Drake Maye’s first NFL snaps came at the end of a throwaway game against the New York Jets in 2024. He got the last drive — a 16-play, 46-yard march to absolutely nowhere that ate up the final four-plus minutes of an ugly 24-3 defeat.
On one of those initial plays, on 4th-and-8, Maye scrambled to his left and effortlessly ran out of bounds for an 11-yard gain. It was the first glimpse of the kind of dual-threat ability Patriots fans were eager to see more often on Sundays.
Now, about two years later, the team should be targeting the opposite approach with one of the NFL’s most valuable young assets.
Pro Football Focus recently conducted a deep dive into the NFL’s best scrambling quarterbacks, and Maye topped their list for true total yards with 585 last season. That ranked well above some of the NFL’s top escape artists, like Josh Allen (498), Justin Herbert (489), and Patrick Mahomes (420).
The Patriots likely aren’t celebrating that feat, though.
According to PFF’s Daire Carragher, Maye also led the NFL in scramble attempts. While he had a knack for burning defenses for big gains (and a lot of first downs) on broken-down plays, Maye’s efficiency beyond his overall rushing total left plenty of meat on the bone.
“Maye also led the NFL with 33 scrambling first downs,” Carragher wrote, “but his 74 scramble attempts were the most in the league. As a result, his efficiency was less impressive, as his 7.9 yards per scramble ranked 13th among 35 qualifying quarterbacks.”
PFF's advanced Drake Maye scrambling stats are both impressive and concerning
It’s worth noting that Allen led all NFL quarterbacks in rushing last season with 678 yards and 16 touchdowns in 19 games (including the playoffs). PFF deducted 180 of those yards for this experiment due to designed runs.
Designed QB rush plays have never been a big part of Josh McDaniels’ offense, and that trend continued in 2025 as the Patriots placed a heavy emphasis on keeping Maye healthy.
The harsh reality is that McDaniels didn’t need to force the issue. Maye organically used his legs often in just about every game, especially later in the season as the Patriots’ pass protection began to fracture. Maye ended up being the Patriots’ leading rusher in the playoffs with 178 yards on 29 attempts.
Aside from his brilliant bootleg rush for a first down to seal the AFC Championship Game in Denver, most of those attempts were scrambles.
It goes without saying that the Patriots should want their star quarterback running the football less in favor of more big plays in the passing game. The team pulled just about every possible lever to prepare for that shift in 2026.
The Patriots reinforced the left side of the offensive line and traded a premium future draft pick to bring in star wide receiver A.J. Brown. From a 10,000-foot view, Maye should benefit from better protection, an improved skill position group, and, hopefully, a more consistent rushing attack led by Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson.
Head coach Mike Vrabel should be looking to harness Maye’s elite scrambling ability. The goal should be to use Maye’s legs to crush defenses' souls on key third downs, rather than by necessity due to constant breakdowns in protection or too many broken plays with nowhere to go with the ball.
Allen is still clearly the best rushing quarterback in football. Mahomes might be the savviest, though, with his timing and knack for big plays in critical moments.
The Patriots should want Maye somewhere in between, with a lean toward Mahomes' style. If he can flip the script as the NFL's most efficient scrambler rather than its most frequent one, New England’s offense could reach scary heights, coming off a year in which it led the NFL in both completion percentage and yards per attempt.
Add us as a preferred source on Google