_(cropped).png) Maye with theNew England Patriots in 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 10 – New England Patriots | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (2002-08-30)August 30, 2002 (age 23) Huntersville, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Myers Park (Charlotte, North Carolina) | ||||||||||||||
| College | North Carolina (2021–2023) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2024: 1st round, 3rd overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2025 | |||||||||||||||
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Drake Lee Maye (born August 30, 2002) is an American professionalfootballquarterback for theNew England Patriots of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theNorth Carolina Tar Heels, winningACC Football Player of the Year in 2022 after leading theNCAA in total yards and setting single-season school records in passing yards and touchdowns. Maye was selected third overall by the Patriots in the2024 NFL draft and earnedPro Bowl honors during his rookie season.
Maye was born on August 30, 2002, inHuntersville, North Carolina.[1][2] He attendedWilliam A. Hough High School inCornelius, North Carolina, and transferred after his freshman year toMyers Park High School inCharlotte, where he played football and basketball.[3] He has three brothers, who also played football. Two of his brothers,Luke and Cole, won national championships playing collegiate sports. Maye proved to have a competitive nature with them regarding sports.[4] As a junior in high school, he received All-Conference and All-District honors in basketball and was namedThe Charlotte Observer's 2019 male athlete of the year after throwing for a school-record 3,512 yards and 50 touchdowns en route to a conference championship appearance.[1][5][6] Maye was named aUnder Armour All-American in 2020 despite being unable to play his senior season due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[1] Rated a four-star prospect, Maye committed to playcollege football for theAlabama Crimson Tide in July 2019 before flipping toNorth Carolina in March 2020.[7]
As aredshirt in his freshman season for theNorth Carolina Tar Heels, Maye appeared in four games behind starterSam Howell in 2021.[8] With Howell leaving for the NFL in 2022, Maye was named the starter prior to the season.[9] In the opening game againstFlorida A&M, Maye threw five touchdowns and became the first UNC quarterback to do so in his debut.[10] Maye would also record games with four or more total touchdowns againstAppalachian State,[11]Notre Dame,[12]Virginia Tech,[13]Pittsburgh,[14] andWake Forest.[15] He led the team to appearances in the2022 ACC Championship Game andHoliday Bowl and was named theACC Player of the Year after leading theNCAA in total offense with 5,019,[16] passing for school-records 4,321 yards and 38 touchdowns while rushing for 698 yards and 7 touchdowns.[17]
In the 2023 season, Maye threw for over 400 yards againstSyracuse,[18]Miami,[19] andCampbell.[20] Maye was namedsecond-team All-ACC after passing for 3,608 yards and 24 touchdowns while rushing for 449 yards and nine touchdowns.[21] Maye declared for the2024 NFL draft following the season.[22] He finished his career fifth in passing yards (8,018) and fourth in passing touchdowns (63) in UNC history.[23]
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Comp | Att | Pct | Yards | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | |||
| 2021 | North Carolina | 4 | 0 | — | 7 | 10 | 70.0 | 89 | 8.9 | 1 | 0 | 177.8 | 6 | 62 | 10.3 | 0 | |
| 2022 | North Carolina | 14 | 14 | 9−5 | 342 | 517 | 66.2 | 4,321 | 8.4 | 38 | 7 | 157.9 | 184 | 698 | 3.8 | 7 | |
| 2023 | North Carolina | 12 | 12 | 8−4 | 269 | 425 | 63.3 | 3,608 | 8.5 | 24 | 9 | 149.0 | 112 | 449 | 4.0 | 9 | |
| Career | 30 | 26 | 17−9 | 618 | 952 | 64.9 | 8,018 | 8.4 | 63 | 16 | 154.1 | 302 | 1,209 | 4.0 | 16 | ||
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft4+3⁄8 in (1.94 m) | 223 lb (101 kg) | 32+1⁄4 in (0.82 m) | 9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) | |||||||||
| All values fromNFL Combine[24][25] | ||||||||||||
