New England Patriots
Maye completed only one first-place vote behind Matthew Stafford within the voting.
SAN FRANCISCO — Drake Maye has a shot at profitable the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday in Santa Clara.
However the Patriots QB received’t be leaving the Bay Space with the NFL’s Most Invaluable Participant Award.
The 23-year-old Patriots star completed second within the voting for MVP behind Rams QB Matthew Stafford on Thursday — ending a two-man race that dominated NFL award discourse over the previous few months of the 2025 season.
It was slender margin separating Stafford and Maye. Stafford earned 24 first-place votes (366 factors), whereas Maye earned 23 (361). Josh Allen additionally secured two first-place votes, whereas Justin Herbert earned the final first-place vote.
The 2025 NFL MVP race was the closest since Peyton Manning and Steve McNair shared the award in 2003.
Maye went from a promising — albeit uncooked — prospect in 2024 to one of many prime playmakers within the NFL within the span of a single yr.
The No. 3 choose within the 2024 NFL Draft was one of many major conduits in New England’s inconceivable run to Tremendous Bowl LX — main the Patriots from a four-win 2024 marketing campaign to a 14-3 file and the membership’s first AFC East crown since 2019.
Maye led an explosive and environment friendly offense in Foxborough this previous season, throwing for 4,394 yards (fourth within the NFL), 31 touchdowns (third) and committing simply eight turnovers.
Maye led the NFL in each completion share (72.0 p.c) and QBR (77.1), whereas additionally dashing for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Stafford, 37, additionally stuffed the stat sheet this season. The veteran QB led the NFL in each passing yards (4,707) and touchdowns (46) whereas additionally throwing eight interceptions.
The writing was seemingly on the wall that Maye was going to return up quick within the voting for MVP after it was introduced that he earned Second Group All-Professional honors in January — whereas Stafford earned First-Group nods.
Sometimes, the MVP winner is called first-team All-Professional. Solely two gamers have been named MVP after failing to obtain first-team All-Professional honors since 2000 — Steve McNair (2003) and Allen (2024).
Whereas Maye’s MVP candidacy might have been undercut by each Stafford’s personal stats and narratives concerning New England’s lighter regular-season schedule, former Patriots operating again Damien Harris argued final month that Maye did extra with much less this season.
“Not solely does he have 14 touchdowns within the low pink zone to Davante Adams, he is also throwing to probably the greatest receivers within the Nationwide Soccer League at Puka Nacua, who’s on the tops of the receiving checklist for nearly each statistical class,” Harris said of Stafford on CBS. “Drake Maye is throwing to who?
“Thirty-two year-old Stefon Diggs, the operating backs, … getting the tight ends concerned. He’s getting it to all people is the purpose. There’s no actual famous person pass-catcher for this workforce, however but Drake Maye nonetheless will get the ball to all people.”
ESPN NFL author Mina Kimes — who’s a voter for MVP and admitted that she voted for Maye — additionally believes Maye’s underlying metrics made him her selection for the league’s prime participant.
“From a dominance perspective, Drake Maye was higher than Matthew Stafford in nearly each significant statistic,” Kimes said on ESPN’s “First Take”. “QBR, EPA per dropback, success fee. He had the best completion share within the NFL. He was first in all of these, regardless of having a excessive common depth of goal. On prime of that, he was the extra environment friendly quarterback. He additionally introduced a component of dashing you simply don’t get from Matthew Stafford.”
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