Patriots QB Shockingly Snubbed from Major List

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye definitely drew a lot of attention during his rookie campaign, mostly for the right seasons.

Maye made 13 appearances and 12 starts for the Patriots in 2024, finishing with 2,276 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while adding 421 yards and a pair of scores as a rusher.

While the 22-year-old experienced some natural growing pains and clearly still has a lot of issues he needs to work through, it was an overall impressive debut season for him.

That's why there is considerable hype surrounding New England heading into 2025, as the Pats have taken time to drastically improve the supporting cast around Maye to potentially make a move in the AFC East (which is fairly weak outside of the Buffalo Bills).

But could we be overrating Maye? Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports seems to think so, as Maye was conspicuously absent from his top 25 players under 25 years old list. To make matters worse, Maye was not even listed as an honorable mention, which featured 22 other names.

Is that disrespectful to Maye? Maybe, but everyone also needs to understand that there are plenty of other good young players — including quarterbacks — around the NFL, and it's not like Maye enjoyed a historically great rookie year.

The former No. 3 overall pick was good last season. He wasn't great, and his penchant for turning the ball over is definitely something that could become a significant problem if he doesn't quickly rectify it.

Now, in Maye's defense, he didn't exactly have a star-studded cast at his disposal last year. In fact, his offensive line and receiving corps were probably the league's worst units in their respective categories. But now we'll get the chance to see how Maye performs with an improved team.