ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes Drake Maye is a top 5 quarterback right now | WEEI Afternoons

ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes Drake Maye is a top 5 quarterback right now | WEEI Afternoons

Adam Shfter, how we doing this week, gentlemen? What is going on here? Okay, so I got to ask you the question. Last week, you told me there were lots of guys that were strong candidates for MVP. You had Puka Neu, a bunch of quarterbacks. Now, I’m looking around the the Twitter sphere and the the gambling apps and there’s a lot of Drake May top five MVP candidate debate. Are you willing to say now, right now, Drake May is an MVP candidate? Oh, that I don’t think that’s going out on a limb and saying he’s a candidate. That’s fine. I mean, I I I listen, I I’d love to be wrong. I don’t think he’s going to win the MVP of the league this year, but he’s building a case each and every week. He absolutely would be in the conversation, but you’re going to have to beat out Patrick Mahomes. You’re going to have to beat out Daniel Jones. You’re going to have to beat out Jonathan Taylor. You’re going to have to beat out Baker Mayfield, who struggled. you have to beat out, we can make an argument for Jackson Smith and Jigba. Um, I’m sure there are other people I’m forgetting and drawing a blank on right now. Again, Drake May has been great. The Patriots are in first place. He is a a MVP candidate, but he’s not the leader, and I still would be surprised if he won it, though I would love to be proven wrong. That was this week’s Drake take from Adam Shfter, presented by your New England Chevy dealers. together. Let’s drive. Okay, Adam. So, who would potentially right now thus far, I know they don’t give out MVP or the award, the awards get handed out a couple nights before the Super Bowl, so you got a little while, but thus far, over a third of the way through the season, who would be your coach of the year in the NFL? Tim Stiken, probably Mike Vrael will get support. Um, I mean, you you you really couldn’t go wrong either way there. I I I just think that the Colts have been so bad. I know the Patriots have been bad, too. I mean, they they both been bad. Um, by the way, I can make an argument for Mike McDonald in Seattle also. Uh, but I think I think the two leaders would be Shane Styen and Mike Greyel. And the great part is we’re seven weeks in. We don’t have to vote right now because there are 11 more weeks to go. So, it’ll be proven out on the field to see which one is more worthy of winning that award. Adam, I’m wondering whether it’s your own opinion or what you’ve heard of. I know you talked to a lot of people over the years, coaches, executives. How long does it take before we know what a QB is? And what I the reason I ask that is like CJ Strad was the next big thing and then he’s kind of had some issues and the O line’s not good enough. And you know, Jaden Daniels had a ridiculous rookie year and now the reality is kind of biting him in the NFL with injuries and different things. We’re in the midst of Drake May’s you know, unbelievable six-w week run here. When do you settle in that that guy, that guy that looks that way really is that way? You know, it’s a very interesting question because I think the bar has moved on quarterbacks. I remember when I was growing up, and I’m an old guy by now, you know, I’ve covered the NFL for over 35 years, but I remember when I was growing up, I remember my father distinctly telling me that in the National Football League, you had to wait five years before you could tell whether or not a franchise had a quarterback. And I think that that line has moved closer to five games now rather than um before you can tell. I I think I think there are little things that you can see almost immediately. Either they pass the eye test or they don’t. Either they make some plays and flash or they don’t. like Cam Ward. I know he’s struggled, but he’s flashed at times and he’s playing in a bad and you could kind of see this guy’s got a real chance to be a real good quarterback. I’m not telling you he will be, but you could see it. There are other people at times that you look at like e like it doesn’t look like this guy’s have it. And we’re also living in a time where you might think a guy doesn’t have it only to see him go elsewhere to demonstrate that he does have it. I.e. Baker Mayfield, i.e. Sam Darnold, i.e. Daniel Jones. But even those guys at times flashed in their previous stops. Like there were moments that Sam Darnold had in New York. Not many of them, but moments. And then of course you went to San Francisco and Minnesota, you could see even more. Baker Mayfield. I know that Cleveland ran him out, but there were actual games he played that were pretty good. Um, Daniel Jones was good enough at one point in time that the New York Giants chose him ahead of Saquon Barkley in terms of who to pay and who not to pay, which again, you know, they made a decision to pay Daniel Jones $40 million and not pay Saquon Barkley. That’s how impressive he was at one point in time, right? So, um I I I think the line is always moving. I think it’s always blurred. Um but I think the definition of what a quarterback is is constantly changing, but I think it it’s the kind of thing you either see it right away or you don’t. Last Sunday, Adam, a number of national reporters and insiders began the speculation of I’m hearing that so- and so could be traded or word is that this organization is looking for X, Y, and Z. A