Curran: Every team in NFL would ‘sign up for a decade of Drake Maye'
Curran: Every team in NFL would ‘sign up for a decade of Drake Maye' originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Remember waking up the morning after Drake Maye outdueled Josh Allen in primetime?
There were some tired eyes when New Englanders poured their morning coffee, certainly compared to the team’s early-afternoon kickoffs. The excitement, however, was at a fever pitch. The second-year quarterback then followed it up by leading the Patriots to a hard-earned win in The Big Easy.
Patriots fans now have a spring in their step as the leaves fall to the ground.
They also have every team jealous, Patriots insider Tom E. Curran believes.
“It’s clear the Patriots have the guy. Not just their guy. Drake Maye has evolved into the guy, which is a step above a guy, which is a step above just a guy,” Curran said on the Patriots Talk Podcast. “But the thing is, before Buffalo, Maye hadn’t yet shown the ability to play a clean game against an elite team on the road and walk out with a win. He hadn’t shown that the adrenaline that he was impacted by would not effect him on a big stage. But he did that.
“And that performance in Buffalo, coupled with the brilliant follow up in New Orleans on Sunday, it’s not fleeting,” Curran continued. “It’s jaw-dropping when you realize that this is the same raw player that was having his throwing motion and drop-back fundamentals stripped down and reinvented from April through August of 2024.
“Right now, there is not a team in the league that wouldn’t sign up for a decade of Drake Maye.”
It’s difficult to find a better two-half stretch than Maye’s second half in Buffalo (13-for-17, 184 yards) and his first half in New Orleans (11-for-13, 185 yards, three touchdowns). He recorded a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the first half at Caesars Superdome before he finished 18-for-26 for 261 yards with three touchdowns.
Patriots insider Phil Perry, however, doesn’t believe those numbers even do Maye justice.
“Two of his best throws of the day didn’t even count,” Perry said in reference to Maye’s 51-yard pass to Stefon Diggs that was taken off the board due to a questionable offensive pass interference as well as Maye’s attempt on third-and-27 that hit wide receiver Mack Hollins in the hands and went incomplete.
Maye had two passes for 112 yards and a touchdown wiped off the board due to questionable officiating decisions.
“This is another week where he lands in conversations with quarterbacks that we never thought that he would be spoken alongside, this early in his career at least,” Perry said. “But those stats don’t even tell you just how good he was.”
Also in this episode:
Unpacking the impact of Kayshon Boutte
How do the Patriots get their running game going?