How Drake Maye Can Be EVEN BETTER in 2026 | Patriots Daily

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]So, first play we're going to look at second and two, one of the Patriots first offensive plays.

[00:00:06]What's going on everyone? Mike Cattle Taylor Kyle here for CLNS Media back with more Patriots daily here on the CLNS Media Network powered by Prospects, powered by Rocket Money, and apparently Taylor powered by another leap for our guy Drake Maye, the Patriots quarterback. According to friend of the Patriots Press Pass program and channel Greg Bedard on his podcast yesterday, saying that the Patriots are raving about Drake Maye heading into 2026.

[00:00:33]Quotes from his pod yesterday, Greg said that they're telling people around the league look out for the quarterback this year. You thought he was good last year, wait till you see him now. When he was asked by co-host Nick Cattle what he means, saying from what I understand it's the mentality, it's how much he knows the offense even more, it's how he has the tools.

[00:00:51]So, clearly Greg is hearing that the Patriots are expecting a lot from Drake Maye. As we know, improved insanely from year one to year two, went from you know, someone who showed a lot of promise as a rookie on a team that wasn't that great around him to bring a team to a Super Bowl in 2025. Obviously, runner-up for MVP throwing over 30 touchdowns, less than 10 picks, most efficient quarterback in the league, highest completion percentage, most yards per attempt. All the numbers backed up THAT DRAKE >> TO BABY. EXACTLY. He was the best if not the second best quarterback in the NFL last season. So, Depends on who your agency is. Yeah, good point, good point. So, looking and hearing what Greg had to say, I wanted to kind of spin this forward a bit into what does that really mean and what does that look like? And I know we talked about it a bit on the show last week, but kind of, you know, diving into a little bit more because, you know, I mentioned the numbers and how great they were last season and how, you know, they were top five in points per game as well. Like, they did pretty much everything you could have asked for in an offense at least in the regular season. So, do you think this year three leap that the Patriots expect from Drake is numbers oriented? Is it the way he understands Joshua's system more? Like in your mind, what does another step in the development of Drake May look like in year three? And again, what does this this other sort of jump from being already a you know, a runner-up for MVP in year two look like in year three?

[00:02:16]It brings me back to a conversation we recently had about Drake May when we were asked if his statistics or if he's going to see any kind of decline. And we said we didn't think it would be a decline and even if his numbers aren't the same, a step forward for Drake would be becoming a more mature quarterback.

[00:02:31]That's decision-making, you know, that's how you prepare yourself. That's how much your access you have to the offense. And those are really where I think the growth from Drake May is going to come from, right? It's not oh, he can throw, you know, 5 yards further than he could last year. Oh, he's faster or oh, he's bigger. You're hoping he's bigger, right? Like every year you'd like him to find whether it's pliability, whether it's just adding body armor and more muscle, whatever it is, obviously physically you do need to mature and put yourself in the best position to be available.

[00:02:59]And Drake, for his part, has been pretty darn available and that's not really something you can question, but the one of the things at the top of my list for what I think his maturation looks like is protecting himself. That's got to be at the top of the list cuz nothing else matters if you are not on the field. And yes, Drake May didn't miss a game last year, so you got to give him credit for that, but how many times did we see him take big hits that maybe he didn't need to or how many times, I know we mentioned this pre-show, his head slamming on the turf to the point where you have to at least consider the FACT THAT HE MIGHT HAVE JUST GOTTEN A CONCUSSION OR YOU TALK ABOUT IT AFTERWARDS LIKE, "WHEN you look back at that play, that was a really hard hit that he took." And look, it's football. No one is saying you put the kid in bubble wrap. No one is saying that he needs to be less aggressive because he's a playmaker, right? You're going to take your lumps.

[00:03:44]I don't want him to necessarily scale back the aggression, but being a quarterback every year you learn what you can and can't get away with and you just learn what the most advantageous decision is to make in each situation. I think Drake, for a second-year quarterback, DID A GREAT JOB OF THAT.

[00:03:59]LIKE, I REALLY DON'T HAVE a ton of harsh critiques. It really is just you need to continue to grow in that area of your game. So, whether it's being more deliberate with your pocket movement, which he was really great at last year, whether it's deciding, you know what, let me not hang on to this ball for another second and just get it to my check-down. Another thing he did well is just really doing that on a more consistent basis. Second most important thing for me, if you're protecting yourself, is to protect the football.

[00:04:24]Still an area where Drake May really did struggle last year, and he improved. I think it was like later down the season we did see him do a much better job until we get to the Ravens game, right, where he rolls out right, decides to throw it, and it's right at a defender, whether it was a miscommunication or not. And then even in the playoffs, obviously at times his lack of ball security really came back to bite him.

[00:04:43]And it's not even so much of throwing into bad windows. I think for the past two seasons, it's hard to critique Drake in that area given his level of experience playing high-level football and the situations that he's been put in. He's done a very good job, I think, not throwing into, you know, bad situations, but it's really the fumbles.

