The recency bias surrounding Drake Maye and the New England Patriots has been insufferable since Super Bowl LX.
At the end of his first full regular season as an NFL starter, Maye had solidified himself as an All-Pro and potential league MVP who was doing things never before seen on a football field from a 23-year-old.
His efficiency noticeably tailed off in the postseason, though, and that’s led to a massive shift in the national narrative. All of a sudden, the schedule was once again most responsible for Maye’s franchise-record 72 percent completions and NFL-high yards-per-attempt average.
All Patriots fans can do is bite their tongue and wait for their team’s 2026 encore, which will feature a more seasoned Maye entering Year 2 in Josh McDaniels’ system. Yes, the schedule will stiffen after New England won the AFC East title, but the quick dismissal of Maye’s breakout season has been wild to see; he just established himself as a top-five QB in the game, and there’s no reason to expect that to change following a run to the Super Bowl.
The fact that Maye gets to enter the offseason looking to finetune and evolve within the offense, rather than essentially starting from scratch, could be among the NFL’s most underrated storylines entering 2026. According to Patriots reporter Evan Lazar, Maye has had a different offensive coordinator every year since his redshirt season at North Carolina.
- 2022 — Phil Longo
- 2023 — Chip Lindsey
- 2024 — Alex Van Pelt
- 2025 — Josh McDaniels
Continuity should be the word Patriots fans hold onto entering a massive offseason for the Vrabel-Maye era. The bricks are currently being laid in Foxboro, and the stability around Maye just got a boost beyond McDaniels that should serve the young QB well next season.
Drake Maye just got the boost Patriots fans didn’t know he needed
The big Patriots news from the weekend was QBs coach Ashton Grant turning down an opportunity to speak with new head coach Klint Kubiac and the Las Vegas Raiders about their vacant offensive coordinator job.
There will be more (and likely better) opportunities for Grant in the future. He’s only 30 years old and was instrumental in Maye falling one first-place vote shy of beating out Matthew Stafford for MVP this year.
Grant's decision to stay in Foxboro is an obvious nod to Vrabel, who created an elite workplace culture in his first year on the job. Coaches and players don’t only want to stay, they’ll likely want to come here, which is everything that this team has been lacking over the past five-plus seasons.
But the coaching continuity for Maye cannot be overstated. Per ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Grant’s been a major resource for the Patriots quarterbacks, given his background in Cleveland and former Patriots OC Alex Van Pelt.
“Drake Maye recently discussed the nice mix between OC Josh McDaniels and Grant, and specifically how Grant — coming from a similar offense in Cleveland that Maye ran in 2024 — has helped in the transition to the current offense.”
Vrabel’s Patriots are building something — and building off their special 2025 run is paramount going forward. Maye is obviously at the center of that, and having McDaniels and Grant back in his corner should only set him up for launch.