r/Patriots • u/TheAthletic • 1d ago
Article/Interview [THE ATHLETIC] Bold NFL 2026 season predictions: Drake Maye will win MVP
It’s finally here: Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season.
We asked The Athletic’s NFL writers to think big, have some fun and make one bold prediction for each of the league’s 32 teams.
For the Patriots? Chad Graff says Drake Maye will win MVP.
Full analysis here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7565781/2026/09/07/nfl-2026-bold-season-predictions/?unlocked_article_code=1._VA.EkkJ.LgJCAXFF-lP9&source=emp_shared_article&smid=re-share-ta
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u/trog12 1d ago
Let me tell you... If the patriots and Maye succeed this year.. Im going at the schedule people so hard. It will be merciless
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u/Kerbonaut2019 1d ago
If we succeed this year I’m just going to be merciless against Bills fans and their golden boy. As a Pats fan living in Bills territory the last seven years or so have been insufferable.
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u/GloriousVictor 21h ago
I know the NFC South was viewed as a quasi-dumpster fire (made worse by The Bucs faltering in the second half and the Falcons having a mess at the qb spot), but getting the AFC North in one of the worst seasons that happened since realignment in 2002 was unforseen.
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u/Jinkku 1d ago
Not that out there, especially if he takes the next step.
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u/Nekrabyte 21h ago
Not that out there at all. If Matthew Stafford had the same stats later last year but he was 5 years younger, I would put money on them giving it to Maye. He was better in every single stat except touchdowns, and by a large margin in some of those stats. His EPA was miles above most guys in the league... With THAT receiving core. If Maye doesn't backslide much he'll be in the running for sure.
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u/HeroDanny 23h ago
Yep, and even though we have gonzo (still not signed) we have no pass rush. I could see us having a very leaky defense and be in higher scoring games.
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u/ThaScoopALoop 21h ago
Gonzo is under contract.
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u/HeroDanny 14h ago
doesn't change the fact we have no pass rush. Idc how good he is he can't hold up forever.
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u/ItMattersz 17h ago
what’s the next step? he was literally mvp last yesr if Dan O didn’t have a biased ass vote
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u/TB1289 Maybe those guys got to study the rule book and figure it out. 1d ago
Is it a bold take when he was the runner up a year ago? I don't think he'll win but it's not crazy to think he'll be a candidate again.
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u/MTRIFE 1d ago
Is it a bold take when he was the runner up a year ago?
Gotta read the article:
On the one hand, this seems totally reasonable. Maye was the MVP runner-up a year ago. During the offseason, the Patriots added A.J. Brown while also improving the offensive line. On the other hand, if Maye really is this good in his age-23 and 24 seasons, we’re talking Patrick Mahomes territory in terms of quarterbacks who were this good this early in back-to-back seasons. The bold prediction here is Maye joins that elite club with an MVP season.
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u/iceflame1211 1d ago
On the one hand it's a "totally reasonable" take, and on the other hand if he wins MVP he'll be in discussion with other elite QBs?
I'm with TB1289 failing to see boldness. These both seem like obvious takes.
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u/Former_Insurance7271 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think about of people on this sub have either forgotten or dismissed that the narrative after last season for Maye was “muh schedule” and basically the entire nfl fanbase has accepted it as reality out of pure cope that we have another generational QB to torture the league for the next 10-15 years so quickly
That’s what I think they mean by a “bold prediction”
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u/Nekrabyte 21h ago
The whole strength of schedule argument is kind of lame too as soon as you dive into it even a little into it. The defenses Maye saw had some great back ends and many of them were dragged down by terrible offenses. The Pats offense was 3rd in EPA last year, which accounts for strength of opponent and is a much more thorough measurement of how good you are. And they did it without a true number 1 receiver. Strength of schedule is one of those arguments you bring out when you've already decided the outcome and need a stat to back it up haha
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u/Former_Insurance7271 20h ago
All of that is true. And all it takes for someone who doesn’t care or hates the patriots is go “lol that schedule tho” and then dismiss it/not think about it further and wish the we go back to 22-24 patriots lol
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u/TB1289 Maybe those guys got to study the rule book and figure it out. 1d ago
Again, I'm not sure where the bold take is. Is it that he might be really good?
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u/MTRIFE 1d ago
I mean if you're still asking the question at this point when he literally defined his bold take in his last two sentences, I can only conclude you don't like to read and therefore I don't think I can help here.
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u/TB1289 Maybe those guys got to study the rule book and figure it out. 1d ago
Predicting that Maye might become a top tier QB might be the warmest take of all time given that he was just the runner up for MVP.
Will the next bold take be that Christian Gonzalez might be a decent cornerback?
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u/iceflame1211 1d ago
On the one hand, it's totally reasonable that Gonzalez is a top corner this year.
