C.J. Stroud Praised Drake Maye Long Before Texans-Patriots Matchup

Drake Maye gets the chance to start his NFL journey on Sunday with the New England Patriots reportedly starting him at quarterback against the Houston Texans.

He’ll face off against C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. Stroud knows what it takes to rise up as a young player, taking the Texans to the playoffs last year as the No. 2 overall selection in the NFL draft.

Stroud sat back and assessed the current rookie class during the 2024 draft and had descriptive praise of Maye as a standout quarterback prospect, eventually finding his way to the Patriots as the No. 3 overall pick.

“I feel like Drake Maye is (the most NFL ready),” Stroud told Bleacher Report during the 2024 NFL Draft. “You watch his tape. Just his arm talent jumps off. He’s one guy, to me, the one mistake I made early on in the first couple games was I moved around too much. I didn’t get the ball out on time. I started taking that risks that weren’t even downfield or necessarily scrambling. When you watch his tape, he scrambles when he needs to. He throws guys open. He has rollout ability. Different arm angles. I like Drake Maye.”

Maye went 4-for-8 for 22 yards in his lone appearance of the season in relief of Jacoby Brissett in a Week 3 loss for the Patriots. Stroud picked up where he left off a season ago, tallying just shy of 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns to start the season.

The Patriots and Texans kick off on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET.