I am expecting a pro bowl season

[Ring 6]

Sure, but there's a difference between just the general scrutiny everyone gets vs. when it's really targeted at you. The latter can be tough to handle because especially in Boston the fans and media are relentless. The fans and media here will try to make you feel worthless as a human once you're in their cross hairs. Greg Bedard will write some ******** like your 5th grade math teacher said you aren't competitive and the Felger and Mazz's of the world will hype it up. Different sport, but poor Brad Stevens' high school daughter had crazy fans blowing up her instagram over not liking the Jaylen Brown trade.

Every athlete is always being watched and scrutinized but it rises to higher levels for some. High draft pick like Campbell playing a premium position has a target on his back with the ******* fans and media here that's on a different level. Jared Wilson sucked in the superbowl too but he's not on the same level of scrutiny for example.

They ignore it.
They aren’t high school girls hearing criticism of their father.
They are professional athlete under intense pressure to perform. The last thing they care about is what some knucklehead is writing or saying about them.
They certainly aren’t performing poorly because they are acreage what delver will say.

 

[Thelonious]

QB passing yards is an antiquated stat for effectiveness. So many of those yards are YAC.
I much prefer comp %, turnovers. There are also stats for bad throw % and on target %.
Of course wins

Fwiw
YAC yards in 2025
Nix-2093 yards
Caleb-1835 yards
Maye-1746 yards

Good point, pretty compelling case.

 

[rkarp1]

gee, exactly what I said 2 days ago

#PostPulpit mailbag: How many roster spots are up for grabs?

The latest edition of our Patriots mailbag answers questions about training camp, Drake Maye’s improvements, and more.

www.patspulpit.com

What does Drake Maye realistically need to do to be considered a top 5 QB in the league going into 2027? - CraftBeerDrinker
How can the team address Drake Maye’s ball security issues? - slunkywontergreen
We’ll lump these two questions together because improving ball security would be a major step toward Maye becoming a consensus top-five quarterback. After fumbling nine times in 13 games as a rookie, Maye put the ball on the ground 15 times last season, including seven times in the postseason.
Part of what makes Maye special is his dual-threat ability and playmaking outside of structure. New England does not want to take that away from him, but he must do a better job protecting the football in those situations. With a greater emphasis on pre-snap communication this offseason, Maye should be able to avoid some strip sacks by getting the ball out quicker. From there, it’s simply a matter of protecting the football as a runner.
Beyond that, if Maye replicates the level of passing production and efficiency he showed last season, he should firmly establish himself in top-five quarterback conversations.

 

[n1997y]

#PostPulpit mailbag: How many roster spots are up for grabs?

Part of what makes Maye special is his dual-threat ability and playmaking outside of structure. New England does not want to take that away from him, but he must do a better job protecting the football in those situations. With a greater emphasis on pre-snap communication this offseason, Maye should be able to avoid some strip sacks by getting the ball out quicker. From there, it’s simply a matter of protecting the football as a runner.
Beyond that, if Maye replicates the level of passing production and efficiency he showed last season, he should firmly establish himself in top-five quarterback conversations.

What would make Maye truly special is to effectively utilize all the weapons at his disposal: running game, screens, TEs all his WRs in short as well as deep routes, along with his ability to run and play outside of structure.

As long as there are holes in his game he is not as special as he has the potential to be.

He has shown he can throw bombs and make plays with his legs both planned and out of structure but he needs to make those latter plays more the exception than the rule.

His style of play was costly when he was injured in the playoffs and it became clear that there really was not much offense without him. He will be more special the more he stays away from playing hero ball.

 

[mgteich]

As long as there are holes in his game he is not as special as he has the potential to be.

.

No players are ever as special as they have the potential to be, certainly not quarterbacks.

 

[n1997y]

No players are ever as special as they have the potential to be, certainly not quarterbacks.

I think the Patriots have had one clear counterexample, perhaps more. ironically the most obvious was at the position you specifically cite as certainly not.

I’d argue there have been others, mostly players at less prominent positions that clearly outperformed their basic abilities. Nink is one that comes to mind, Bruschi would be another, perhaps even Vrabel. I’m not even sure Malcolm Butler had the raw potential to be as special as he was, briefly.

 

[mgteich]

I think the Patriots have had one clear counterexample, perhaps more. ironically the most obvious was at the position you specifically cite as certainly not.

I’d argue there have been others, mostly players at less prominent positions that clearly outperformed their basic abilities. Nink is one that comes to mind, Bruschi would be another, perhaps even Vrabel. I’m not even sure Malcolm Butler had the raw potential to be as special as he was, briefly.

I suspect that Brady thought that he could have been even better in almost every year he played.

 

[n1997y]

I suspect that Brady thought that he could have been even better in almost every year he played.

I agree, and I also suspect that was just one of the ways he was delusional.

 

[Uptown]

Unfortunately, we may have overestimated his ability to process defenses. How did he not see the corner undercut that route??…Simple ****; and to add insult to injury, he didn’t even bother to hustle back to make the tackle. Maye just let the defender waltz into the end zone smdh. He literally had THREE guys open to the left of the formation! If he can’t process quickly against these guys, imagine when the season starts…He should probably cut back on the vacationing with Ann & take a deep dive into his playbook/film study; or else I fear it Maye be time to start looking elsewhere at QB……….



Maybe it was the schedule after all……

 

[Ring 6]

#PostPulpit mailbag: How many roster spots are up for grabs?


