Drake Maye is coming off the best performance of his young career. As is to be expected, that showing has led to various reactions — some measured, some over the top — in the football world.
Yet outside of analyzing that single game, Tyler Dunne of GoLongTD.com is seeing a lot of parallels between the start of Maye’s career and that of Josh Allen in Buffalo.
“I tell you what, it’s eerily similar, I think, to Josh Allen,” Dunne told Phil Perry on the Next Pats Podcast. “In Year 1, you just saw glimpses, flashes. Leaping over Anthony Barr, maybe a stiff-arm in another game, a good throw against the Jaguars, and they won six games. And nobody really knew for sure, but there were little signs that this was headed in a good direction.”
Dunne noted that the Bills made some minor additions in Year 2, not unlike the Patriots’ moves this year, before adding a fully in-his-prime Stefon Diggs for Allen in Year 3.
“Stef Diggs is in his prime, and he helps Josh Allen reach an entire new level with Brian Daboll as a coach pushing him,” Dunne said. “Maybe Year 3 is when the Patriots can convince a stud receiver — hey, we know the taxes stink out here, we know the weather isn’t that great, but ya got Drake Maye! And that’s serious. It’s a real thing that Brandon Beane in Buffalo has kind of had to work through with free agents is convincing top-end talent to play in Western New York. It is not fun living.”
Bad weather may be yet another comparable for Buffalo and New England, but Tom Brady proved that the elements aren’t much of a consideration for free agents when it comes to playing with a top-of-the-line quarterback.
“If you got a great quarterback, if you’ve got a Hall of Fame-level quarterback, everybody will want to play for you,” Dunne said. “So if Drake Maye keeps ascending — like, let’s say they make the playoffs this year and he’s a big reason why — everybody’s gonna want to play for the Patriots.”
Dunne also discussed his “House of Dysfunction” series, which took a behind-the-scenes look at the way Bears general manager Ryan Poles led scouting discussions in Chicago ahead of the 2024 draft. Those discussions included full-on laughing sessions at Maye’s college tape, a scene described to Dunne as “a pack of hyenas.”
Perry asked Dunne if — admittedly early in Year 2 — the Bears might be feeling regret for never considering any quarterback other than Williams.
“I don’t think they feel that way,” Dunne said. “I think that the people who believed in Caleb Williams — starting with Ryan Poles — they’re gonna go down with Caleb Williams, whether it’s ego, whatever the case may be.”
Dunne added: “I guess we’ll see. I think this is the year. If Caleb Williams fails with Ben Johnson, if he fails with this offense that is gonna put him in ideal situations play in and play out, and Drake Maye does what we saw in Week 2 and Week 3 and 4 and 5 and 6, then yeah, there will be regret. And it will be obvious to everybody.”
Also in this episode of the Next Pats Podcast:
- Some eye-opening advanced stats for Drake Maye
- How NFL teams can avoid making big misses in the draft
- The Tennessee receiver, Clemson cornerback and Northwestern offensive tackle to keep an eye on for next year’s draft
- Mailbag questions
