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NFL MVP voter reveals reason behind voting for Drake Maye, not Matthew Stafford
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- NFL MVP voter reveals reason behind voting for Drake Maye, not Matthew Stafford
The NFL MVP will be announced Thursday night and many believe it's between Los Angeles Rams ' Matthew Stafford and New England Patriots ' Drake Maye .
The debate has been between the two for weeks, with both quarterbacks having a strong case .
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Mina Kimes, who is one of the voters for the annual award, revealed she voted for Maye. The NFL analyst explained her reasoning on "First Take."
"From a dominance perspective, Drake Maye was better than Matthew Stafford in just about every meaningful statistic," Kimes said . "QBR, EPA per dropback, success rate. He had the highest completion percentage in the NFL. He was first in all of those, despite having a high average depth of target. On top of that, he was the more efficient quarterback. He also brought an element of rushing you just don't get from Matthew Stafford."
Maye took a huge leap from Year 1 to Year 2 and helped lead the Patriots to a 14-3 record and New England 's first AFC East title since 2019.
While Stafford had a stellar season for LA with a league-leading 46 touchdowns, Maye did more with less . Stafford had Puka Nacua and Davante Adams to throw to all season. Maye got everyone involved in the offense, but had to build chemistry with rookie TreVeyon Henderson , who had a slow start to the year, and Stefon Diggs who was coming off a torn ACL.
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In New England's Week 17 win against the New York Jets , Maye threw five touchdowns to five different receivers. He's been without Mack Hollins and Kayshon Boutte throughout the year, and Rhamondre Stevenson's fumbling woes to begin the year were tough to overlook.
Maye finished the 2025 season with 4,394 yards (fourth in the NFL), 31 touchdowns (third) and league-best 77.2 QBR. He also eclipsed the 4,000 passing yard mark and has put his name in the Patriots and NFL history books throughout the season.
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