Getty

The New England Patriots are forcing Drake Maye to be more like Tom Brady.

He’s a very different quarterback than Tom Brady, but Drake Maye is still being asked to copy a key skill from arguably the greatest player in New England Patriots’ and NFL history.

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels knows exactly what made Brady great, and the play-caller is forcing Maye to learn the same habit. The Pats forcing Maye to be more like Brady has not gone unnoticed by Chad Graff of The Athletic this offseason.

Graff pointed out how “During minicamp, they purposefully didn’t give Maye a play to run out of the huddle. The goal was for him to study the opposing defense, figure out a play that would work against it, communicate the plan to teammates, then execute it. Tom Brady once mastered this Josh McDaniels-led offense. Now they want Maye to do the same.”

This is part of McDaniels “putting everything on Drake Maye’s plate,” according to Graff. The latter thinks “Maybe that’s to be expected after he finished second in MVP voting at age 23, but the Pats are upping the ante with Maye this season.”

Making Maye assume greater responsibility pre-snap is the next necessary step in his evolution toward becoming an elite signal-caller. The process helped McDaniels refine Brady into a great QB1, but a key part of Maye’s playing style could doom the same plan in 2026.

Drake Maye Different to Tom Brady

Maye is already elite, according to one of Brady’s former teammates, but there’s good reason to slow the hype. Beginning with how much Maye struggled to handle pressure and make quick reads against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.

He was facing the toughest defense in the league, behind a shaky offensive line, but Maye still looked lost on the biggest stage. He took six sacks, gave up a fumble and threw two interceptions, including a pick-six, prompting a Super Bowl winner to compare Maye unfavorably to a former NFL MVP.

More than struggling by comparison, Maye’s Super Bowl nightmare revealed a damaging habit McDaniels must fix. Getting Maye to be more in tune with what a defense is doing before the snap can solve this major weakness.

It worked for Brady, but the latter was a relentless student of the game. A quarterback who played the position at a cerebral level and possessed preternatural patience and cast-iron nerve in clutch situations.

Maye’s game is more than a little different to Brady’s. While TB12 was comfortable in the pocket, surveying the field and tying McDaniels’ concepts to every perceived defensive weakness, Maye plays a little more off-script.

The third-overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft can make plays with his legs and is willing to trust his arm in situations Brady would’ve deemed too high risk. Maye’s willingness to make every snap a big play hasn’t always pleased head coach Mike Vrabel, and it’s the main reason McDaniels faces a tough time making New England’s current starter more like Brady.

Patriots Need Flexible Quarterback Plan

McDaniels isn’t going to get another Brady, so he might be smarter to change his schemes in ways that better suit Maye’s particular set of skills. Especially since Maye doesn’t sound willing to moderate his more reckless tendencies.

Indulging a freelancer in what’s traditionally been a rigid system is an obvious challenge for McDaniels. He was able to lean on Brady’s even temperament for years during a fruitful partnership between QB and OC that yielded three Lombardi Trophies.

To his credit, McDaniels did show his ability to adapt by helping Maye perform above expectations in 2025. The tricky part now will be balancing the need to make Maye a more strategic quarterback, against not eliminating the ad-libbing that makes him a special playmaker.