Maye was selected by theNew England Patriots as the third overall pick in the2024 NFL draft. He was the first Patriot sinceDrew Bledsoe in1993 to be selected in the top five of the draft.[26] He was the third of a record-tying six quarterbacks taken in the first round (tied with the1983 draft).[27] The Patriots reportedly turned down offers for their pick from theMinnesota Vikings andNew York Giants that would have included additional first-round draft picks.[28]
Maye signed a four-year fully-guaranteed contract worth $36.64 million on May 28, 2024.[29] Maye was the second consecutive Patriots first-round rookie quarterback to choose the number 10, followingMac Jones.[30]
Despite a strong preseason, Maye was named a backup to veteranJacoby Brissett to begin his rookie season.[31] Maye made his regular season debut in Week 3, entering in the fourth quarter of the Patriots' 24–3 road loss to theNew York Jets. Maye finished the game, completing four of eight passes for 22 yards and rushing for 12 yards.[32] On October 8, 2024, after the Patriots fell to 1–4 and continued struggles from Brissett, Maye was named the starting quarterback.[33] In his first start against theHouston Texans, Maye completed 20 of 33 passes for 243 yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in the 41–21 loss; he also led the team with 38 rushing yards.[34] Maye's three touchdowns were one more than Brissett had thrown in his five 2024 starts,[35] and Maye became the first quarterback since at least 1950 to throw three touchdown passes and lead his team in rushing in his first start.[36] In Week 8 against the Jets, Maye recorded a rushing touchdown before exiting the game in the second quarter with a head injury, later diagnosed as a concussion. The Patriots would go on to win 25–22.[37][38] The Patriots finished the season with a 4–13 record and did not make the playoffs.
Maye finished his rookie season throwing for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.[39] Maye's first 10 passing touchdowns went to ten different receivers, making him the first NFL quarterback to accomplish that feat sinceSteve Ramsey did so in 1973.[40]
In January 2025, Maye was selected to play in the2025 Pro Bowl Games as a replacement forBuffalo Bills quarterbackJosh Allen.[41]
The 2025 season began with change in the Patriots' coaching staff with the hiring of new head coachMike Vrabel and the return of offensive coordinatorJosh McDaniels.[42][43]
In Week 5 against theBuffalo Bills, Maye completed 22 of 30 passes for 273 yards, including leading a 37-yard game-winning drive to allowAndrés Borregales to covert a 52-yard field goal with 15 seconds left to win the game 23–20.[44] In Week 7 against theTennessee Titans, Maye set a franchise record in completion percentage in a regular-season game, with a 91.3% completion percentage, overtakingTom Brady’s 88.5%, while also throwing for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–13 victory.[45]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Sacks | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Y/G | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Sck | SckY | Fum | Lost | ||
| 2024 | NE | 13 | 12 | 3–9 | 225 | 338 | 66.6 | 2,276 | 6.7 | 175.1 | 40 | 15 | 10 | 88.1 | 54 | 421 | 7.8 | 41 | 2 | 34 | 229 | 9 | 6 |
| 2025 | NE | 7 | 7 | 5–2 | 152 | 202 | 75.2 | 1,744 | 8.6 | 249.1 | 55 | 12 | 2 | 116.4 | 44 | 200 | 4.6 | 20 | 2 | 22 | 77 | 4 | 1 |
| Career | 20 | 19 | 8–11 | 377 | 540 | 69.8 | 4,020 | 7.4 | 201 | 55 | 27 | 12 | 98.7 | 98 | 621 | 6.3 | 41 | 4 | 56 | 306 | 13 | 7 | |
Maye is the youngest of four brothers:Luke and Beau played basketball at UNC, with the former landing abuzzer beater in theElite Eight en route to winning the2017 national championship.[46] Another brother, Cole, was a pitcher on theFlorida Gators baseball team that won the2017 College World Series.[1] Maye grew up family friends with quarterbackMason Rudolph, as their fathers played together at UNC.[47] Maye's father Mark played quarterback at North Carolina (UNC) in the 1980s prior to playing briefly with theTampa Bay Buccaneers andRaleigh–Durham Skyhawks.[1]
Maye is good friends withSam Howell, who preceded him as starting quarterback at UNC.[48]
On June 22, 2025, Maye married Ann Michael Hudson.[49] They began dating in 2015 and announced their engagement in January 2025. Hudson and Maye also attended UNC together, where Hudson's brother backed up Maye on the Tar Heels for a year.[50][51]