lot of people mention the Patriots as a possible target for, or rather destination, I should say, excuse me, for cornerback depth, wide receiver, or edge rusher. Looking to Miami and what a disaster that team is right now. How Mike McDaniel is still there is beyond all of us. Uh, have you heard anything on a shakeup in Miami and them possibly dealing away pass rushers like Bradley Chub and Jaylen Phillips? Well, I I would say this that they’re not looking to do that. Uh, I’m in terms of make change. I think they’re going to make trades here, but you know, when people look at the Dolphins or the Jets or the Raiders or whatever team is not winning right now, um just because they’re not winning right now doesn’t mean that they’re giving away their players. That that’s not how this happens. You know, if they’re not finding that they get commensurate value, then they may not deal some of those players. I mean that that’s certainly possible, but I think that the Dolphins will be looking to trade some of those pass rushers, will be looking to get back compensation for some of these guys, and if they can get fair deals, yeah, I I could see them making deals. Yes, Adam, I looked at the standings and there’s 20 teams, I believe, that are 500 or above right now. And particularly in the AFC, I think there’s some people that look at the standings in the top and with a skeptical eye. Does that affect the trade deadline? If there’s more teams in the hunt and they think, “Oh, we could catch the Patriots. We can catch the Colts.” Does that limit trades? No. I I I I don’t think so. I I look, I think that there are a lot of teams like you can look at the NFC right now and see nine legitimate playoff teams right now. Like nine teams going what are there? Seven spots. Yeah. So, you know, that that’s going to be quite a race there in the NFC. The AFC I I don’t know if it’s quite as deep there, but I I don’t know that more winning teams translates into increased leverage for team trading player. I I I don’t I don’t think that’s going to be the case. I think we could probably all agree that the success of the Colts thus far, not only is that one of the stories of the season, that they have to be the best surprise team in terms of success thus far. Who who would you say is the the biggest surprise as far as disappointment goes on the 2025 season thus far, Adam? Well, the Baltimore Ravens, uh, I thought that they were good enough to go to the Super Bowl this year, and they’ve been terrible so far. Now, you could blame that on them not having Lamar Jackson and other players, but Detroit played without his entire secondary on Monday night and had one of the great defensive performances we’ve seen this season. They they’ve they’ve clearly struggled. the Miami Dolphins, you know, I don’t think a lot of people thought they’d be this bad. Uh, but yet here they are really struggling right now, which has not been great. Um, the Bengals lose Joe Burrow. So, you can’t blame that. The Jets haven’t won a game. I mean, you know, I think people thought the Jets would win some games. They haven’t even done that. So, I mean, look, there’s always going to be teams that exceed expectations and there always going to be teams that fall short of expectations. This year’s no different. Adam, we did an exercise earlier in the week where we all tried to come up with our top five quarterbacks right now. Not career awards or based on history, but literally through seven games. I’m going to admittedly put you a little bit on the spot right now, but if I asked you to give me Adam Shfter’s top five quarterbacks in the NFL right now, who’s on the list? Patrick Mahomes. Hello. Yeah. I’m just thinking actually it we same thing happened to us, Adam. It’s a tough question. Yeah. Patrick Mahomes. I I I’ll give you a Drake man in the top five right now because I think he’s been playing at that level. Uh Baker Mayfield, um Matthew Stafford, and Daniel Jones. Wow. Wow. What a list that is. Did you ever think you’d have Drake May and Daniel Jones on that list 7 weeks in? No. No. No. No. But that’s kind of where we’re at. And And I don’t think I’m being unreasonable in saying that those are the guys that you look at right now. And I I think that that’s perfectly within the realm of possibility and believability, so to speak. And as we let you go on this, is it safe to say that’s good for the league? because you still have the Josh Allens and the Lamars and the Joe Burrows gonna get healthy. They’re going to be good. Is it good for the league that you have some new faces up there in that top quarterback list? Yeah, I I think we got some different storylines to track undoubtedly. Uh that that’s never a bad thing for for the NFL and I think there are a lot of good storylines to be tracking this year. A lot. All right, Adam, we know you’ll be tracking the leadup to the trade deadline. We got what less than two weeks to go here. So, we’ll uh be following you on social media. Hopefully, there’s a Patriots trade in there somewhere. We’ll talk to you next week. Well, we’re going to see. I appreciate it, guys. Thanks for having me. Have a great week. Enjoy the game on Sunday and we’ll see how this one goes.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter joins WEEI Afternoons to share that he believes Drake Maye is a top 5 quarterback right now, where Maye ranks in the MVP conversation and more from around the NFL. #football #patriots #nfl #newengland

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