Drake Maye Already Does This At Elite Level Compared To NFL QBs

Until Week 6 of the NFL season, any list of positives for the Patriots would be rather short. Now, as New England enters Week 10 with a looming matchup against Chicago, that list of positives … remains short.

The one addition that means more than any others — this year and perhaps beyond — is that rookie quarterback Drake Maye looks like the real deal. There is a long way to go before they start sculpting a Hall of Fame bust, but Maye has done something the Patriots at large have failed to do in Jerod Mayo’s first season: show promise and an ability to improve week over week.

Maye ultimately will need to improve his throwing mechanics. He’ll need to learn how to run an NFL offense, and it seems increasingly likely he could have to learn a new system sooner than later. The physical traits, though, have been as advertised. The plus-arm strength is undeniable, but one way in which he might already be elite at his position is his ability to tuck the ball and run.

Since taking over as the starter in Week 6, Maye ran for 209 yards on just 21 carries. As The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin noted Wednesday, Maye’s 9.95 yards per carry ranks first among quarterbacks. Or, as Volin also put it, Maye is averaging a first down every time he tucks and runs.

Granted, that’s not entirely the case. It’s simply an average. However, Maye leads all quarterbacks with at least 20 carries in percentage of rushes for first downs.

Only Jalen Hurts and Bo Nix have run for more first downs total than Maye since the rookie took over in Week 6. Over that same stretch, no quarterback has run for more yards — not Nix, Hurts, Lamar Jackson, or Jayden Daniels — than Maye.

Ideally, Maye’s skill set and feel for the game will evolve to the point where he doesn’t need to run the ball as much. Ultimately, he was drafted at No. 3 because of what he can do throwing the ball more than anything else. The Patriots must build an offense around Maye that complements his skill set in a way where he can be a dynamic player who can hurt defenses in more ways than one.

Even Maye, despite his prowess on the ground, knows he has to make strides in the rest of his game.

“It’s a thing to feel back there,” he told reporters Wednesday. “Obviously, I’m a passer first. I want to be a passer in this league. You’ve got to be a passer in this league to be successful. I’m trying to find these guys.”

That’s ultimately how the Maye era will be judged in New England. If they have to continue to rely him on as a runner, his growth will be stunted, and as we’ve already seen this season, he could struggle to stay healthy. The Patriots also can’t rely solely on Maye tucking and taking off as a productive way to build an offense.

If they can construct something around him, though, a Maye-led Patriots offense could be a nightmare to defend in the future.