Drake Maye Closing in Fast on Buffalo's Josh Allen, Rams' Matthew Stafford
Drake Maye landed at No. 11 on the NFL's Top 100 for 2026, trailing only Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford among quarterbacks still left to be revealed.
Heading into Friday morning, only three potential quarterbacks remained to be named in the official “NFL Top 100” for 2026, as voted on by the players: New England’s Drake Maye, Buffalo’s Josh Allen and the reigning league MVP, Matthew Stafford of the Rams.
Maye is going to need at least one more giant season to crack the top two QBs’ stranglehold and the top 10 overall as he checked in at No. 11 on the list.
Ahead of 15 QBs, including Mahomes
The third-year man out of North Carolina is the 16th QB on the Top 100 list, selected thus far, easily ahead of No. 18 Patrick Mahomes.
New England’s Super Bowl runner-up still has work to do. Along with his execution through the offseason and into training camp, Maye has strived to hone his leadership skills.
“I think I still have ways to go. I think I still need to say more. I think I’m comfortable with a lot of guys in the huddle, a lot of guys on our team, and I think there’s areas for me to take the guys on offense especially, and bring them to a different level and elevate their game, elevate my game, and kind of bleed that into the defense and the whole team,” Maye said on Thursday after a second joint practice with the Eagles.
“So, I’ve got some ways to work, and I think that is the best thing about working out here and finding some adversity. You got to find something and keep straining.”
Focus now on red zone
After throwing for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns with eight interceptions a year ago, Maye and the New England offense have paid close attention to their work in the red zone all summer. It was a point of emphasis again on Thursday against Philly.
“I think we’ve just got to find a way to make positive plays. I think that is the biggest thing,” Maye said about the plays inside the 20. “Try to keep moving forward, and it starts with me with communication and avoiding penalties and avoiding sacks and avoiding negative plays. So, I think that is the biggest thing with us, just to find positive plays and keep getting guys the football.”