INDIANAPOLIS — Drake Maye made a massive leap from Year 1 to Year 2, developing swiftly into an MVP candidate on the way to a Patriots Super Bowl appearance.
Executive vice president of Eliot Wolf smiled when asked Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine how satisfied he was with Maye’s growth from 2024 to 2025.
“I mean, satisfied is a tremendous understatement,” Wolf said. “Drake made a ton of progress in a lot of areas, not only at the start of the season, but throughout the season. I think people forget that he’s 23 years old, there’s been a lot on his shoulders, and there will continue to be with the expectation that it has being a quarterback for the New England Patriots. But I’m just really excited about him, his toughness, his competitiveness. He’s always the same guy. There’s obviously areas on the field that he’s going to improve, and he’s going to work with Coach [Josh] McDaniels and Coach [Ashton] Grant and get those things taken care of.”
Maye dealt with a shoulder injury during the Patriots’ playoff run and acknowledged getting a toradol shot in his throwing arm before the 29-13 Super Bowl LX loss to the Seahawks.
Wolf didn’t believe Maye’s shoulder injury had an impact on his performance, however.
“I think that’s probably a question better asked to him. I didn’t feel that way,” Wolf said. “I just felt like we just couldn’t get in a rhythm offensively.”
Wolf also appeared on The Ringer’s “The McShay Show” and was asked about the Patriots’ process in drafting Maye.
At the time, when the Patriots were picking third overall, some local media chatter believed the team was better off building up the roster before adding a quarterback. There has not been a quarterback of Maye’s caliber since he was selected in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“That was a huge storyline in New England. When we had the third pick in the draft and it was, this team can’t support a franchise quarterback. You know, take the tackle or the wide receiver and pick the quarterback next year, and I didn’t understand that,” Wolf said. “We have some real generational guys here, we have the opportunity to get Drake Maye. Versus waiting a year, and who would it have been?”
Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, Jalen Milroe, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders were the top quarterbacks selected last spring. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is expected to be the top pick this year, while Alabama’s Ty Simpson also could go in the first round.