Drake Maye

Maye turned a solid rookie season into an amazing second season under new head coach Mike Vrabel. His number one receiver from last year, Stefon Diggs, is a free agent, but the trade for A.J. Brown will improve the prospects of Maye. Maye will need a repeat to allay fears from fantasy managers. Rushing the ball over 100 times, behind only Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts, his numbers there have room for fantasy growth or retraction, depending on his touchdown numbers.

Everything lined up for him for 2026, hard to expect repeat

Faced weak schedule, then did not stand out in postseason

Adding AJ Brown could overshadow any regression by Maye

Maye enters the elite quarterback tier following his MVP runner-up season. His dual-threat upside gets a major boost with New England trading for A.J. Brown to serve as his primary alpha receiving weapon.

Maye took another step in 2025 toward becoming a top franchise quarterback. Adding AJ Brown and Romeo Doubs to the receiving corps in Maye's third year could lead to a QB1 season. 

We know why it can happen. Here are some quick points why ithere's trap door to fall outside the top five. 

Maye is coming off his first strong season. We've seen the dip with young quarterbacks many a time. Good teams in the playoffs exposed Maye's conceptual flaws last year, especially the Seahawks.  Romeo Doubs is a good route runner, but he's never delivered top-24 production at his position as a full-time starter.  The Patriots could be overlooking the possibility of keeping Kayshon Boutte and moving him to a big slot role, his natural position. 

I'm not buying the dip, but these are factors worth monitoring if they contribute to a rough start in 2026. I'm only not grabbing Maye because there are better values on my board.