Drake Maye: Patriots QB impressing Stefon Diggs with Josh Allen-like play

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Drake Maye: Patriots QB impressing Stefon Diggs with Josh Allen-like play

Mark Daniels · MassLive

Wed, Dec 10, 2025 ·

3 min read

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FOXBOROUGH – Stefon Diggs understands why Drake Maye has been compared to Josh Allen . The Patriots quarterback, much like the Buffalo Bills quarterback, can hurt teams with his athleticism as well as his big arm.

Diggs saw Allen's growth up close. In 2020, the receiver joined the Bills, and that season, Allen went from being a young, promising quarterback to one of the NFL's best. That was Allen's third NFL season, and he finished with Pro Bowl honors, second-team All-Pro honors, and was second in MVP voting.

This season, Diggs has watched Maye evolve in a similar manner. Leading up to this weekend's matchup with the Bills, the Patriots quarterback is in the running for the NFL MVP award.

"His maturation process has been second to none in my eyes," Diggs said of Maye. "… As far as the MVP conversation, that guy (Allen) on the other side of the ball we're about to play against is a hell of a player. I believe that team goes through him. And at this point, I like our guy. Our guy's been playing extremely well. I'm not going to put it all on him. We've obviously been supporting him, but he's done a great job at making good decisions play in and play out. And I'm super proud of him."

Unlike Allen, Maye's breakout year has come a year earlier, in his second NFL season. The 23-year-old started this season as the second-youngest starting quarterback in the NFL behind Minnesota 's J.J. McCarthy .

Maye is currently the third youngest starting quarterback in the NFL, with Jaxson Dart starting in New York. He's also younger than rookie quarterbacks Cam Ward ( Tennessee ) and Shedeur Sanders ( Cleveland ).

Coming out of the bye week, Maye remains in the top five of most passing stats. He ranks first in completion percentage (71.5), second in passing yards (3,412), second in passer rating (111.9), and fourth in passing touchdowns (23).

Maye's ahead of Allen in all those rankings as the Bills quarterback is eighth in passing yards (3,085), tied for fifth in passing touchdowns (22), sixth in passer rating (102.9), and tied for second in completion percentage (70.1).

Despite some similarities between Allen and Maye, Diggs noted that they play in different offenses and are asked to do things differently in their respective offensive systems.

"It's a different offense. That offense over there does a lot of scramble drills. They do a lot of different stuff," Diggs said. "Like, we do some different things here. I mean, as far as, like, talent level, it's obvious. It's very apparent that he can make every throw he can run. You know, if you want to kind of go that route, they're both mobile. They both can throw the ball.

"Those guys really can make plays at a high level, and they just look a little different when they make those plays, when they make those throws. For me, I could see the comparison. But two totally different offenses."

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