[00:05:00]Keeping two hands on the football. That needs to happen. I do not want to be talking about a Drake May fumble problem in 2027. So, got to nip that one in the bud. And then once you get past, you know, just the protection element of it, I think, and this is one area, I think even after the Super Bowl we kind of mentioned this, but having more answers to the test.

[00:05:20]Which I think if you look at the tape last year, where you compare it to like Tom Brady, even I think at times Mac Jones it felt like had a different level of control over the offense where sometimes you can look at the defense and completely change the play. It's not just a oh, a check with me where we call two plays in the huddle and we call, you know, a certain one based on the look.

[00:05:39]But Drake being able to say, "Hey guys, remember last year when we played the Jets and they brought out this defense or whatever." And being able to sometimes pull from that knowledge and really have the entire playbook open to him, whether it's, you know, changing protections in certain ways. And I don't know exactly what he had access to, and I don't want to, you know, be disingenuous about that.

[00:05:57]>> Totally.

[00:05:58]>> was, for as much control as he did have, it wasn't to the same as other people we've seen in this offense. So, being able to really change people's assignments and truly put the team in the best play each and every snap, rather than sometimes kind of maybe being stuck in a play and just having to make the best decision you have for that, I think will be huge. Cuz as you know, this episode and every episode of Patriots Daily is powered by our friends at PrizePicks. The regular season has wrapped and the NBA playoffs are finally here, and there's no better way to cash in on the high-flying hoops action than on PrizePicks, a preferred partner of the NBA. Every bucket, every dime, and every win means more when you are playing on PrizePicks. So, don't pass up your chance at $50 instantly in lineups when you play your first $5. Going to put together a live PrizePicks lineup for you right now, uh for tonight's game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Uh both teams vying for their chance to make the NBA Finals. We saw Victor Wembanyama go off uh the other night for 42 and I believe something like 24 rebounds. Uh with that, I'm going to take Wemby to again have more than 25 points and again have more than 13 and a half rebounds. Uh and to put it all together and make it a full Western Conference Finals lineup, I'm going to take Alex Caruso, who had I believe 30 points in game one, to have more than 10 and a half. So, there you have it, Caruso more than 10 and a half, and then Wemby more than 25 points and more than 13 and a half rebounds. If you want to get in on the action, download the PrizePicks app today, create an account, use code CLNS and get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Again, that's code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. PrizePicks, a preferred partner of the NBA. Uh we are also powered today by our friends over at Rocket Money, the best place to get all of your finances in order. It's a one-stop shop. You connect all of your accounts.

[00:07:49]Tells you where to spend, where to save, and also helps you cancel unwanted subscriptions. I plugged in all of my bank accounts couple months ago when I got onto Rocket Money, found out I had way too many services than I needed or wanted, and they easily let me cancel, uh, switch, and do whatever I needed with my money. Uh, and it's super easy to use uh, over at Rocket Money. It's a personal finance app that helps find and cancel unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocketmoney.com/patsdaily.

[00:08:25]That's rocketmoney.com/patsdaily.

[00:08:27]Rocketmoney.com/patsdaily.

[00:08:30]Cuz that's where, and again, we talked about the Seahawks, it's like Drake never felt like he was a step ahead. And with Tom, so we're comparing the greatest quarterback of all time. But like this ceiling in this system is a quarterback who can walk up to the line and be like, I don't Once I know what your game plan is, like we get to the fourth quarter, you're screwed because I have the answers to the test because there's not really anything left for you to show me that I haven't seen before. And that also just comes with being in the league and being able to say, "OH RIGHT, I SAW THIS 2 YEARS ago or whatever." So, more answers and just deeper knowledge of the offense and the ways that teams want to scheme against him. I think that's also very important. It's not just the system, it's how he fits in the system. And then the final thing on my list, and this isn't even so much as a criticism, it's just kind of what happens as you mature in the league, is I want more clutch finishes and performances from Drake Maye. Now last year, the Patriots weren't trailing very often. So it's not like he really had to put the Superman cape on and pull the team over the finish line. And obviously when he was a rookie, we don't even have to talk about it.

[00:09:30]Those are really difficult situations to expect anybody to like pull people out of the fire.

[00:09:35]But now, second year in the system, better offense around you. I really do want to see and with this schedule, it's going to happen, right? You are going to have some two-minute situations where Drake Maye's going to have the ball and he's going to have to bring his guys into the end zone and field goal range or there may be times where you get to the fourth quarter and you need two scores, right? And you really do need to just say, "Hey, I can't make any mistakes." That's just what it is. Our margin for error is zero, but that's okay because I'm not going to make bad decisions and I'm going to play within myself and my technique is going to be consistent. I'm not saying he has to be the most clutch quarterback and have the most clutch season in NFL history, right? It doesn't have to be the MVP version of Drake being, you know, a clutch quarterback, but I do want to have more confidence in saying when the team is in those situations, I trust Drake to be able to do that. And he did in Buffalo last year, he did against the Ravens, but you also have some situations where like Tampa Bay, there were some throws that he made that put the team in bad situations and could have lost them that game. Even the Ravens game, you could argue that one completion he had to Tyjae Williams could have gone the other way, right? It completely changed the course that game.

