The New England Patriots’ game against the Chicago Bears on Thursday night will also be a matchup between two of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL: Drake Maye and Caleb Williams, who both entered the league within the first three selections of the 2024 draft.
Williams was chosen first overall by the Bears out of USC, through a pick they originally obtained the previous year in a trade with Carolina. Maye came off the board two selections later, moving from North Carolina to New England as the No.
3 pick. They have since started their pro careers apart from one another — one in the AFC, the other in the NFC — but will now cross paths for a second time in three seasons.
This gives us an opportunity to take a closer look at how they stack up midway through Year 3.
Statistical comparison
Despite entering the NFL the same year, Maye and Williams began on different trajectories. Maye was a backup at first, while Williams began as a Day 1 starter. And yet, they are entering Thursday with the same number of combined regular season and playoff starts under their respective belts.
From a statistical perspective, Maye has been the superior player thus far from an efficiency perspective. He has completed passes at a higher rate, is willing and able to push the ball downfield, and is more dangerous as a runner. He also has scored more often and contributed more yards despite playing 250 fewer snaps.
That said, Williams has been better at taking care of the football. He has turned it over 25 times in 39 games compared to Maye’s 44 giveaways.
Both have also been hampered at times by uneven support, with Maye finding himself under pressure and on the ground more often. Williams, on the other hand, has seen his receivers drop 24 more passes in two and a half seasons so far.
Career accomplishments
Maye and Williams developed on a similar trajectory, and from a similar starting point. Their rookie seasons were plagued by organizational turmoil — both their head coaches were not retained after 2024 — and rosters not at a stage to help first-year quarterbacks to consistent success.
Since 2024, with Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson arriving in Foxborough and Chicago, respectively, their outlooks have changed. Maye made one of the most impressive second-year leaps in NFL history, and finished 2025 as a Pro Bowler, second-team All-Pro selections, as well as the MVP runner-up to eventual winner Matthew Stafford. He also led the Patriots to their first Super Bowl appearance in seven years.
Williams has not enjoyed the same level of individual or team success yet. That said, with him at the helm Chicago won its first playoff game since 2010 last season.
In total, the Patriots are 21-14 with Maye as their starter in the regular season and 3-1 in the playoffs. The Bears are 18-19 and 1-1 when led by Williams.
Head-to-head
Maye and Williams met once before in their careers, in Week 10 of their respective rookie campaigns. New England, then led by head coach Jerod Mayo, traveled to Chicago to take on the Matt Eberflus-led Bears in a matchup between a 2-7 and a 4-4 team. Despite the Bears being favored by six points entering the contest, it was the visiting Patriots that came a way victoriously.
Their 19-3 victory was mostly a defensive one: their defense sacked Williams nine times, forced two turnovers on downs, and allowed the Bears to convert only one of 14 third downs. Their QB went 16-for-30 for 120 yards — one of the least productive outings of his career.
Drake Maye fared marginally better, going 15-for-25 for 184 yards with a touchdown and interception each. The score was a 2-yard connection with Ja’Lynn Polk in the late second quarter, and the only time New England found the end zone that day. All their other points came courtesy of kicker Joey Slye.
Outlook
Maye has been the more successful of the two quarterbacks so far, which is a testament to his own abilities and the support he enjoys in New England.
That doesn’t mean Williams is not equally supported in Chicago, but coaching experience does matter: Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels have a combined nine Super Bowl rings between them, and are both accomplished and well-proven in their positions as head coach and offensive coordinator. Williams has one of the NFL’s best young head coaches and most creative offensive play-callers and play-designers by his site in Ben Johnson, but Johnson is only in his second season as an NFL head coach.
Looking forward, Johnson and Williams will continue developing together, as will Maye alongside his own support staff on and off the field. And after this season, both are in contract extension territory. The expectation is that both will be signed to multi-year deals near the top of the market; depending on what happens down the stretch in 2026, both could reset the market altogether and become the highest-paid quarterbacks in NFL history.
Even if they don’t, however, both the Patriots and Bears seem committed to their young quarterbacks in the long term. Accordingly, they will likely be locked up sooner rather than later.
