The New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl, and this time around, they have been led there by second-year quarterback Drake Maye. In his first full season as a starter, Maye has helped the Pats author a stunning turnaround, and he has amassed quite a few fans, with that group including legendary tight end Rob Gronkowski.
During his time in the league, Gronkowski helped New England win its three most recent Super Bowls. He spent his entire career catching passes from Tom Brady, so it’s safe to say he knows what a successful NFL quarterback looks like.
Unsurprisingly, Gronkowski has loved what he has seen from Maye in 2025. However, he believes that his ability to connect on deep passes down the field is what has allowed him to stand out and “threaten defenses” early in his career.
“What I really love about Drake Maye is his deep-ball presence out there on the field,” Gronkowski said in an interview with RG.org. “The guy throws a beautiful deep ball. When I interviewed him for a sit-down interview with Fox earlier this year, he threw me a pass, and it was a beautiful pass.
It was about a 30-yard bomb down the field. I really wasn’t running full speed like that, but just the way he can place the ball and just how soft it is when it hits your hands, that’s his trait that he brings to the table, that can threaten defenses like no other.”
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Maye led the league by completing 72% of his pass attempts in 2025, but it wasn’t as if he was throwing checkdowns all game long. Making that metric even more impressive is the fact that Maye’s 8.9 yards per pass attempt was also tops in the NFL, indicating that he was completing a high percentage of passes, despite frequently pushing the ball down the field.
With the Seattle Seahawks on deck, Maye will likely be hoping to hit a couple more big plays in an effort to lead the Patriots to victory. Kickoff for Super Bowl LX is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday night.
