Drake Maye’s second NFL season exceeded nearly all expectations.
The 23-year-old quarterback earned second-team All-Pro honors and finished as the runner-up in the MVP race while leading the Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance. Entering Year 3, however, his head coach still sees room for growth.
“I think his ability to control the game at the line of scrimmage, whether that’s operationally getting us into a better play. Continue to take ownership of the offense,” Mike Vrabel said Tuesday at the NFL
Annual League Meeting. “I mean, he’s an extension of Josh [McDaniels], and Josh sends the play in. I want Drake to own it, to own the play and bring it to life with cadence and communication, all the motions and all the things that orchestrate [the offense].”
“There’s nothing physically [he can’t do], he’s very talented. So continue to push him to lead and try to orchestrate and conduct the offense.”
After spending his rookie season in Alex Van Pelt’s system, Maye saw McDaniels take over play-calling duties in Year 2 — shifting more responsibility onto his plate at the line of scrimmage.
Now, Maye will have the luxury of continuity entering his third season, remaining with McDaniels and quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant. He believes that stability will help him develop the command Vrabel is looking for.
“It felt like my rookie year in this offense,” Maye said in his end-of-season press conference. “I had a chance to learn so much from a great offensive coordinator. Ashton has been awesome with just kind of relaying the connections between the past offense that he was in last year with the Browns that we had last year and just translating it, now using our own terminology and kind of building the foundation for this offense.
“There’s so much more we can take with this offense and give me more tools and more answers at the line of scrimmage… The sky’s the limit for us.”
Maye’s exceptional sophomore season ended in disappointment as he struggled in a Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He also dealt with a late-season shoulder injury but is now feeling great and expected to be a full participant in the offseason program.
Vrabel also noted that Maye’s growth and maturity as a leader allowed the team to move on from veteran quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who served as the primary backup last season. New England will now add a young quarterback to join Maye and Tommy DeVito on the depth chart.
“We need a third arm. And we’ll try to find a young guy that we can develop,” Vrabel said. “We’ll potentially add to the roster, whether that’s on the 53-man roster or practice squad.”
