Working with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye had a breakout year in 2025. Then, just a second-year quarterback, Maye would end up taking the Patriots to the Super Bowl and finish runner-up for the MVP, earning his place among the top players in the NFL.
Despite that, a recent ranking of the Top 100 NFL players from CBS Sports doesn’t think so highly of Maye. In fact, analyst Pete Prisco only has Maye ranked 61st in the NFL.
At that ranking, Maye is behind eight different quarterbacks, all of whom are veterans. Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow all rank in the top five. Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson are there to round out the top five quarterbacks. They’re also ranked in the top 10 players overall. Sliding down these rankings a bit, Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, and Jared Goff are all also ahead of Maye.
A season ago, Maye completed 72% of his passes, which led the league in completion percentage. That was for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns compared to just 8 interceptions. Maye was also able to rush for 450 yards and another 4 touchdowns.
It’s worth noting that Maye was fourth in the NFL in passing yards and third in passing touchdowns in 2025. He was also fourth in quarterback-rushing yards and eighth in quarterback-rushing touchdowns. So, purely on a statistical basis, he was better than more quarterbacks than CBS Sports has him ranked against.
The Logic Behind Ranking New England Patriots QB Drake Maye Low
GettyNew England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye
There is no denying that Drake Maye was phenomenal in the regular season. Pete Prisco of CBS Sports doesn’t try to do that, either. Instead, he pointed to the playoffs as a reason for concern with the young Patriots quarterback.
“He finished second in MVP voting in his second season, leading the Patriots to the Super Bowl. He threw 31 touchdown passes and just eight interceptions, but he didn’t play well in the postseason,” Prisco wrote.
In fairness, Maye did see his stats take a bit of a downturn in the playoffs. In four games, he completed 58.3% of his passes for 828 yards and 6 touchdowns to 4 interceptions. He also rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown.
However, that was against the elite defenses in the game and with an offensive line that was often acting as turnstiles. He also still managed to win three playoff games to get to the Super Bowl, finding ways to win, particularly in a blizzard in Denver. Several quarterbacks ahead of Maye either weren’t able to do that in the playoffs or failed to make the playoffs at all.
Brian Hoyer Had a Much Higher Ranking for Drake Maye
GettyNew England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye
Former New England Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer could be accused of bias. Regardless, he had a much higher ranking for Drake Maye when he recently did his own quarterback rankings, where Maye came in second among quarterbacks.
Hoyer still had Stafford ahead of Maye, recreating the first and second place finishers for the MVP a season ago. After that, it was Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and then a tie between Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson to round out his top five.
“The reason I go with Drake second is not only what he did last year, but what I’m hearing coming out of Patriots camp right now,” Hoyer said on Sirius XM NFL Radio. “A.J. Brown was talking about Drake taking over the meeting room. I was in a room with a guy who did that every day — Tom Brady — and when a quarterback takes ownership like that it can take it to the next level.”
The trick in any ranking of Maye is his youth. Only going into his third NFL season, he’s still not a finished prospect. So, there are those who will project that he continues to improve, while others find ways to dismiss him because of the strength of schedule or the fact that he hasn’t done it over multiple seasons.
Patriots QB Drake Maye Disrespected by CBS Sports Top 100 NFL Players List