Edition 2 - Week 15 Quarterback Rankings - Where Does Drake Maye Stack Up?
To clarify, before we get into this: this is a ranking of a team's primary starter. Dak Prescott will be on this list, despite Cooper Rush starting at QB for Dallas, same with Derek Carr. For teams where their QB room is unclear (Atlanta, now starting Michael Penix; Tennessee, benching Will Levis for Mason Rudolph; etc.), I have treated them as a QB Room of sorts (doesn't matter much, they're all just about at the bottom of this list).
Additionally, after the list, I will get into some of the QBs I had the most difficulty with, as well as why Maye finds himself where he does.
Group 1 - MVP Candidates
Josh Allen - Buffalo Bills
Lamar Jackson - Baltimore Ravens
Group 2 - Could Win Their Team a Super Bowl
Patrick Mahomes - Kansas City Chiefs
Joe Burrow - Cincinnati Bengals
Justin Herbert - Los Angeles Chargers
Group 3 - When They're On, They're On
Jordan Love - Green Bay Packers
Matthew Stafford - Los Angeles Rams
CJ Stroud - Houston Texans
Group 4 - I Can't Place It, But These Guys Belong Together
Kyler Murray - Arizona Cardinals
Jaylen Hurts - Philadelphia Eagles
Geno Smith - Seattle Seahawks
Jared Goff - Detroit Lions
Baker Mayfield - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Group 5 - I Have No Clue Where These Guys Should Go
Aaron Rodgers - New York Jets
Russell Wilson - Pittsburgh Steelers
Trevor Lawrence - Jacksonville Jaguars
Dak Prescott - Dallas Cowboys
Group 6 - Young Guns (and Tua, who's only 26)
Jayden Daniels - Washington Commanders
Drake Maye - New England Patriots
Brock Purdy - San Francisco 49ers
Tua Tagavailoa - Miami Dolphins
Sam Darnold - Minnesota Vikings
Bo Nix - Denver Broncos
Caleb Williams - Chicago Bears
Group 7 - An Ounce of Hope
Atlanta Falcons (Kirk Cousins & Michael Penix)
Anthony Richardson - Indianapolis Colts
Bryce Young - Carolina Panthers
Group 8 - All the Interceptions
Derek Carr - New Orleans Saints
Cleveland Browns (Jameis Winston & Dorian Thompson-Robinson)
Group 9 - Dumpster Fire
Las Vegas Raiders (Gardner Minshew, Aidan O'Connell & Desmond Ridder)
Tennessee Titans (Will Levis & Mason Rudolph)
New York Giants (Tommy DeVito, Drew Lock & Tim Boyle)
This was absolutely not as easy as I had anticipated when I started writing down names. Groups 1 and 2 I had set fairly quickly, and it certainly feels as if those five QBs have the edge on the rest of the field. However, even in Group 3 I had some hesitations.
The inclusion of Matthew Stafford and Jordan Love in this group felt fairly straightforward to me. I also felt as if CJ Stroud certainly deserved to be here, because we know he has talent on the level with Stafford and Love (maybe even on the level of Herbert at times), but we really haven't seen much of that this year. The reason I'm willing to keep him in this group despite not living up to what we saw last year is because the Texans don't seem to want to put him in situations to succeed, at least not with any ease. Constantly in 3rd-and-long and having to work some magic to keep a drive alive, there isn't much opportunity for him to amass the beautiful throws from a clean pocket we saw last year. However, he seems to work that magic and put the Texans on his back more often than not.
Group 4 I feel pretty confident in, but Group 5 - as the title very delicately implies - was impossible for me. I spent inexcusable amounts of time trying to sort Rodgers, Lawrence, Wilson, and Prescott into different groups, and I just couldn't figure out where they should land except all together. The only one I could potentially understand moving would be Russell Wilson - I think he has shown enough this year that with a little convincing I might move him to the bottom of Group 4.
Otherwise, Group 5 is basically just filled with Quarterbacks I don't understand. Aaron Rodgers and this Jets team is going to go down as one of the most bizarre case studies in recent NFL history. A first-ballot hall-of-fame, 4x MVP, Super Bowl champion Quarterback on a team with what I believed to be a bona fide WR1 in Garrett Wilson, a strong RB in Breece Hall, and a good defense is now sitting at 4-10. Dak Prescott, who has (in the regular season at least) shown MVP-caliber play over long stretches, is another one I can't quite grasp, though I think I have a better understanding of him. Dak adores tight windows. In his best seasons, Dak performs significantly above average in success rate on tight-window throws. In his worst seasons, he returns to the mean or worse. I am sure there is a lot more at play, but that is a good enough explanation for me. Finally, Trevor Lawrence came out of Clemson as a can't-miss prospect, went through some of the most horrific coaching seasons in recent memory, and now just seems like a middle-of-the-pack QB? I'll believe anything different when it's proven on the field.
Group 6 is a bit weird as well, and is the last group with QBs that are really worth delving into. Tua, Bo Nix, Sam Darnold and Caleb Williams all certainly belong here, in my eyes at least. Jayden Daniels, Brock Purdy, and Drake Maye you could convince me to move up as far as Group 4 in some cases (Brock wouldn't get higher than Group 5). I do like Brock Purdy, though. Yes, Purdy had every weapon imaginable and the Yards After Catch numbers that his pass-catchers amassed was ridiculous, but I actually think this season has proven that he is a legitimate NFL QB. This team has caught the injury bug, currently trotting out Isaac Guerendo and Ricky Pearsall as true starters on a team that featured Aiyuk and McCaffrey, not to mention injuries to Dre Greenlaw (who just came back last week), Javon Hargrave, Jon Feliciano and more. Brock has proven himself more mobile and more of a successful improviser than we had previously seen in this offense.
We can wrap it up with the two best rookie QBs coming out of last year's class (sorry, Bo Nix): Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. Jayden Daniels had an absolutely unbelievable start to his rookie year, and it doesn't seem as if it was all luck. Sure, he can sometimes be a little excited to get out of the pocket and run, but that's a small price to pay. He made Terry McLaurin love football again... there's almost nothing better than that. The rib injury certainly declined his play, and there have been some recent performances that make me believe that that injury is lingering a bit more than he might let on. I'm excited to see what he can do once fully healthy again. Now, finally, on to Drake Maye. Despite watching more Patriots football than anyone in their right mind should be subjected to, I still have a really hard time ranking Drake Maye amongst other NFL QBs. It's clear he's a great scrambler and has a great arm, but it's hard to place him when we haven't actually seen him play with any legitimate weapon. His best pass catcher this year is... Hunter Henry? I'm holding out hope for Pop Douglas, but unless we can get someone to stretch the field (Boutte doesn't count), it's going to be hard for him to find the space he needs in the slot. With even a serviceable offensive line and decent pass catchers, there's no telling what Drake Maye could do... which is why I struggled to put him any higher.
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