Why Some NFL Experts Are Being Careful With Drake Maye

How Quickly Opinions Can Change

It’s funny how fast things can change in the NFL (the National Football League, America’s big professional football league).

• Just one year ago, most fans in New England (where the New England Patriots team plays) were hoping that a player named Drake Maye could become a "top-15 quarterback" in his first full season as a starter.
  • A quarterback is the player who usually throws the ball and leads the team’s offense.
  • "Top-15" means one of the 15 best out of all the starting quarterbacks in the league.
• Now, many of those same fans are upset. A poll by ESPN (a sports TV and website company) asked football executives, coaches, and scouts (people who watch and judge players) to rank quarterbacks.
  • In that poll, Maye was only ranked as the 8th-best quarterback.
  • Fans felt this was too low.

Why Fans Were Surprised

Many people were shocked to see Maye ranked behind two other quarterbacks: Dak Prescott and Justin Herbert.

• Maye played so well last season that some thought he looked like an MVP (Most Valuable Player — the best player that year).
• Because of that amazing play, lots of fans and observers in New England and elsewhere reacted strongly to the poll this week.

A Theory: "Once Bitten, Twice Shy"

A writer for Sports Illustrated (a sports magazine) named Albert Breer has an idea about why the experts didn’t rank Maye higher.

Important Point: Breer thinks experts may be more careful now because they got excited about other young quarterbacks too soon and don’t want to make the same mistake.

Breer explained on a show called Early Edition:

• After the 2023 season, going into 2024, almost everyone ranked C.J. Stroud very high.
• After the 2024 season, going into 2025, almost everyone ranked Jayden Daniels very high.
• Because those young players were hyped so quickly, voters might now be thinking: "I should be more careful before putting new guys at the very top."
• Breer believes this cautious feeling may have affected both Drake Maye and another young quarterback, Caleb Williams, even though both had excellent years.

Where Breer Would Rank Maye

Breer shared his own ranking ideas:

1. He would have placed Maye at 6th best, behind:
   • Patrick Mahomes
   • Josh Allen
   • Lamar Jackson
   • Joe Burrow
   • Matthew Stafford
2. Even at 6th, Breer thinks Maye has a very high chance to keep getting better.

Important Point: Breer said Maye’s "ceiling" (how good he could possibly become) is extremely high. He said in 2, 3, or 4 years, we might be calling Maye the best player in all of football.

Big Praise for the 2024 Quarterback Class

Breer didn’t stop with Maye. He talked about the whole group of top quarterbacks picked in 2024.

• The three quarterbacks taken at the very top of the 2024 draft were: Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye.
• Breer said there’s a good chance that in 10 years, we’ll look back and say: "Wow, that was an all-time great group."
• He believes all three have a chance to be very, very good players.

Summary

A year ago, New England fans just wanted Drake Maye to be a top-15 quarterback. Now they’re surprised he’s only ranked 8th by ESPN’s poll. Expert Albert Breer thinks voters are being extra careful because they over-hyped young quarterbacks in past years. Breer would rank Maye 6th and says his potential is sky-high. He also thinks the top three quarterbacks from the 2024 draft could become one of the greatest groups ever.

FAQ

Q1: Who is Drake Maye?
A: Drake Maye is a young quarterback for the New England Patriots who had a great season and is expected to become even better.

Q2: What does "once bitten, twice shy" mean in this article?
A: It means NFL experts may have been burned by ranking young players too high too fast before, so now they are more careful with Maye and others.

Q3: What is the 2024 quarterback class?
A: It refers to the quarterbacks selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, especially the top three: Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye.

Q4: Why were fans upset about the ESPN poll?
A: Because Maye played like an MVP last year, but the poll only ranked him 8th, behind players like Dak Prescott and Justin Herbert.