The Drake Maye hype train is making its rounds around New England. Dare I say Maye is closing in on a Tom Brady level career arc? Ok, I won’t go that far, but it’s extremely fair to say that his second season leap is significant enough that it could put him in contention of being the future of the league. Remember when we were talking about the changing of the guard when Patrick Mahomes took over the NFL?

Maye is well on his way to having a flourishing NFL career, and that starts with his MVP-worthy season. The Patriots are the top team in the AFC, Maye is slinging it for 3,412 yards and 23 touchdowns, both top five in the NFL, with just six interceptions. There’s a reason the Patriots believe in Maye after a shortened rookie season last year.

Statistically, Maye is having a phenomenal season. He’s already played as many games as he did his rookie season and he has over 1,000 more yards, more than 1.5 times as many touchdown passes and nearly half as many interceptions. Adding a receiver like Stefon Diggs definitely has been key in improving the offensive efficiency as well.

I won’t say Maye needs to win a Super Bowl this year to by any means, but if the Patriots aren’t the No. 1 team in the AFC, at least one playoff win should put him in contention of having one of the greatest sophomore seasons ever. If he wins NFL MVP this year, I think he’d for sure be in that class.

NFL QBs who won MVP in their second season

Maye would enter rare company if he managed to win NFL MVP this year. Only four quarterbacks have done it all time with Lamar Jackson (2019) the last player to do it. Considering Mahomes did it the year before, if he does pull off the feat this year, it would give him a nice career trajectory, on paper anyway.

Mahomes transformed the Kansas City Chiefs into AFC power and Jackson has made the Ravens relevant in the postseason, though the Super Bowl has been elusive for him. Could Maye realistically win MVP this year and if he does, does it mean the Patriots are back? Well Matthew Stafford’s MVP case took a hit in Week 13, though he’s still been one of the most efficient quarterbacks this season.

It’s crazy to think that what Maye is doing this year is comparable to 2018 Mahomes, 2016 Jared Goff, 2021 Joe Burrow and 2019 Lamar Jackson. That’s just all modern. We haven’t jumped into the pre-2010s era that featured Tom Brady winning a Super Bowl in 2001 or Ben Roethlisberger winning a Super Bowl in 2005.

Maye currently has the best odds (+100) to win MVP, per FanDuel with Stafford on his heels (+105). Winning MVP is not only realistic, it would prove to the rest of the NFL the Patriots were right to draft him, build around him and could be set to dethrone the Buffalo Bills off the AFC East throne they’ve held since Tom Brady took his talents to Tampa Bay.