Content Post Drake Maye has arrived . . .

[Betterthanmost]

The amazing thing is that Diggs knew Drake was going to ball out pregame. He was genuinely excited to see what Drake will do.

 

[hornetfb85]

Unless I’m mistaken:
Only QBs younger than Drake Maye
Cam Ward
Jaxon Dart
JJ McCarthy

We got a good one my friends.

 

[PP2]

Really nice review of some of the Maye throws you might not have fully appreciated at the time:

One other thing that's finally starting to show up is his football IQ. As an example, on the very last throw of the game, he took a sack instead of throwing the ball away. That allowed them to run the clock down to around 20 secs.

 

[PatsFan2]

That was very nice some Big Time Throws there.

 

[Bill Lee]

I feel this is the biggest win by the Pats since SB 53. That’s almost 7 years. Maye was fantastic vs the best or 2nd best team in football, in THEIR stadium. He made SPECIAL plays all game long, especially in the 2nd half, 13 for 14 in the 2nd half ! Mostly against the blitz. Also, let’s not forget, there was virtually no running game, so it was all Maye.

That being said, I’m holding out for a little bit. Is he a top 15 QB, definitely, is he a top 10, probably, but I want to see a lot of consistency until I claim he has arrived. This was obviously a huge moment in his career, it just felt different, definitely a statement game.

Right now, he is playing with a ton of confidence, and even mistakes don’t bring him down, he just keeps fighting even after he makes mistakes. His mind set is extremely encouraging.

Yesterday (10/5) was my 63rd birthday, so this was a fantastic surprise. Being 63, I’ve seen A LOT of Pat’s QBs, and Maye’s performance was pretty incredible. I’ve seen guys like Grogan and Eason have BIG games vs great teams and come away with wins. Of course Bledsoe doing big things in his career, even early in his career. Don’t even have to say anything about Brady, he was the GOAT, and it wasn’t even close. So I’ve see some great things when it comes to Pat’s QBs.

What I love about Maye is he truly is a modern QB, super athletic, great at throwing in the run, great at extending plays. He’s just different, we’ve never had a QB that had the tools Maye has. He will be considered a top 5 QB when the performance he had last night becomes routine. Then I will feel like he arrived.

I mirrored similar thoughts in the burning embers of the Post-Game Thread, also using SB53 as the last time I felt this good about the Patriots.

Whatever uptick we got in the Josh-Mac season always seemed to be fools gold, tragedy narrowly averted.

I'm of a similar age and I agree the wonderful thing is we still have so much upside.

We got an amazing game from Stephon Diggs, but could you imagine what we'd look like if Drake was throwing to the Stephon of five years ago?

In theory we're one good draft or FA signing away from something like that happening.

 

[ViperGTS]

I think any remaining doubt about Drake Maye has been dispelled. He still has tons of room to grow (pocket presence, stepping up, timing etc) but...

He is the guy, he is a franchise QB, and he's on his way to becoming Elite, right along the likes of JA, JB, Lamar, Kermit etc.

We just watched history.

He isn't there YET. He is very, very close however. What we do know is he isn't a Trubisky, Darnold, Howell etc etc. He is very much in line with those listed. Thats the difference and what make the future insanely bright.

Also, he is a down to earth, good dude. Won't be seeing him on page 6 or whatever.

 

[TommyD4207]

He isn't there YET. He is very, very close however. What we do know is he isn't a Trubisky, Darnold, Howell etc etc. He is very much in line with those listed. Thats the difference and what make the future insanely bright.

Also, he is a down to earth, good dude. Won't be seeing him on page 6 or whatever.

I mean, this is true. He's not going to date Tara Reid and go down that rabbit hole of celebrity girlfriends.

 

[WazzuWheatfarmer]

This almost sounds like I wrote this. Especially the first 2 and last 2 sentences. I was so thrilled we landed Maye, he was my favorite QB in that draft.

What makes him different from the other QBs in that draft is he truly faced adversity. His last 2 years in college and first 2 years in the Pros, he’s had 4 different OC’s. His last year in college, he’s was without his best receiver, he was missing several Olinemen from the year before, and he was getting knocked down and kept getting back up.

I remember one game his last year in college, he had an ankle injury, and it looked bad, and I was thinking, well his year was over. He came back after a series or 2. The kid is mentally and physically tough. Never gets too high, never gets too low. He’s a great kid.

I give McDaniels credit too, he’s a great OC, the best thing to happen to Maye. If he can figure out to get the running game going, McDaniels will be the best pickup of the offseason.

