if no alternatives present themselves. At times, he showed that he can be a “live another down” quarterback rather than somebody trying to make plays at all costs. That said, his playmaking ability is one of his biggest assets.
Per PFF, Drake Maye led the NFL with 395 rushing yards on scrambles since becoming a starter in Week 6
Jayden Daniels was 2nd with 360, and Justin Herbert was 3rd with 295 pic.twitter.com/XXPFhitqlZ
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) January 14, 2025
Weaknesses: The two big words when it comes to Maye are: consistency and experience. Having started just 38 games between college and the NFL, Maye’s inexperience shines through on occasion. His processing still needs to get more steady, something that is also true for his ball security and tendencies to play hero ball. He is still in the developing stages when it comes to dissecting coverages and reading the field, especially after the snap.
Despite showing progress in his first year in the pros, his mechanical consistency remains a work in progress. His feet can get sloppy from time to time, creating a disconnect between his lower and upper body (which in turn results in off-target throws and more pressure on his arm to bail him out). He sometimes also falls back to the somewhat elongated throwing motion he showed in college.
Maye also has to learn not to expose himself to extra hits particularly as a runner. He was twice pulled from games in 2024 for concussion checks, ultimately exiting one of those contests (Week 8 vs. New York Jets).
2024 review
Stats: 13 games (12 starts) | 681 offensive snaps (62.3%) | 338 pass attempt, 225 completions (66.6%), 2,276 yards, 15 TDs, 10 INTs | 52 carries, 423 yards (8.1 yards/carry), 2 TDs | 34 sacks (8.1%), 9 fumbles (6 lost), 1 penalty
Season recap: The Patriots had 10 minutes to make their pick at No. 3 overall in the 2024 draft, but they knew right away who they were going with. Maye was their guy from early in the intensified draft process, and they handed their card in with half of their allotted time still on the clock.
At that point, they had three other quarterbacks on their roster already: free agency signing Jacoby Brissett, 2024 part-time starter Bailey Zappe, and waiver claim Nathan Rourke. Rourke was soon let go — the Patriots had also drafted fellow QB Joe Milton III in the sixth round — with Maye slotting into the No. 2 spot behind Brissett. He would remain in that position through the spring and training camp, despite some mixed messaging from head coach Jerod Mayo.
When the Patriots opened the regular season with an upset win over Cincinnati, Maye continued serving as QB2. He kept that role for the first five weeks of the season, seeing his only action late in a blowout loss to the New York Jets in Week 3.
With New England’s season entering a tailspin after the Week 1 victory, however, a shakeup was in order. Whether the team had always targeted Week 6 is doubtful, but the decision to pull Brissett and insert Maye into the starting lineup was made nonetheless. On October 13, the first-round rookie made his starting debut and quickly jumped back and forth through his pre-draft scouting reports.
Going 20-of-33 for 243 yards, Maye had three touchdowns passes in a 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans and also averaged 7.6 yards per carry. However, he also turned the ball over three times via a pair of interceptions and a lost fumble.
In a way, that game was a microcosm of Maye’s season. Starting the final 12 games of the Patriots’ season, he had several moments of brilliance but simultaneously made his fair share of rookie mistakes as well.
On the plus side was Maye’s undeniable playmaking ability. Whether it was some pin-point passes, top-notch improvisational play, or the fact that he was one of the most productive running QBs in the NFL, Maye had at least a handful of highlight-reel plays in every one of his start-to-finish games.
On the other hand, he also gave the ball away a total of 21 times. While not all of his 15 interceptions of 6 lost fumbles fall directly on him, he had a hand in thwarting several opportunities — a death sentence for an offense struggling to move the ball and score points on a consistent basis.
No game exemplified this better than his Week 9 outing against the Tennessee Titans. First, Maye delivered one of the plays of the season when he threw a buzzer-beater touchdown to Rhamondre Stevenson to tie the game at 17 at the end of regulation; he moved around the pocket for 12 seconds and evaded several tackle attempts to get the ball off. Then, in overtime, he threw an ill-advised deep ball on a 1st-and-10 with 2:17 left that resulted in a game-ending interception.
Largely as a result of turnovers like this, Maye finished only 24th among NFL quarterbacks in expected points added per play (-0.007). However, he also ranked 11th in completion percentage above expectation (2.8), first with an average of 8.1 yards per non-kneel-down run, as well as fifth in EPA per run (0.37).
All in all, Maye’s rookie season as therefore one of definitive promise. He joined a challenging situation and played behind one of the worst offensive lines in football, and yet he still held his own. Sure, he never was a realistic candidate to earn Offensive Rookie of the Year honors given a) Jayden Daniels’ impressive season in Washington, and b) the Patriots’ lackluster record, but he showed not just that he belonged in the conversation.
Maye showed that he can be the franchise quarterback the Patriots drafted him to be.
2025 preview
Position: Starting QB | Ability: Quality starter | Contract: Signed through 2027
What will be his role? The Patriots are in a “toothpaste being out of the tube” situation with Maye: they decided that he was their starter in October 2024, and there is no going back even under a new regime. Then again, why would there be? Despite his ups and downs, Maye proved himself worthy of the QB1 job and there are no questions about his standing on the depth chart. He is the guy, and he deserves to be.
What is his growth potential? In one word, immense. Maye’s flashes as a rookie were nothing short of exciting, and showed just how high his ceiling is. While we are labeling him as a quality starter based on our assessment of his current stage of development, he has the talent to move all the way up to the blue-chip label. Frankly, Maye is an All-Pro talent.
Does he have positional versatility? As far as the quarterback position is concerned, the answer is “yes.” Maye was the most efficient rushing QB in football last year, and has a true dual-threat skillset. Whether or not the Patriots will lean into it remains to be seen — last year he did not see a designed carry until Week 16 — but the potential is undeniable.
What is his salary cap situation? Despite only entering the second season of his rookie contract, Maye is carrying the 10th highest cap hit on the Patriots’ roster at $8.327 million. That number is fully guaranteed and consists of a $960,000 base salary, $1.5 million roster bonus, and $5.87 million signing bonus proration.
How safe is his roster spot? Maye is a lock to make the roster. Unless disaster strikes in the form of an injury, he will be on the 53-man team come the regular season and lead the offense onto the field for every single meaningful game (as well as at least one preseason contest, one would imagine).
Summary: Coming off a promising rookie campaign that showed flashes of franchise play, Maye’s development will be the biggest story of the Patriots’ 2025 season. He will have to show that the hype is indeed justified, but there is real reason for optimism considering his play in 2024 as well as his improved supporting cast both on and off the field.
What do you think about Drake Maye heading into the 2025 season? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.