New England Patriots Drake Maye Praised for Passing Abilities

After being selected with the third overall pick, what could the next five years look like for New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye?

With the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots finally had the opportunity to address their struggles at the quarterback position, by selecting Drake Maye from North Carolina.

Since Tom Brady left, the Patriots have struggled to get consistent and productive play from the quarterback position. This offseason, the team moved on from former first-round pick Mac Jones, as he was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

With Maye having a lot of expectations as a top 5 pick, ESPN recently spoke about what things might look like for Maye in five years. Here’s what they had to say.

The area where he could lead the league in five years was passing yards. I see plenty of arm strength in Maye’s game, and he isn’t afraid of taking chances with the ball. That gunslinger mindset has its high and low moments, but the passers who typically rank at the top of the league in passing yards share that competitive identity. Maye can make all the throws, and his 7,929 passing yards over the past two seasons rank fifth in the FBS. – Reid

Leading the league in passing certainly seems like an area where Drake Maye could be elite in the NFL considering how he played in college. As mentioned, Maye has a bit of a gunslinger mentality, which can be a blessing and a curse.

As we saw in 2022 and 2023, Maye can be one of the most prolific passers, totaling over 4,000 passing yards in 2022 and over 3,500 in 2023. Maye has all the physical tools to be very good in the NFL, but he will need the Patriots to support him with some talented players on the offensive side of the ball.

That seems to have been an issue in recent years with Jones certainly and is something the new regime must address to get the most out of Drake Maye. The New England Patriots started that by selecting two wide receivers and one tight end in the 2024 NFL Draft.