In this era of information overload, we are all subjected to preposterous “stats” from time to time.
While the history of performances at 3 p.m. on partly cloudy days with a slight easterly breeze on an odd day in the month could potentially serve as a functional anecdote, such “information” doesn’t actually mean anything.
Perhaps all of that is why the football world has largely overlooked this one, which does seem to have some actual value: Drake Maye has four straight games with 200-plus passing yards, a 73.3 percent or better completion rate and a 100-plus passer rating. The only other quarterback to have such a stretch is Tom Brady. In 2007, no less.
That is … insane? Those are all fairly well-known statistics, and the guidelines aren’t arbitrary. Maye’s current run has been that good.
What’s even more remarkable is that Maye didn’t start his first game until Oct. 13 last season, meaning he’s been a starting quarterback for less than a year. Maye has started 17 games, but he left one very early due to an injury, and he left the Week 18 exhibition after three snaps.
Despite that lack of experience, Brian Hoyer sees a seasoned quarterback in Maye.
“The one thing that I’ve seen in, let’s call it 365 days, he has made three years’ worth of progressions, in my opinion,” Hoyer said on The Quick Snap Podcast. “From where he was when he took his first start just a year ago today to where he is now.”
Maye had 15 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions as a rookie, and thus far in 2025, he has seven touchdown passes and two picks. His passer rating has jumped from 88.1 to 107.8, and he’s quickly become a reason why the Patriots are winning games.
Hoyer credits all of that to Maye’s ability to learn from his mistakes.
“We saw it last year, which was his rookie year, he was thrown into a bad situation. But he wasn’t a mistake repeater,” Hoyer said. “He may make a mistake — and he made a lot of them as a rookie, because he was out there learning — but he didn’t repeat a lot of those same mistakes.”
Maye has been excellent, no doubt. It is, however, unlikely that he keeps pace with Brady’s 2007 season. After starting that MVP-level undefeated season with the aforementioned stats, Brady threw 17 touchdown passes and zero interceptions with a 136.2 passer rating over his next four games.
What’s more likely is that Maye will stumble into some new mistakes. That’s unavoidable for any young quarterback in the NFL. The difference with Maye, according to Hoyer, is that the Patriots’ QB likely won’t make any of those mistakes twice.
