Drake Maye Reveals Biggest Lesson He’s Learned From Tom Brady

Drake Maye may be entering his second season with the New England Patriots, but he’s still got some big shoes to fill. After an encouraging rookie campaign, Maye is looking to solidify his status as Tom Brady’s true successor in New England.

Replacing Brady was never going to be an easy task. After he departed in 2020, the team cycled through Cam Newton, Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe, with each being shown the exit after short stints with the team.

That eventually led to Maye stealing the starting quarterback job from Jacoby Brissett last season, and during his time under center, he looked the part of a franchise QB. In 13 games, Maye threw for 2,276 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also rushing for 421 yards and another pair of scores.

Maye has a new offensive coordinator in 2025, as Mike Vrabel brought Josh McDaniels back to town for his third stint with the team. As part of his work with Maye, McDaniels is showing him a lot of Brady’s film from their shared time together in New England, and it sounds like the former North Carolina Tar Heel has learned quite a bit from watching Brady.

“I think the one thing with Tom, he always knew where to go with the football,” Maye said on “Up & Adams.” “He was great with knowing where to go with the football, beating blitzers, knowing where to go before the snap … And his feet were always in the ground, ready to throw.”

Replicating Brady’s success is going to be tough for Maye. After all, Brady led the Patriots to six championships. The first step involves mastering McDaniels’ offense, though, and there was nobody better at it than Brady.

Changing offensive coordinators this early into Maye’s career is a bit risky, but he proved to be a quick learner in 2024, and that should help in 2025. And if he can put all the pieces of the puzzle together early, New England could quickly become a very dangerous team.