Drake Maye Continues to be Unimpressive – How much time does he have to turn it around?
Drake Maye struggled in the Patriots’ preseason win over the Commanders on Friday. Maye finished the night three of five for twelve yards and a fumble lost in his limited time on the field.
Even Patriots’ Head Coach Mike Vrabel had to concede his disappointment in his starting quarterback’s play. “I think we’re going to need better from him.” Vrabel said after the game. “I think he knows that. That’s obvious. It wasn’t there. We just have to find a way to get rid of the football or take a sack and punt and play defense.”
In Maye’s defense, his performance wasn’t all bad. He managed to rush for an easy touchdown toward the end of the first quarter, on a drive largely bolstered by a strong Patriots’ running game.
The New England Patriots selected Drake Maye third overall in 2024, expecting him to elevate the level of Quarterback play since Tom Brady left in 2019. Maye’s done little to live up to his end of that prophecy. He played in thirteen games, throwing fifteen touchdowns to ten interceptions and four fumbles last season.
Drake Maye is quickly running out of time to prove he’s the franchise quarterback. Even Patriots’ fans would have to admit that if they could do last year’s draft over, Maye isn’t the quarterback they would have taken. Ranking last year’s rookie quarterbacks:
1. Jayden Daniels
2. Bo Nix
3. Michael Penix Jr
4. Drake Maye
5. JJ McCarthy
6. Caleb Williams…and yes, I’m aware that JJ McCarthy didn’t play.
Bottom line, Drake Maye needs to get it together before the Patriots make a desperate call to the Falcons, Browns, or Giants – all of whom have medium trade value quarterbacks to offer.