Drake Maye of New England Patriots passes the ball during the NFL match between New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe is a believer in the team's new franchise passer, Drake Maye. Bledsoe knows a thing or two about being a highly touted quarterback when he was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft. Despite landing with a team that had posted four consecutive losing seasons prior to his arrival, he led them to a Super Bowl appearance in his fourth season and made them an annual playoff contender.
While the Patriots have come a long way since then in winning six Super Bowls and emerging as the definition of a winning franchise in the modern NFL in the new millennium, they've fallen on hard times in the post-Tom Brady era, with just one playoff appearance over the past four years.
Bledsoe doesn't expect Maye to immediately make the Patriots into a Super Bowl contender, but he sees a lot of positives in the No. 3 overall pick, noting his "composure" and his "mobility."
"He seems to have great composure about him and when you're a rookie quarterback that can be hard, because everything is faster," says Bledsoe in a one-on-one interview with RG. "Being a rookie quarterback in the NFL, it's a little bit like sticking your head in a popcorn machine with all the popcorn going out there, just falling all over the place. And this happens so fast, you're trying to decide. He seems to have a calmness about him that allows him to perform with the chaos around him."
The former four-time Pro Bowl quarterback actually says Maye's style of play reminds him a lot of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, one of the best passers in the league and a guy who has already led his team to the Super Bowl.
"I like the fact that he can pull it down and run with it a little bit too," says Bledsoe.
"He can spread the ball around, but when he pulls it down, he's actually got some wheels. That's important in today's game. He reminds me a little bit of Joe Burrow, he seems to be kind of crafty, sees things pretty good, runs around a little bit. It reminds me a little bit of Joe."
Maye's stats so far aren't amazing, but they're solid – especially for a rookie quarterback. He has six passing touchdowns against four interceptions for an 85.1 passer rating and 65.6% completion rate. That's not even mentioning his 209 rushing yards and one touchdown on just 21 rushing attempts, which is a 10.0-yard rushing average. His 10 yards per run is easily the best of any quarterback in the NFL, with Malik Willis second at 8.6 yards per carry. For perspective, Lamar Jackson – who is considered the best running QB in the NFL – is averaging 6.0 yards per carry.
The Patriots quarterback's completion percentage and passer rating is actually only second to Washington Commanders sensation Jayden Daniels among all rookie quarterbacks. That means Maye's stats are better than that of Chicago Bears QB and No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams despite a vastly inferior supporting cast.
Bledsoe explains that having Maye sit the first few games while having veteran QB Jacoby Brissett start at the beginning of the season actually benefited Maye considering it showed observers that the Patriots are lacking a viable supporting cast. In other words, it "lowered" the bar and expectations for Maye.
"Had Drake Maye sit and watch for a few games and also established that even with this veteran quarterback, this team is not that great yet," says Bledsoe. "So the bar was lowered for him when he came in and then he came in and he's playing very, very well."
While the Patriots are just 1-3 in Maye's four starts – their one win actually came after Maye exited the game with a concussion late in the first quarter – they were competitive in their most recent loss, a 20-17 defeat in overtime against the Tennessee Titans. Maye actually threw the game-tying touchdown pass as time expired at the end of the fourth quarter. However, he did go through some growing pains as he also threw the game-losing interception in overtime to seal the game.
"He's doing some really, really special things," says Bledsoe of Maye.
"This past week, an unbelievable play to send them to overtime, then they couldn't win in overtime. But he's doing some really special things and I think they're going to continue to build and put players around Drake and so I think the future is bright. It's not just right now."
Bledsoe knows how impatient Patriots fans can be considering the level of success that they're used to having combined with how passionate they are for their teams. But he hopes that they can be patient when it comes to the development of Maye and when it relates to the Patriots emerging as contenders again.
"I really hope that those New England sports fans who are not exactly famous for their patience, I hope that they give him some time and give him some grace to build through this year," says Bledsoe. "Maybe next year they become a little more competitive and in a couple years maybe they're back to being a contender."
Drew Bledsoe details what piqued his interest in becoming a Winemaker
While the former 14-year veteran is best known for his NFL career, Bledsoe has made quite the name for himself in the wine world since his retirement in 2007. The 52-year-old founded the Doubleback Winery in 2007 and has since opened up two more wineries, Bledsoe Family Winery and Bledsoe McDaniels, which he founded with his business partner, Josh McDaniels (no relation to the former Patriots coach).
Bledsoe – who is a native of Washington – details how when he was young, drinking wine really wasn't a thing. In fact, there were only 19 wineries in the state of Washington in 1981, before increasing to 74 in 2000. It has since expanded to 1,050 wineries in 2023.
He explains what piqued his interest into eventually getting into the winery business in his post-playing career.
"It really was not a thing when I was growing up and it certainly wasn't a thing when I was in college," says Bledsoe. "We really didn't get into wine until I got in the league. Initially, it was something we would order when we went to dinner because that's what we were supposed to do. We were trying to act like we were more sophisticated. Very quickly, we discovered it was a much more interesting beverage than the beer and whiskey we've been drinking. It had so many nuances and it really made your food better with your meal."
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