Josh Allen Comparisons ‘Very Real’: Tom Brady, Drew Bledsoe Praise Drake Maye

Drake Maye might have shown that he’s arrived as one of the NFL’s next great quarterbacks when he led the New England Patriots to an upset victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

In his first primetime game, the second-year QB completed 22 of 30 passes for 273 yards to go with a 101.1 passer rating. While he didn’t score a touchdown, Maye led the Patriots down the field to set up for the game-winning field goal in the 23-20 victory.

Prior to Sunday’s game, Maye’s most successful predecessor in New England, the great Tom Brady, said he had taken notice of the young QB’s development through the first quarter of his second season. 

“I think he’s got great development being in that program. Just working with Josh McDaniels for as long as I did, he knows how to develop quarterbacks. He’s so good with getting guys on the right play. Right now, Drake Maye’s playing with the greatest tight end in the history of the Patriots — Hunter Henry,” Brady said on “FOX NFL Sunday” with Rob Gronkowski sitting next to him.

Jokes aside, Henry has been a key player in Maye’s success so far this season. Following Sunday’s games, Henry’s sixth in the NFL in receiving yards (250) and tied for third in receiving touchdowns (3) among all tight ends. 

On Sunday, however, it was a different veteran pass catcher who helped Maye have, arguably, the most impressive performance of his young career. Stefon Diggs had 10 receptions on 12 targets for 146 yards in his first game back in Buffalo since the wide receiver was traded by the Bills to the Texans last year. 

Of course, when Diggs was in Buffalo, he was able to help a young Josh Allen take the next step in his progression as a quarterback. Now, with Diggs helping Maye, Drew Bledsoe has been impressed with the Patriots signal-caller and thinks he might be on the same progression path as the man he defeated on Sunday night.

“Watching Drake and his progression, I think the comparisons — and look, we’re not putting the guy in the Hall of Fame quite yet — but the comparisons to Josh Allen are very real,” the former Patriots QB said on FS1’s “The Herd” on Monday. “You remember Josh’s first year, a lot of interceptions, pretty rough around the edges and maybe his accuracy wasn’t great. You watched his progression, and now he’s certainly in the conversation for best in the game. I think the comparisons between Drake Maye and Josh Allen are real. That’s high praise for Drake as just a second-year player.”

Patriots’ 23-20 upset win over the Bills proved they are a playoff team

Ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, some analysts compared Maye to Allen for his strong arm and running ability while also noting he was a bit raw as a passer. But, compared to where Allen was at this point in his second season in 2019 (256 total yards per game, 8 total touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 75.2 passer rating), Maye has put up better numbers (274.2 total yards per game, 9 total touchdowns, two interceptions, 107.8 passer rating).

It’s worth noting Maye’s rookie season (208.5 total YPG, 17 total TDs, 10 INTs, 88.1 passer rating) was also better than Allen’s (225.8 total YPG, 16 total TDs, 12 INTs, 67.9 passer rating).

That’s why Matt Hasselbeck believes Maye and the Patriots are “ahead of their schedule.”

“They drafted Drake Maye for a reason,” Hasselbeck said on “The Herd.” “They wanted their own version of Josh Allen. That doesn’t really exist, but they saw something with the third pick overall in that draft and they said, you know what, ‘We think that this guy can be that.’ They tried the Mac Jones thing and were like, ‘Yeah, you’re good, but you’re not Josh Allen. We’re looking for Josh Allen and we’ll take the risk for the upside.’ And I think Drake Maye has everybody in New England fired up.”

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FS1’s Colin Cowherd also pointed out that Maye’s elevated his game when it mattered the most over the last few weeks. For instance, Maye completed 13 of 14 passes for 184 yards in the second half of Sunday’s game. 

On top of the impressive statistics, what’s really impressed Cowherd is the way Maye is making plays happen, such as the play on the Patriots’ game-winning drive when he fought out of a sack before throwing a first down to Diggs.

“It’s not about the bad throws. It’s about the big boy throws,” Cowherd said. “Drake Maye made about four of them. It’s like, ‘Oh, OK. That’s big boy football.’ It’s like C.J. Stroud’s first year. He wasn’t great every Sunday, but when he got protection he’d make throws, and you were like, ‘Yeah, there’s like six guys in the world that can make that throw.'”

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