FOXBOROUGH - With the growing possibility that Joe Burrow may be quarterbacking the other side on Sunday, his counterpart in that game, Drake Maye, is on pace to do something last accomplished by the Bengals QB.
If Maye can remain the NFL's leader in completion percentage, as he is right now, then he will be the first second-year signal caller to do so since Burrow in 2021. Beyond that, only three other guys in history can make that claim - Carson Palmer (2005), Kurt Warner (1999), and Joe Montana (1980). Don't tell me that list doesn't make you a little giddy...
"I think accuracy is one of the biggest things," Maye said. "And you see so many great quarterbacks that are so accurate. I think that’s what you try to work towards. As soon as I got in the league, it’s something that just tried to establish myself from the get-go, is trying to be accurate.”
Maye's has improved on that front this year, going from 66.6% a year ago to 71.9% this season. That's not nearly as dramatic as what Josh Allen did from year two in Buffalo to year three (he went from 58.8% to 69.2%), but then again, Maye didn't have as far to climb. However, it goes beyond the actual statistics. It's also about ball placement. And after scuffling some with that in week one, the 23-year-old slinger is allowing his receivers to not only catch the damn ball, but giving them the runway to do something with it after.
“I think just being competitive, I think that’s the biggest thing. I’m competitive,” Maye said. “I want to make good throws. I want to complete passes in tight windows and give good ball placement for catch-and-run."
But now comes the chicken-or-egg part of the discussion. Is this just Maye's innate ability shining through as he gains more experience at the NFL level? Or is this because of the work he and this coaching staff have put in to get him to this point?
"I think probably a little bit of both," Mike Vrabel noted. "I think that Josh [McDaniels] and Ashton [Grant] have tried to work hard on that. I also think Drake is talented. And, again, it's like a pitcher. I don't know if there's a pitching coach that really taught Greg Maddux how to paint the plate and put the ball wherever he wanted it."
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels concurred that both skill and hard work are conspiring to elevate Maye's play.
"I don't know how it couldn't be both," he told us Thursday. "Any time a quarterback has a good day, a good practice or good season - whatever it is - in terms of completion percentage and giving the guys an opportunity to catch the ball, I think he's got to be aware of what's happening in the coverage end of it, know what our guys are doing, so that he's going to the right place with the ball, and then certainly having the skill, the ability, the talent, to put the ball in a place where our guys can catch it and nobody else can touch it."
Think back to the litany of throws that Maye has put the ball where only one man - the Pats receiver - can make a play on the ball. The touchdown to Stefon Diggs in the Tampa Bay game, the hole shot to Mack Hollins versus Tennessee, and a similar throw to Kayshon Boutte on the game-winning drive in Buffalo. I could go on and on because the kid has been so impressive. On those plays I mentioned, Maye is fundamentally sound, with a good base and fluid release. Talent matters there, but it really shows out on some of the off-schedule plays. Take, for instance, his pickling of the two Jets defenders last Thursday, getting them to commit to him, and casually dropping the ball over their heads to a wide-open Diggs. Yes, that play - and others - are things the staff works on with Maye. However, there are moments when the athlete takes over and it's just Drake being Drake.
"... there are other times where it's just natural athletic ability, hand-eye coordination, and putting the ball in good spots," Vrabel said.
"He's done it at all three levels of the field, which is another thing that I'm really excited about," McDaniels added. "And he can access those different points on the field, you know, when it's the right time to throw it there."
To that point, per Next Gen Stats, Maye leads the NFL with a 135.4 passer rating on deep passes (20+ air yards). So, he's proven he doesn't need to be a Checkdown Charlie to compile these numbers, nor do they actually matter to him.
“No. I just hope to be at the top in wins," Maye said. "That’s the biggest thing. Just trying to win. And I think all that other stuff comes after that."