Patriots quarterback Drake Maye can’t seem to miss.
Through seven weeks of his second NFL season, Maye leads the league completing 75.2 percent of his passes. His +10.3% completion percentage over expected also is top among all quarterbacks.
To make things even more impressive, Maye hasn’t been a “Checkdown Charlie” — instead ranking third in yards per attempt as he’s been the best deep ball thrower in football this season (14-of-18 for 414 yards with five touchdowns on passes 20-plus yards downfield).
“I think receivers are helping him. I think the ability to step up in the pocket, but probably special talent as well,” head coach Mike Vrabel explained. “Staying calm, the things that they’ve worked on and he’s practiced as far as when he’s on the move, to be able to still stay in phase, not open up his body or let things get loose, which would lead to an erratic or an errant throw.”
Maye credited his success to the same foundation .
“You pride yourself on accuracy, trying to be accurate with the football,” he said. “That’s something that goes just from practice and individual drills. Trying to hit a guy in a spot, on the shoulder, or I think the big thing is trying to be accurate for yards after the catch. There’s sometimes throughout the season where I think I could be better at getting more yards, putting it in better spots for them to run after the catch.
“Credit to them, they’re making great plays and great plays on the ball, and credit to the guys up front. They’ve been blocking their butts off.”
While Maye has seemingly been placing the ball wherever he wants, his receiver group has helped his cause. Throughout the season, New England’s wideouts have hauled in 21-of-30 contested targets as they continue to build trust that traces back to offseason work.
Maye’s chemistry also continues to build with new No. 1 wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who leads the team 44 targets, hauling in 39 for 456 yards.
“I mean talent-level, obviously, and then just being well-coached with the timing of everything: being on his drop, poise in the pocket — stuff that I like see from a distance, but I don’t know too much about,” Diggs replied when asked about Maye’s accuracy.
“I’m too busy trying to run routes, but when I see it on tape that seems like he’s in a good space and he’s playing at a high level, keeping his cool, not getting too rattled, even when things kind of get shaky. He got some legs on him, so he can run around a little bit too to create.”
