The early-season numbers have not all been kind to Drake Maye, but a certain area of his game has persisted as a problem for opposing defenses.
And this part of his repertoire will likely appear against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
Maye leads the NFL with 15 total conversions on scrambles through four games, per Taylor Kyles of CLNS Media. Brock Purdy ranks second with 12.
Maye embarked on Week 4 with six interceptions and only one passing touchdown, but his ability to manufacture something after a play breaks down has given New England a route to move the chains.
The production is ample beyond Kyles’ conversion figure. Maye has rushed 23 times for 136 yards, averaging 5.9 yards per attempt, per the Patriots’ official statistics. That places him third on the team in rushing yards behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson.
And after strutting his stuff against Buffalo, there’s grounds to wonder whether New England can lean even further into that dimension of its quarterback.
Maye’s Scrambling Ability Showing Up When Patriots Need It
Maye’s legs were most definitely prominent in the Patriots’ 29-26 road victory over the Buffalo Bills.
The 24-year-old finished with 54 rushing yards on eight attempts while throwing for 269 yards and three touchdowns. New England grabbed the lead for good on Maye’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Efton Chism III with 1:50 remaining before adding a two-point conversion.
His work as a runner was hardly isolated to that afternoon.
PFF credits Maye with 127 scramble yards this season and a 74.9 rushing grade, eighth among 28 qualifying quarterbacks. The outlet lists him with 140 dropbacks, making the scramble production another significant piece of an offense that has experienced inconsistency through the air. PFF’s season data also shows an average time to throw of 3.15 seconds.
Maye doesn’t possess the imposing running style of Josh Allen, but his movement can have a similar frustrating effect on a defense. He can escape pressure, force defenders to abandon coverage and turn a failed passing concept into another set of downs.
Vrabel Praised Maye’s Decisiveness Against Bills
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel highlighted that element of Maye’s Buffalo performance during his Monday appearance on WEEI.
“I felt like there was — he was decisive and whether that was him scrambling and taking off,” Vrabel said, via a transcript of the interview. “If he saw that the running lane was there to be able to use his legs, to be able to extend.”
Vrabel added that Maye appeared to be seeing opportunities earlier, whether that meant releasing the football or moving elsewhere.
That decisiveness is the link that holds the chain together following three weeks in which Maye often appeared hesitant while New England’s offense sputtered. His passing line against Buffalo represented a significant bounce-back, though the scrambling production suggests one part of his game never disappeared.
Maye has generated more than 1,000 career rushing yards, with the Patriots listing him at 1,007 through 34 regular-season games.
Now he owns an NFL-leading number that illustrates where some of his greatest value continues to come from.
When the pocket collapses and the original play runs out of answers, Maye has been better than anyone in the league at finding another one.
Patriots’ Maye Leads NFL in Game-Changing Metric Ahead of Raiders Game