After a thorough drubbing of the New York Jets 42-10, the Patriots have been garnering some nice national media attention. And a lot of it naturally gravitates toward MVP candidate and second-year wunderkind quarterback Drake Maye. Maye ripped the Jets to shreds with a passing masterclass, completing 19 of 21 passes for 251 yards and five touchdowns.
One media outlet said they'd never seen a "stat line" like Maye's versus the Jets.
The second-year quarterback has taken his game to a new level under Head Coach Mike Vrabel, an "NFL Coach of the Year" front-runner. Vrabel transformed a "bottom-of-the-NFL" offense in one offseason into a prolific one with Maye at the controls.
Vrabel executed one of the most outstanding offseason transformations of an NFL roster ever. It should garner him attention for the NFL's "Executive of the Year". Anyone doubting Vrabel's central role in reshaping his roster need only compare and contrast the 2024 offseason (absent the no-brainer Drake Maye) with 2025's. Case closed. The biggest beneficiary is Drake Maye.
Drake Maye's national profile is getting even loftier
The demolition of the Jets and the statistical barrage Maye put together in that game have elicited amazing comments from top national sports media.
"ESPN: Drake Maye was magnificent... Maye was pulled with 5:31 remaining in the third quarter, giving his MVP candidacy one final surge by finishing 19-of-21 for 256 yards and five touchdowns."
”NFL: New England clinched an 8-0 mark away from home with Sunday’s blowout. Drake Maye also bolstered his MVP case with five TD passes (four in the first half), each to a different receiver, including rookie Efton Chism III."
And the best of all: "The Ringer: Maye did in a performance that might have wrapped up the MVP race...By dropback success rate (87.5 percent), it was the best game a quarterback has played this century. Maye also posted the highest QBR (99.8) since ESPN created the metric in 2006. We have literally never seen a stat line like the one Maye posted on Sunday.”
The superlatives continue for the MVP candidate who, with a seasoned Head Coach who is also a master personnel evaluator at the helm, has taken his game to a whole new level. He's gone from a solid Pro Bowl rookie performer to an MVP candidate and possible All-Pro as well.
Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel are a nightmare scenario for the NFL
For an NFL world that for two decades cowered at the thought of facing the best quarterback of all time, Tom Brady, the emergence of Drake Maye, especially coupled with Mike Vrabel, is an absolute "Nightmare in Foxborough" scenario. Vrabel was already an NFL Coach of the Year for 2021, and he never had a quarterback like Maye at his disposal. This duo has to be simply frightening for the NFL.
For Patriot Nation, the combination signals the resurgence of a floundering post-Tom Brady franchise into an NFL powerhouse once again. Ousting the Buffalo Bills from their five-year domination of the AFC East, led by the current reigning NFL MVP, the phenomenal Josh Allen, in just Year One of the new era in Foxborough is a simply startling development.
Opponents should also keep in mind that Vrabel's masterpiece of a roster transformation, while enabling a dramatic turnaround from a dismal 4-13 team to an AFC East-winning 13-3 or better record, is only just beginning. Several starters that Vrabel brought in, while they're upgrades, are just stopgap solutions. This team will get better every offseason under Vrabel's personnel control.
Additionally, Drake Maye is only a just-turned 23-year-old quarterback with a mere 28 NFL starts under his belt, 12 of them in 2024 with a train wreck of a roster. A prediction that Maye would pass for a 74 -75 percent completion rate was a bit premature. He is currently at only 71.7 percent, while having been sacked 47 times in 2025 thus far.
Vrabel will upgrade his O-line this offseason by bringing in several young, more talented offensive pass (and run) blockers to remedy that situation. He'll also bolster his forte, the defense. The roster overhaul has just begun, even though they'll have a minimum record of 13-4. What heights will a fully transformed roster allow Drake Maye to achieve in the future (if not in 2025)?
Simply stated - multiple Super Bowl wins. The train is streaking down the track, picking up speed.