Patriots quarterback preview: There’s every reason for Drake Maye to excel again in 2026. Will he?
With training camp set to start at the end of the month, we’ll provide a position-by-position breakdown of where the Patriots stand. We start with the quarterbacks.
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Roll call: Drake Maye (72 percent completion rate, 4,394 yards, 31 TDs, 8 INTs; 450 rushing yards, 4 rushing TDs), Tommy DeVito, Behren Morton.
By the numbers:
3: The number of quarterbacks who have won an NFL MVP award before the age of 25 — Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Dan Marino.
23: The number of first-place votes Maye got for MVP last season. He finished second in the balloting to Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford, who had 24.
31: The number of touchdown passes Maye threw during the 2025 regular season. He was just the eighth player under the age of 24 to finish a season with 30-plus.
72: Maye’s completion percentage was the best in franchise history for a single season, breaking the previous mark of 69 set by Tom Brady in 2007.
The skinny: Coming off a regular season where almost everything went right for the youngster, it’s on the 23-year-old Maye to figure out how he can take his game to the next level.
Going into 2026, it’s clear he’s been set up for success as well as any young quarterback: The Patriots added veteran receivers A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs, creating the sort of depth to the room the likes of which hasn’t been seen in Foxborough in a decade. In addition, they have invested heavily in the offensive line, taking a tackle in the first round the last two years while bringing in veteran free agents to augment the depth chart. And for the first time in his adult life, Maye has the benefit of having the same offensive coordinator (Josh McDaniels) for consecutive seasons. On paper, it all bodes well.
That being said, Maye has work to do if he wants to improve, including finding a way to hold on to the ball. As brilliant as he was at times last year, giveaways were a legitimate issue. He fumbled 16 times — nine in the regular season and seven in the playoffs, including four in the divisional round against Houston — losing seven of them. Some of that can be tied to protection issues, but it’s something that needs to be addressed if Maye and the Patriots want to reach their ultimate goal.
“I’m just focused day-to-day, and really not trying to pinpoint an area. I’m trying to get better in all areas,” Maye said when quizzed this spring about possible areas of improvement. “I think it’s hard to pinpoint that.
“I think one thing is just making the right decision in the first few seconds I have the ball in my hand. Making the right decision, knowing sometimes incompletions are the best plays, not trying to hold the ball too long and get out of the habit of really trying to extend plays just because I feel like I haven’t extended a play in a while.”
If he can find a way to minimize the giveaways and lean on the extraordinary level of offensive talent that’s been placed around him, there’s no reason to think he shouldn’t be in the MVP conversation again.
“The talent speaks for itself. He can make any throw,” Brown said of Maye. “But I think what’s more impressive to me is that he knows what he’s doing. To be that young and to understand the defenses and to understand every little check, the hots [routes], the blitzes … all those things, so young, so fast. It’s very impressive.”
How does this position rate against the rest of the league? Excellent. Providing Maye stays healthy, and the Patriots find the right personnel combination up front, he’s an MVP candidate. He makes it a top-5 group.
Quote of note: “It’s nice getting another year in the same offense. It’s been the first time for me in maybe four years. So, it’s great to have that and have an offensive mind [like] coach McDaniels, and our offensive coaches are great. So, I’m really looking forward to that.” — Maye on having the same offensive coordinator in back-to-back seasons for the first time since he was at North Carolina.
Biggest story lines: Can Maye build on his impressive 2025? Can he avoid the hangover that can accompany a Super Bowl loss? How quickly can he build chemistry with new receivers Brown and Doubs? And how will DeVito fare when it comes to moving from third string to QB2?
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