It's not unreasonable to think that Drake Maye can get even better in 2026 than he was in 2025.

The New England Patriots quarterback, now entering his third season at the helm, put together a fantastic summer. Despite not taking a single snap in the preseason, his accuracy throughout training camp was off the charts and he looked smooth throwing the ball all over the field.

Maye was voted a captain by his teammates for the second-straight season, and his vocal leadership is something that head coach Mike Vrabel has preached throughout the summer.

When you consider the impressive sophomore season that he had, where he led the NFL in completion percentage, took the Patriots to the Super Bowl for the first time since Tom Brady did in 2018 and was a vote away from co-MVPs, there's no way he can get better in year three, right?

Well, he's just starting to get it. It's clicking for the 24-year-old quarterback, and the coaching staff has seen it all summer.

Vrabel: "There Is Probably A Comfort Level"

"I think just more comfort in what we are doing, more command, more understanding to be able to operate and get us into the best plays," Vrabel said Thursday. "I think there is probably a comfort level, and once you know your job really, really well, you can help other people do their job, and hopefully that is the case where he is sharing details of the play with guys that are in there or is getting guys lined up or making sure that we are legal, or the timing of the motions."

Part of that growth comes with another year in an offense led by Josh McDaniels.

We saw the Patriots offensive coordinator have plenty of success with a rookie Mac Jones in 2021. When he departed for the Las Vegas Raiders' head coaching job the following offseason, Jones' play dipped. Maye's play skyrocketed with McDaniels in his ear, and there's no worry about a change of playbooks this time around.

"Last offseason, we were just getting to know the language and learning how to operate within a system of offensive football," McDaniels said in June. "This year, we’re trying to take that and then go to the next phase of that, the next level of that, in his case which is obviously playing the position of quarterback. He knows a hell of a lot more than he did last year at this time."

Maye's 2026 Season Could Be Very Special

So yes, it's hard to believe that Maye can truly get better in this offense. But he certainly good. It's not crazy to imagine that Maye was drinking out of a firehose last year, trying to nail down McDaniels' offense. Now that he's gotten a full calendar year to work with him, those sips of water aren't coming out of a firehose anymore

Add in the fact that Maye gets to throw the ball to both A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs this year, and it just makes everything easier. Everything has looked good from Maye in camp, from the way he commands the huddle, to the play calling at the line, to the speed in which he gets the ball out.

"I think that that is great, but there is also a design to the play," Vrabel said when asked about Maye getting the ball out quick. "There is a timing element to when we can get the ball out quickly based on the route, based on the depth of the route, and the location of the route. And we cannot just raise it up and throw it the second that we get it every single snap.

"But we went through a lot of details this morning about our first and second down offense and listened to the players answer offensively about some of the details, and the different plays, and the concepts that we have on first and second down. I think it was very reassuring just to hear the different positions, or the different players, talk about each of those details."

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