What would make Maye truly special is to effectively utilize all the weapons at his disposal: running game, screens, TEs all his WRs in short as well as deep routes, along with his ability to run and play outside of structure.

As long as there are holes in his game he is not as special as he has the potential to be.

He has shown he can throw bombs and make plays with his legs both planned and out of structure but he needs to make those latter plays more the exception than the rule.

His style of play was costly when he was injured in the playoffs and it became clear that there really was not much offense without him. He will be more special the more he stays away from playing hero ball.

Who is saying he didn’t do exactly that last year? Which of those things do you think he didn’t effectively utilize?

The alternative to extending a play is to give up on a play. The alternative to needing to extend a play is to have better blocking.

Maye threw 57.4% of his passes 9 yards or less and completed 86% of them.
Are we unhappy with that? They averaged 7 years per attempt.
He threw 23.8% of them 10-19 yards downfield. He completed 66.7% of them and averaged 11.7 years per attempt.
He attempted 12.8% of his passes 20+ yards downfield, composed 54.8% for 16.9 yards per attempt.
What in those numbers is less than phenomenal?

He was sacked 47 times for 205 lost yards, but escaped sacks and scrambled 61 times for 422 yards gained.

There are also many cases of him escaping the rush and making big plays, a decent amount of the 10-19 and 20 + throws were off platform.

 

[Ring 6]

I suspect that Brady thought that he could have been even better in almost every year he played.

Everyone can improve at anything they do. No one is perfect at anything. Many athletes are highly self motivated and want to improve even at the smallest facets of their game.

 

[n1997y]

Unfortunately, we may have overestimated his ability to process defenses. How did he not see the corner undercut that route??…Simple ****; and to add insult to injury, he didn’t even bother to hustle back to make the tackle. Maye just let the defender waltz into the end zone smdh. He literally had THREE guys open to the left of the formation! If he can’t process quickly against these guys, imagine when the season starts…He should probably cut back on the vacationing with Ann & take a deep dive into his playbook/film study; or else I fear it Maye be time to start looking elsewhere at QB……….



Maybe it was the schedule after all……

Who was he throwing to? I don’t think there was a red jersey in sight. Except maybe one halfway between Drake and the DB that was incredibly overthrown if he was the target. If this is how he reads the field it’s time to lower expectations for this year, he’s regressed terribly!

And @Uptown is right, he missed multiple open receivers to his right. Maybe he needs glasses?

 

[Salsalife]

Who is saying he didn’t do exactly that last year? Which of those things do you think he didn’t effectively utilize?

The alternative to extending a play is to give up on a play. The alternative to needing to extend a play is to have better blocking.

Maye threw 57.4% of his passes 9 yards or less and completed 86% of them.
Are we unhappy with that? They averaged 7 years per attempt.
He threw 23.8% of them 10-19 yards downfield. He completed 66.7% of them and averaged 11.7 years per attempt.
He attempted 12.8% of his passes 20+ yards downfield, composed 54.8% for 16.9 yards per attempt.
What in those numbers is less than phenomenal?

He was sacked 47 times for 205 lost yards, but escaped sacks and scrambled 61 times for 422 yards gained.

There are also many cases of him escaping the rush and making big plays, a decent amount of the 10-19 and 20 + throws were off platform.

Superman life..it will catch up, it always does with these types.

 

[Uptown]

Who was he throwing to? I don’t think there was a red jersey in sight. Except maybe one halfway between Drake and the DB that was incredibly overthrown if he was the target. If this is how he reads the field it’s time to lower expectations for this year, he’s regressed terribly!

And @Uptown is right, he missed multiple open receivers to his right. Maybe he needs glasses?

Exactly. If this is any indication of his 2026-27 play, AJ will almost assuredly be reading J.D. Salinger on the sideline in no time..

 

[rkarp1]

3-Point Stance: Drake Maye’s potential 2026 leap goes beyond the stat sheet

Drake Maye doesn’t need better numbers to show improvement.

www.patspulpit.com

Ball security became a glaring issue for Maye during the Patriots’ postseason run, as he turned the ball over eight times in four games. While the offensive line played a crucial part in his NFL-record 21 sacks in those contests, his seven fumbles with four lost often put the football in harm’s way.
Throughout 2025, Maye also flashed exceptional pocket awareness to evade pressure and create more opportunities with time, but there were moments when he held the ball for too long.
Maye’s aggressive nature to attack downfield will always leave the quarterback more susceptible to interceptions over the course of a season. The difference will be recognizing when to take those chances and learning to limit giveaways in critical moments.

 

[Ring 6]

Superman life..it will catch up, it always does with these types.

What does that even mean?

 

[TommyD4207]

Superman life..it will catch up, it always does with these types.

You can play that way when you're 23. Question is if he can merge into a pocket QB over time.

 

[Zuma]

You can play that way when you're 23. Question is if he can merge into a pocket QB over time.

Maye isn’t a pocket QB?

 

[TommyD4207]

Maye isn’t a pocket QB?

lol no. They don't do insane **** like run QB Power with him or something, but no, I wouldn't say he's a conventional pocket QB at this point. He has traits, and if he develops he can be. This is kind of a huge year for his development in the offense, and just as a QB in general.

 

[Zuma]

lol no. They don't do insane **** like run QB Power with him or something, but no, I wouldn't say he's a conventional pocket QB at this point. He has traits, and if he develops he can be. This is kind of a huge year for his development in the offense, and just as a QB in general.

He's closer to Tom Brady then Lamar Jackson