CBS Sports: Josh Allen Makes a Daring Challenge to Drake Maye, the Partriots’ quarterback
The New England Patriots should look to arch-enemy Josh Allen, an expert on the issue, if they want a reliable evaluation on rookie quarterback Drake Maye’s potential. The quarterback for the Buffalo Bills has made a daring guess on the destiny of the third-overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
Allen, a longtime nemesis of the Patriots, thinks Maye is “going to be really good for a really long time.” He’s stretching and coming out of the pocket to make some incredible plays. Ben Volin of The Boston Globe said, “I have a lot of respect for his game.”
When the Bills meet the Pats at Highmark Stadium in Week 16, Maye will have the opportunity to defend Allen’s judgment. Buffalo might make the playoffs if they win on Sunday, December 22, but the Patriots will be competing for more than just pride.
The competition will serve as a gauge for how Allen and Maye stack up. In the same manner that Maye is anticipated to turn the Patriots around, the latter has made the Bills a contender.
Drake Maye Can Use Josh Allen as a Good Benchmark
This is not the first time Allen and Maye have been compared. Both are physically intimidating signal-callers who can overwhelm defenses both on the ground and in the air, thus the parallel is appropriate.
Before the draft, there were comparisons between the two, although not everyone agreed. The most well-known skeptic was former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who reminded everyone that Allen is a “pretty special player” and has won six Super Bowls.
Given his own headaches while attempting to halt Allen, Belichick was correct to issue a warning. According to StatMuse, the latter is 6-5 versus the Patriots during the regular season, but Allen also has a 2021 playoff victory against New England of 47-17.
To his credit, Maye is aware that he has yet to reach Allen’s level. “I think I’ve got a long way to go to get anywhere near playing like that,” the 22-year-old said to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald.
One current Patriots player believes Maye is superior to Allen as a rookie in 2018, despite Maye’s sense of perspective and Belichick’s prudence.
Conor Roche, a coworker of Volin, told the Globe that Maye “just put up better passing numbers as a rookie than Allen did,” which is a strong claim. With an 88.4 passer rating in 10 games (nine starts), he has completed 68.5 percent of his throws for 1,898 yards (6.8 yards per attempt), 12 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.
All of that sounds wonderful, but Roche makes an intriguing observation that highlights a little but significant distinction between Allen and Maye. Patriots supporters might not notice the difference.
Drake is not allowed by the Patriots. Cook, Maye
“Maye has been more conservative than Allen in pushing the ball down the field,” Roche said. Among the quarterbacks who have started most of his team’s games, he has one of the lowest ADOTs (7.3). Among quarterbacks who have started most of their team’s games this season, he has only seen 8.2 percent of his attempts travel over 20 yards in the air and 18.3 percent of his passes go an intermediate distance, both of which rank near the bottom.
