After a second season that ended in being named the runner-up to the MVP Award, only behind a 17-year veteran quarterback, expectations are the highest yet for Drake Maye in New England, and he has a lot of naysayers to prove wrong, too.
Because he thrived during the regular season but somewhat fell apart in the playoffs and the Super Bowl, the hype he was receiving all year long came crashing down, and now many analysts and opposing fans are questioning his legitimacy as the face of the Patriots' franchise.
Given that he's only in his third season, it's not exactly a shock that he still has improvements to make and new things to learn, and it's clear that he has the full trust of his coaches and teammates to accomplish that.
Josh McDaniels and the rest of the offense are pushing him toward his biggest leap yet in the 2026 season, and from what we've learned about his offseason training so far, the offensive coordinator is incorporating a lot of new training into the quarterback's regimen, including new tests at the line of scrimmage.
It's an exciting development to hear about, and it further proves just how right Mike Vrabel was to rehire McDaniels and have him help develop the Patriots' next longtime starting quarterback.
Josh McDaniels is incorporating difficult tasks in Drake Maye's training to make him an even bigger threat at QB
Now that OTAs and minicamp are over and training camp doesn't start for over a month, reflecting upon the spring's training is going to become more of a focus in New England.
That's why hearing the latest intel from ESPN's Mike Reiss will be even more crucial, as it will inevitably set the tone for what training camp will be. He shared that Vrabel and McDaniels have challenged Maye "by having him hurry to the line of scrimmage but often not giving him a playcall" to see how he would keep the play going.
Hearing what quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant had to say about it before minicamp concluded only heightens the excitement about what the quarterback can accomplish in Year 3.
"Then we can go into the meeting room and talk about what he was thinking, why he was thinking. If it was a great answer, you give him a pat on the back. If it's something you might want to tweak or adjust, we talk about it.
It's easy to say solve the problems, but if you never let him practice solving problems, then you're just talking to a cement wall ... We're trying to weaponize Drake's mind. As opposed to be just throwers of the football, we want them to be operators of the offense."
From a production standpoint, Maye is already playing at an elite level. We also know that his teammates have emphasized he has grown as a leader and has taken more command over practices and meetings, which is exactly what he needs to do.
Now we know that McDaniels and the rest of the offensive coaching staff are also implementing another integral component of his development at the position by forcing him to think and problem-solve at the line of scrimmage, something Tom Brady was known for throughout his career.
That's the kind of training fans want to hear about, and Maye couldn't be learning from anyone better than McDaniels.
It's an element of Maye's game that rivals won't be able to prepare for. Although many are overlooking what he and the Patriots will accomplish in a much tougher season, it's clear that Maye is going to be a quarterback to watch, with his latest training only making that more true.
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