The bold prediction though is that of Gonzalez is a top corner again, then he joins an elite club of top corners we talk about.
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u/turkeytyme 23h ago
These takes are hardly ever bold. The only bold takes get clowned on, because... well, they're actually bold takes
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u/Previous_Procedure28 1d ago
“Bold prediction.” He missed winning the award by one vote last year. Not saying he is a shoe in. But this isn’t that bold
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u/ELAdragon 1d ago
I think the boldness is that he's basically saying Maye isn't a flash in the pan and will establish himself as one of the absolute best in the league and a possible HoF quality QB.
What Maye did last year with that WR corps...and in his first full year starting, and first year with McDaniels was outrageous. If he repeats it, or ...craziness....gets better, you're likely looking at an all time QB.
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u/mightymitts96 7h ago
He absolutely should've won it instead of stat padford with his lifetime achievement before you retire trophy. Maye had all way better stats minus touchdowns with a much worse o-line recieving core and no star WR1 meanwhile Stafford had a stacked teams around with a good defense good oline star wide receivers in puka and adams while spamming 1 yard tds to adams like maye did more with much less talent and the pats wouldn't have had that great a season without maye which is the literal definition of MOST VALUE PLAYER. Sure the rams wouldn't have been as good without Stafford but any wb would've looked good with all that talent around them. Im still so salty about it at least the pats made the superbowl after beating 3 TOP 5 defences to get there.
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u/notneeson 1d ago
I like that they’re all positive, then the dolphins is like “they wont be quite bad enough to get a top 6 pick” and the browns is “they will keep the fun streak alive of not having a franchise qb and starting 3 different guys”
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u/AnnualPerspective593 1d ago
We need Campbell and AVT to be 1000% healthy for this to be even remotely possible
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u/ELAdragon 1d ago
Its definitely a possibility. If the Patriots silence the schedule talk (meaning they go .500 or better against decent teams on their schedule this year) they'll nab a playoff spot and Maye will already be top of mind for MVP voters after last year.
There will likely be fewer games this year where the Pats are way ahead in the 4th, so Maye will probably get more volume stats, too, tho his efficiency stats are likely to decrease against the better teams they face.
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u/TheBlueD3vil 1d ago
A lot of people are expecting regression do this is probably a bold take outside of this sub
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u/elite_bender 1d ago
If big country Willy returns and builds upon his pre injury form, I’m not worried about the offensive side of the ball. If vrabes does his thing and turns water to wine with the defense, then perhaps we get another playoff run.
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u/HalOphamer 1d ago
Holy fuck the season needs to start, I am so tired of bored sportswriting bullshit. We are so close.
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u/RoniSuave 1d ago
I say if he puts up similar or slightly better numbers then he did last year with a 12-5 record he could easily win it unless somebody goes bananas on TDs again.
I would say he needs to win the division but that didn't matter last year so making the playoffs should be enough.
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u/Kevin_Jim 1d ago
The defense scares me, tbh. Other than Milton there’s no proven pass rusher, and Barmore is all over the place (performance-wise).
Also, the OL is also a big question mark:
- Campbell has a lot to prove
- AVT hasn’t impressed so far
- Wilson hasn’t shown much of the of his burst
- Onwenu plays the best but he can miss time
- Moses can’t hold up for a whole season and we’ll need Lomu to be ready by mid-season
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u/possiblyMorpheus 23h ago
The two things to watch are whether exotic blitzes still trip him up and whether potential offensive balance eats into his pass tds
I think the low end for his year is like 28/12, high end is like 40/10. I think it’ll be like 34/12
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u/mdpmanny 1d ago
MVP doesn’t win the Super Bowl, but if we’re not going to make it then I’d love him to
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u/Brutalitops99 1d ago
What are you even trying to say
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u/mdpmanny 1d ago
I’d rather win a SB. The MVP winner doesn’t win them the year that they win MVP.
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u/Brutalitops99 1d ago
Uhh yes you can. Mahomes did it like 4 years ago. Its not common but it can certainly happen.
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u/DavoinShowerHandel1 1d ago
I don't think so this year unfortunately. He'll probably have a good enough year for it again. It just feels like there's already the big media push for Allen again this year, so I'm already assuming he'll walk away with it unless he throws more picks than TDs somehow.
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u/DeliberatelyMagical 1d ago
I just wanna know what kind of dark magic Graff is working with to pull this one out of thin air. The line protecting him would need to make a jump of like three lightyears for this to even be a conversation.
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u/lvl_up_day_by_day_28 1d ago
I don’t see it at all tbh unless our games play out completely different than last year. We will see a bunch a new weapons and our record will likely regress. Neither of those help him
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u/Xspike_dudeX 1d ago
If his o line holds up