Excellent post! Agree

 

[PatsFan2]

He isn't there YET. He is very, very close however. What we do know is he isn't a Trubisky, Darnold, Howell etc etc. He is very much in line with those listed. Thats the difference and what make the future insanely bright.

Also, he is a down to earth, good dude. Won't be seeing him on page 6 or whatever.

*Coughs* Sam Darnold have tuned it around: after spending time at the "KOC" QB School in Minnesota. Darnold is in MayField's territory now: QB's who hold their own with very good Talent.

 

[TommyD4207]

*Coughs* Sam Darnold have tuned it around: after spending time at the "KOC" QB School in Minnesota. Darnold is in MayField's territory. now: a QB who hold their own with very good Talent.

He went to the Carolina Rehab Center for a year before going to the KOC School of Quarterbacking.
Just like Baker Mayfield went to the Carolina Rehab Center for a year, before going to the McVay School of Quarterbacking.

The moral of these stories is: It's very difficult to wash off Jets and Browns stank. Some players never do.

 

[Hawaiipatsfan2]

Don't.

Diggs said it best after the game after reporters were trying to compare him to Josh Allen. "He's Drake Maye. He has to be Drake Maye." Let him be Drake Maye.

He don’t want him to be an Allen. He knows first hand Allen is a choker. Hahahah.

 

[PatsFan2]

Definitely.

Totally OT here. Felger and Mazz had Bedard on a few weeks ago. The question was asked, if Maye's career is similar to Bledsoe's, is that enough. They all said no it isn't. Which is crazy because Bledsoe took a team to a SB.

I remember Drew Vividly: needed things around him to be a little perfect. We know he was on the road to being very good just not great. That said after seeing Mac Jones...Drew Bledsoe is First ballot Hofer night and day.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I'm hesitant to crown Maye like so many are doing right now. He's a few cement head plays away from being questionable again. But it sure is fun to watch him play. Last night was only his 17th start. So only after last night has Maye played one season's full of games. His inexperience makes last night all the more amazing. The sky is the limit with him. Let's just not set too lofty expectations for him because he's apt to have many more head scratching games the rest of the way. But it really looks like they've found their guy.

No prob on that assessment.

We all saw him throw too low and get the ball tipped at the LOS in that past loss. He'll continue to make young QB mistakes. But he's learning from them and has skills and instincts that can't be taught.

There's plenty of film on him for Ds to know his tendencies now and you saw them flush him out of the pocket quite often - and that actually seems to work to Maye's favor, so I don't see additional scouting or Defensive adjustments really making a difference with this guy when he's on his game.

Disrupt him in the pocket and he'll kill you on the run. I'm not sure there's really a way for them to defend that.

Of course, WRs making amazing catches helps - but Maye truly had those throws right where they had to be - and under great duress. We will see all of these highlights on his career highlight reel.

 

[dliverey44]

Hmm, the one throw he’d really like to have back was missing Douglas on a rollout to the left. Room for improvement.

In fairness the ball was tipped and that is why it was short. Had it not been tipped I think it would have been a TD, at least from the endzone replay.

 

[zydecochris]

What makes him different from the other QBs in that draft is he truly faced adversity. His last 2 years in college and first 2 years in the Pros, he’s had 4 different OC’s. His last year in college, he’s was without his best receiver, he was missing several Olinemen from the year before, and he was getting knocked down and kept getting back up.

I remember one game his last year in college, he had an ankle injury, and it looked bad, and I was thinking, well his year was over. He came back after a series or 2. The kid is mentally and physically tough. Never gets too high, never gets too low. He’s a great kid.

I give McDaniels credit too, he’s a great OC, the best thing to happen to Maye. If he can figure out to get the running game going, McDaniels will be the best pickup of the offseason.

His mental (and emotional) toughness plus his physical toughness is one of his most exciting qualities IMHO. There are many, many rookie and second year QBs who end up being completely broken by being thrown into a situation with terrible coaching with serious personnel deficiencies (e.g., OL, WR, etc.). Heck, just look at all the QBs drafted by the Jets since 2009. Sometimes that "broken" QB can recover their confidence somewhat in the right organization with the right coaching (for example, a certain SF backup). Nevertheless, Maye's situation last year was about as bad as it gets, but he never lost his confidence or hung his head, and now he is blossoming with better coaching and better personnel around him. As you say, this kid is mentally and physically tough.

 

[Huckleberry1]

There is a LONG list of QBs who looked decent in Year 1 but as soon as teams got their scouting reports down, they became mediocre at best.

