From the moment the Patriots selected Drake Maye with the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, expectations were tremendously high for what the quarterback could do for the rebuilding team, even in less-than-ideal circumstances.
Although he didn't get the start until Week 6, he showed impressive growth in a short amount of time, and now, halfway through the 2025 season, he's in the MVP conversation among some of the league's best.
It's not exactly the fate that many predicted going into his second year, which could almost be considered his first since he only started 12 games as a rookie, particularly with a new head coach and staff and a dramatically made over offensive roster. But he continues to outperform expectations, which also has his teammates buzzing about his MVP potential.
Hearing the "MVP!" chants from Patriots fans in attendance of their Week 8 matchup with the Browns prompted reporters to ask players about Maye's rise to stardom, and Kayshon Boutte essentially said what most fans are thinking about the young quarterback.
Kayshon Boutte believes Drake Maye is more than worthy of being in the MVP conversation this season
Despite his consistently impressive performances, Maye doesn't appear to be taken seriously by those who are already crowning the season's MVP, and he continues to be overlooked and brushed aside in favor of other quarterbacks.
But Boutte wants to end that and emphatically stated that Maye is doing exactly what the others in the conversation are doing, too, so he should be just as much in the MVP discussion as anyone else.
Kayshon Boutte campaigning for Drake Maye to be MVP:
— Patriots on CLNS (@PatriotsCLNS) October 26, 2025
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“We all see it. I think if you look around the league, they doing great stuff too. But I mean, I think Drake is doing everything they’re doing. There’s not nothing that he’s not doing.”
-@CLNSMedia pic.twitter.com/2PqAKidmEO
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Is he wrong, though? Absolutely not.
It might feel premature to some for Maye to be held in such a high regard that some feel he could be this year's MVP, as he is only 24 years old, but he is playing some of the best football of any quarterback in the league this year, and that should count for something.
He's helped lead the Patriots to a 6-2 record, continues to break franchise records that have long been held by Tom Brady, and shows growth every week, proving he's the real deal. That was abundantly clear this Sunday when facing the highest-rated defense in the NFL, as he torched the notable defensive line by recording an impressive stat line: 18/24 completions for 282 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, not to mention seven scrambles for 50 yards.
Maye is a big part of why the Patriots have remained in games this season, or why they were just one score or less away from beating teams they eventually lost to. He could have easily kept New England undefeated through the first eight weeks, but he's still led them to their best record since the 2022 season with plenty of time to make it the best since Tom Brady was under center.
That's even more reason for him to be seriously part of the MVP conversation, just as Boutte said, and there are probably not many Patriots fans who will disagree with that.