ESPN analyst Damien Woody was giving New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye credit for his tremendous performance this season, as he emerges as the first quarterback since Tom Brady to lead the team towards an AFC East title. The Pats are 5-2 entering Monday Night Football and in first place in the division.
Second-Year Patriots QB Drake Maye Is Rising Into Stardom For AFC East Leading Patriots
In a dominant 31-13 win over the terrible Titans on Sunday, Maye put up a statistical line that even Brady never accomplished. The second-year quarterback completed 21 of 23 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns with a 135.9 passer rating before exiting in the fourth quarter to relax on the bench.
Maye’s 91.3% completion rate was the highest in a game in Patriots history (minimum of 20 pass attempts). He also added eight carries for 62 yards, becoming the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to complete 90% of his passes, throw for more than 200 yards and rush for more than 50 yards in a single game, according to FOX Sports research.
Woody said Maye had risen to top 5 quarterback in the game, which Newton didn’t like.
Former New England Patriots QB Cam Newton Says Drake Maye Is Not Top 5: Hold The Hype
“Top 5 in the NFL?,” a flabbergasted Cam asked.
“He’s playing like a top 5 quarterback,” Woody, a two-time Super Bowl champion lineman said.
“You trippin son,” responded Newton, dismissing the notion that Maye has elevated to a top 5 QB in the NFL. “Is he playing good football? Yes. But Top 5 in the NFL? That’s pretty angry. Nothing against Drake Maye because I’m a fan, but I don’t think he’s reached a limit when he’s a person who we really consider top 5. This performance came against the likes of the Tennessee Titans. For him to get labeled a top 5 quarterback he has to do it against (the Bills) and (elite) competition on a consistent basis.”
There are plenty of fans across the NFL that would agree with Woody, especially thirsty New England Patriots fans who had to endure guys such as a washed up Cam or unpolished Mac Jones as Belichick made his way out of New England. Jerod Mayo won four games in his only season at the helm, before Mike Vrabel reset the culture when he arrived in January of 2025. The Patriots took Maye with the third overall pick in the 2024 Draft so expectations were definitely high. It’s just rare to see someone meet those expectations so quickly.
New England Patriots Fans Say Cam Newton Is Jealous Of Drake Maye’s Success
Fans saw Cam’s comments as him being a bit jelly.
“Can I remind everyone that Cam Newton got cut by New England? They chose to go with Mac Jones. So you can understand why he salty,” said one fan.
“So disappointing,” said another fan on X in response to Newton’s comments. “You’d think cam would love maye because cam was his favorite player and maye was inspired by him fo be a QB. But jealousy is a powerful emotion it seems. What has maye done to NOT be a top 5 QB?”
Cam also caught strays for changing the goal posts so that he can downplay Maye’s overall success.
“@CameronNewton you sound like a hater! What happened to you can only play who’s on your schedule? Now it’s he did it against a bad team. Glazing josh allen all day but hating on a young guy playing better,” another pro-Maye fan ranted at Cam.
You can’t blame the Pats fans for seeing past Cam’s analysis to a deeper mission of avoiding a narrative that he failed when he came to the Patriots. Cam didn’t bomb but he led them to a 7-9 record in the 2020 season. He passed for 2,657 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 15 games. He also rushed for 592 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns on the ground, which is his calling card. The NFL’s all-time leader in career quarterback rushing touchdowns did say that Maye was his “favorite young quarterback,” so he’s not totally hating.
It would be hard to place Maye above Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, even the struggling Josh Allen and unfairly criticized Jalen Hurts. After that top tier, however, it’s a toss up with Baker Mayfield also making his way up the list and guys such as Josh Herbert and Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow (always hurt) and inconsistent Jordan Love sliding down the list.
Drake Maye Is Looking To Bring New England First Super Bowl Since Brady-Belichick Era
He’s not only producing stats that are among the league’s best, but his Patriots team is looking to break the back of the Bills who have owned that division for the past six seasons. This is one of the most important seasons in New England Patriots history and Maye is getting his major props for reminding New England fans what it used to feel like when Brady was at the helm and winning was expoected.
