Maybe you believe. Maybe you don’t. But no matter what you think of Drake Maye’s potential as a face-of-the-franchise type for the Patriots, we can all acknowledge he needs more help than he received as a rookie.

But how much help, exactly?

After the dust settled on the bulk of the roster-building process this offseason, that was one of the questions we asked ourselves in order to forecast realistic expectations for last year’s No. 3 overall draft choice.

In pursuit of an answer, we tapped into a theme discussed for years by NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks on the Move The Sticks podcast: The “Three Ps.”

What a team has at the “playmaker” spots, in the “play-caller” role and in “protection” can make or break young quarterbacks, they’ve argued. Thus, in order to get a broad picture of the quarterback situation Maye has been given in 2025 — and how that situation stacks up with the rest of the league — we set out to rank all 32 teams in each of the Three Ps. 

Not surprisingly, the results weren’t pretty for the Patriots. It wasn’t for a lack of trying on their end.

Mike Vrabel and his staff knew as well as anyone that they had work to do to help their young quarterback. Accordingly, they tried like hell to surround Maye — whom Vrabel has identified as one of the primary reasons he coveted the head job in New England — with more talent. But they struck out on receivers Chris Godwin and DK Metcalf. Their offensive line target, Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley, never even made it to free agency before deciding to remain with the Ravens. 

Still, upgrades were made. Morgan Moses was signed to play right tackle. Will Campbell was drafted at the top of the first round to play left tackle. Stefon Diggs, 31, came aboard while still recovering from ACL surgery. Other additions were made in the draft at running back, receiver and along the offensive line. All in the name of giving Maye what he needs to become the player the Patriots ultimately need him to be.

While the situation around Maye has certainly improved compared where it stood a year ago, based on our rankings, it’s still too close to the bottom of the league to expect Maye to suddenly vault into the conversation as one of the league’s best young quarterbacks.

The Patriots checked in at 31st overall in the playmaker rankings. Their play-caller, Josh McDaniels, checked in at 11th overall, helping to buoy things for them. But their protection unit — which, despite its additions, still has significant questions at center and left guard — checked in at just 24th overall. 

In order to come up with an overall ranking, we simply added all rankings together — treating all Three Ps equally — and gave the teams with the lowest sums the top billing as the most coveted quarterback situations in the league.

The Patriots aren’t in the worst of the seven tiers we compiled, but they remain near the bottom, with the 24th-best (or ninth-worst) quarterback situation in the league. Let’s get to the rankings, which we’ve broken out into seven tiers. (Again: the lower the number, the better the situation.)

You’ve won the lottery, kid

1. Minnesota Vikings (Overall score: 12)

2. Los Angeles Rams (19)

T-3. Baltimore Ravens (24)

T-3. San Francisco 49ers (24)

Cushy setups

5. Chicago Bears (29)

6. Denver Broncos (30)

7. Philadelphia Eagles (31)

8. Washington Commanders (35)

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (37)

Must be nice

10. Kansas City Chiefs (38)

11. Buffalo Bills (38)

12. Detroit Lions (40)

13. Green Bay Packers (40)

14. Indianapolis Colts (44)

Seen worse…

15. Miami Dolphins (45)

16. Atlanta Falcons (48)

T-17. Cincinnati Bengals (52)

T-17. Arizona Cardinals (52)

It’s on your shoulders

19. Las Vegas Raiders (53)

20. Los Angeles Chargers (56)

21. Jacksonville Jaguars (56)

22. Cleveland Browns (59)

23. Dallas Cowboys (61)

Playing with fire

T-24. New York Giants (66)

T-24. New England Patriots (66)

26. Pittsburgh Steelers (70)

27. New Orleans Saints (71)

This could get ugly

28. New York Jets (73)

29. Carolina Panthers (74)

30. Houston Texans (75)

31. Seattle Seahawks (75)

32. Tennessee Titans (81)

One immediate takeaway from the final stacking here? Not only do the Patriots lag behind the NFL’s best teams when it comes to providing their quarterback what he needs, they also lag behind other clubs with quarterbacks from Maye’s draft class.

The Vikings (J.J. McCarthy), Bears (Caleb Williams), Broncos (Bo Nix) and Commanders (Jayden Daniels) all finished in the top 10 on this list. With $61 million in available cap space, the Patriots theoretically have the money to catch up. But they found this past offseason that sometimes even money can’t convince top targets in free agency to uproot. 

Perhaps they can dole out more cash — and help Maye in the process — via the trade market with veteran wideouts like Washington’s Terry McLaurin and San Francisco’s Juaun Jennings expressing their disgruntlement lately. 

One way or another, they have to continue to search for avenues to improve the offensive huddle around the franchise’s crown jewel.

They have to get creative. They have to get aggressive. They have to show urgency. Because until they give Maye what he needs — what all young quarterbacks need in order to settle in as pros — they’re playing fire with his future and their own.