[00:10:38]And the most prominent one for me was the Bills game at Gillette where you do see that it it really never felt like Drake was going to put together enough drives to pull them out of that one. Um, even though they were ahead and then starting to feel behind. So, it's again, it's not really a critique because I don't think he's had a ton of opportunities to really show in his career his ability to do that and he's shown the flashes, but in a very tough schedule, you're going to have to again be the guy. You're going to have to be the franchise and I look forward to seeing how he answers those challenges.

[00:11:08]No, I mean, I'm the two that I'm completely and not that I'm against the other ones, but the one that really to me were I guess most of them, but I'll just reiterate like A, protecting the football, obviously. Now, he he went from 10 interceptions to eight last year. He didn't throw a lot of a lot of picks. Didn't lose a fumble, I don't believe, but put it on the ground a lot at least in the regular season. Um, so that's, you know, one you got to one you got to hone in on, especially taking care of yourself and and protecting yourself. The hits to the head can't happen. That's you know, that's how you um that's how your career gets shortened is when your head gets slammed to the ground and you continue. If you have one, two, three concussions a year, like you're not going to be long for the football world. So, that's got to obviously be cleared up. But, the front-running aspects that they were in last season kind of ties into the consistency down the stretch of the year and in the playoffs and in the Super Bowl, right? Because, you know, I'm looking at their you know, the 10-game um was it 10? Yeah, 10-game win streak they went on last year, right? Where you know, you play at the Bills and yes, he did you know, he he played great in that game and he played great down the stretch in that game. Same with the um the game against the Ravens that you mentioned, which was after the Buffalo game, where clearly front-runners in that Buffalo game and when adversity struck, they weren't able to put it across the finish line to get it done and they lose 35-31. Um and you look at too, I know you mentioned the Tampa game in the rain, but remember in Cincinnati when he uh I think he threw a pick early and went down and put them in a really bad spot right at the start of the game and it felt like, "Oh they're going to you know, they're going to go lose this one." Um you know, they end up coming back and being able to you know, get themselves a win in that one, but I don't think that was necessarily on the back of Drake May. And then, in the postseason, whether he was hurt or not, he played his worst football of the year by far um down the stretch and obviously into the Super Bowl. So, it's got to improve when the competition gets better, he's going to get tested this season with it as you mentioned and as we see in this 2026 schedule, it gets a lot tougher uh for Drake May and the Patriots. So, not saying he can't do it, but I think those are the things that um look like a year three leap for him outside of improving on completion percentage, improving on interceptions thrown, improving on touchdown passes, all the raw numbers, like a lot of those frankly are going to be impossible to do because of how great he already was last year, but understanding the system more and having answers to the test like you mentioned and and taking yet another leap and and growing that Josh McDaniels Patriots playbook is another thing that I'll be watching too. But I just think in general like that's those are the types of things we're going to want to see from Drake May in New England.

[00:13:36]And the last thing I'll finish with is like Yeah. he can have a better season last year. I would be stunned if last year is the best year we ever see from Drake May because of the way we've seen this regime take care of him and really make an effort to make sure that they are building around him with Josh McDaniels. I mean, that's the biggest thing. If there were any lot of other offensive coordinators, I would have a lot of confidence in Drake, but I would always say, "Hey, as long as he's in position, right?"

[00:14:02]He said, "Right now, I think they're doing everything right. He has the mentality for it. We know he has the talent and he's smart enough." Dude, the ceiling is the roof. I think that's his I think that's phrase I mean, right?

[00:14:12]That's the Michael Jordan say.

[00:14:14]>> I think that's better. The sky's the limit for him because I feel like sometimes when we talk about like when we mention that he could maybe regress statistically, people were saying that we were hating on Drake May. Like be very very clear. If he does have a better 2026 season, I won't be surprised necessarily because I think he can be a Hall of Fame quarterback. But it's always important that we do still take it in stride. Honestly, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO, NO. DON'T LET ME POOPOO YOU.

[00:14:36]YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE IT IN STRIDE. You have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Some of the most respected names in media are calling him top three. So, you know what? Don't listen to Tay right now.

[00:14:44]Be as excited as you want to. I'M EXCITED. I'M NOT GOING TO DOUBT. I still think he's going to be very good, you know. There are things he needs to improve on as we always say. But I want to be very very clear. We're not putting a cap on Drake May. He truly the sky's the limit with this kid. I'm with you.

[00:14:59]And it's even more exciting to hear knowing that, you know, we and we talked about it last week before Greg's report on his pod yesterday saying that they'll that's the Patriots thinking internally.

[00:15:09]We already said that he can continue to grow. He can continue to do those things and make himself um look like and frankly just be a better quarterback than he was in a year where he was the MVP runner-up and he took the Patriots to the Super Bowl. So, uh exciting stuff for the Patriots behind center. Uh we'll keep tabs on it. We'll keep eyes on it. We'll keep all the reporting here as uh the Patriots off-season continues. And as OTAs begin next week, we will be there in Foxborough covering it all for you guys.

[00:15:36]So, keep it here on Press Pass. Rate, review, and subscribe as always. And until next time, take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. And we will see you soon. Peace out, everyone.