There’s a decent amount of optimism surrounding the New England Patriots these days, and most of it is justified.
They totally overhauled their coaching staff, bringing a new head coach in Mike Vrabel, a new offensive coordinator in Josh McDaniels and a new defensive coordinator in Terrell Williams. The team also spent more than $300 million in free agency to upgrade at key positions and received high grades for its picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.
But the biggest reason why the Patriots will succeed or fail this season likely will come down to Drake Maye’s performance. Quarterback is the most important position in sports, and there’s a lot to like about Maye’s skill set after a good rookie season. The No. 3 overall pick from the 2024 draft completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, in addition to 421 rushing yards (7.8 per carry) and two rushing touchdowns.
NBC Sports NFL analyst Chris Simms has been unveiling his annual QB rankings over the last few weeks. One change from previous years is he’s breaking them up into tiers. Going into the 2025 season, he has Maye in the “Needs More Info” tier.
Simms recently joined Tom E. Curran on the latest episode of NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots Talk Podcast to discuss Maye’s potential. What does Simms like about Maye’s skill set after watching his rookie campaign?
“You saw all the explosive plays he made last year,” Simms said. “Now, listen, the training wheels were still on to a degree. The offense was basic. They managed him a little bit. But the athletic ability, there’s no denying that. And the ability to run, take off and not just get five yards, get 20 or 30 yards. He’s got that type of running ability.
“He does play big in the pocket. His arm and some of the mechanical issues I worried about — he fixed them. He didn’t fix all of it, but it certainly was a good start that made me feel a lot better. And then, yes, his ability to make big game-changing throws popped off the screen all year last year.
“That was one of the best things he does. Now it’s just the next step we got to take in his development. And that’s why I’m saying there was a lot I liked, but I just like to see a little bit more before I have him jump guys like Tua Tagovailoa or Dak Prescott, who I’ve seen do it at a decently high level for a pretty long time here.”
Simms also highlighted a few areas where Maye can improve. But he’s confident that an improved coaching staff led by Vrabel and McDaniels will help Maye fix his remaining weaknesses and take another positive step forward in his development.
“All those things make me believe that he can continue this upward trajectory,” Simms said. “And then I think when you couple that with the gifts from the football gods of, ‘Oh my gosh, Mike Vrabel is going to be my head coach and Josh McDaniels is going to be my offensive coordinator,’ those are the things that are going to iron out his game, get some of those issues more polished, because there are still some inconsistencies like I talked about with his mechanics.
“He still has to learn how to move within the pocket. There’s a lot of unnecessary movement at times where you’re like, ‘Wait, the pocket is fine, why are you running? Or why are you actually moving up in the pocket to get sacked instead of just like drifting?’
“I know you’ve seen some of these things and I’m sure you’ve heard some of that from coaches and things he’s got to figure out. Sometimes he lets his feet get all out of whack a little bit when you’re like, ‘Wait, there’s no reason. Just hang in there, get your feet in the right spot. Be in a good position to throw the football.’
“So it’s just stuff like that — having a little bit better of a plan when you get pressure or get a blitz, right? Part of being a quarterback is, ‘I know the defense, I know the play, but what if they throw some crazy play at me? I’ve got to have a failsafe plan to go to if I get caught by surprise, I can always go here with the ball just to get us out of a bad situation.'”
The Patriots could still do a better job surrounding Maye with more high-end talent on offense, but after drafting a left tackle (Will Campbell) in the first round and signing a No. 1 wide receiver (Stefon Diggs) in free agency, the 24-year-old quarterback definitely has more to work with in 2025.