They've got the full scouting report on Maye and the Patriots and the Bills D did as good a job as anyone could disrupting Maye and flushing him out.

Turns out that's just where he's most dangerous! But he's proven he's the real deal without question.

I was really interested to see how he was going to respond after he had what I thought was a rough first half, and he responded brilliantly. He was outstanding in the 2nd half, and delivered the game when it was on the line with 2 minutes to go. He still has a number of hurdles to clear on his way to becoming a great quarterback, but it certainly looks right now like he has all the qualities needed to get to that tier. What a great pick.

 

[jimnance]

He is ridiculously humble. Postgame on the field : “we”, “the guys”, “get them the ball”…

Sounds like Brady

 

[scott99]

I mirrored similar thoughts in the burning embers of the Post-Game Thread, also using SB53 as the last time I felt this good about the Patriots.

Whatever uptick we got in the Josh-Mac season always seemed to be fools gold, tragedy narrowly averted.

I'm of a similar age and I agree the wonderful thing is we still have so much upside.

We got an amazing game from Stephon Diggs, but could you imagine what we'd look like if Drake was throwing to the Stephon of five years ago?

In theory we're one good draft or FA signing away from something like that happening.

I agree. Great upside, but I’m not even sure they make the playoffs this year. I feel next year will be like we’ve truly arrived as a team, we need one more good draft and free agency period to be considered a true playoff team and contender. I felt the Pats could be an 8 or 9 win team in 2025, which in essence a great jump for a 4 win team.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if they make the playoffs THIS year, they may not be able to match up personnel wise, but with great coaching and great confidence, anything could happen.

They need to win the next 3 games, they are all winnable games. Don’t lay any eggs, and they’ll be 6-2. It’s something that can be easily attainable if they don’t lay any eggs. Consistency is key.

 

[Simpelton]

Where does Drake rank right now today?

#1 Mahomes (still need to put him 1 due to SB and playoff history)
#2 Allen
#3 Jackson
#4 Hurts (I don't see how he can be lower than 4th right now even with some issues)
#5 Burrow - I want to believe he's elite... but in the back of my mind i wonder how much is Chase, Higgins and those weapons. He's had 2 pretty decent playoff runs and he plays with a crap D.

I think for now you need to put these 5 above him.

#6 Goff?
#7 Love? They are both maybes.
#8 Herbert? has had pretty good teams and pretty good stats... but for all these years what has it led to? Some put him #6... frankly i see that as a possibility 6-9 could have some movement for sure.
#9 Mayfield has put up good stats the last 3 years with a really solid cast.... but it hasn't lead to all that many wins or much playoff success? Is he one of those stat machine QBs who put up numbers in good offenses but can't actually do anything with it like Cousins was and Prescott are?
#10/11 Stafford has a super bowl win sure... but he's so inconsistent... kind of a stat QB who sometimes puts up good numbers with good offenses and sometimes doesn't... He had 1 good run in the playoffs and beat a cincy team clearly not ready for that spot with an all star cast.
#10/11 Prescott is basically stafford without the run, likely cause he hasn't had as stacked a team where things didn't line up for him as much.
#12 Maye might be here... but I look at who is left and can confidently say he can't be worse. #12 right now i think is his absolute bottom.

Personally even though he has only played 17 games I'd him above a fair amount of these non-top 5 guys. I feel like right now #8 right now is kind of fair. Has he proven it 100%? No. But the eye test says right now he is better than a lot of those goes in this 6-11 tier... and is still improving.

I hate to bring this up, but you've got to put Daniel Jones above Maye for now. He's had 2 great games this year, Danny Dimes has had 4. He's got years of experience on Maye and, as it's becoming more and more clear week by week, what happened in New york was more on the Giants franchise than it was on Jones himself.

Any list done in your style that doesn't put the current NFL leader in yardage and leader of the #1 seed in the NFL if the season ended today, in the top 5, is flawed by its very nature.

 

[scott99]

*Coughs* Sam Darnold have tuned it around: after spending time at the "KOC" QB School in Minnesota. Darnold is in MayField's territory now: QB's who hold their own with very good Talent.

What do Darnold & Mayfield show us ? Sometimes it’s not the QB’s fault, sometimes they are put in a bad situation. Both QBs have become good NFL QBs, hell Mayfield could win MVP this year, he’s playing incredible despite many injuries on the team. Also, sometimes teams give up too soon on QBs.

Of course, we all hope that Maye doesn’t wind up becoming a great QB on another team. Hopefully he becomes great as a Patriot.