Ryan Clark: ‘Drake Maye Is Everything Jayden Daniels Could’ve Been This Year’

Before the 2025 season began, it was clear that Jayden Daniels was the best QB from his 2024 draft class. But now, well into his sophomore season, injuries have held him back from ascending into the superstar we believe he can become. And it’s Drake Maye who now looks like he could turn out to be the better QB from the class.

It’s wild how quickly things can shift in the NFL. But this season, Maye has shown that he is on Daniels‘ level. Perhaps he’s even better as things stand today. 

However, some still aren’t giving Maye full credit for the New England Patriots’ success, believing Mike Vrabel deserves more praise. That’s understandable since it’s Vrabel’s first year as head coach and the team is 8-2. After all, Maye struggled under Jerod Mayo last season. Even then, Ryan Clark believes this year’s turnaround has more to do with Maye than anyone else.

“It’s Drake Maye,” Clark stated. “Coming into the season, the question was, ‘Can Drake Maye do enough for this offense to compete?’… When that’s the pushback, and then the team does this, and Drake Maye is in the MVP conversation, leading the MVP conversation, you can’t go, ‘Man, it’s everybody else!’”

It’s quite a good point. Maye has been exceptional this season, to the point where fans can’t deny that he has the potential to be special. He’s thrown 19 TDs to just 5 INTs, and is third in the league with 2,555 passing yards. He’s also added 283 rushing yards and 2 rushing TDs.

Atop the AFC, leading the MVP conversation, and with momentum on his side, Clark said this was the exact type of season everyone expected from Daniels, not Maye.

“Drake Maye this year is everything Jayden Daniels was last year, and what we thought he’d ascend to be this year.”

“Drake Maye this year is … everything Jayden Daniels was last year and what we thought he’d ascend to be this year. And so for me, it’s Drake Maye.”@Realrclark25 feels Drake Maye deserves more credit for the Patriots’ turnaround than Mike Vrabel pic.twitter.com/oIGcLcDDxX

— First Take (@FirstTake) November 13, 2025

Unfortunately, the 2025 season hasn’t been kind to Daniels. He started the campaign well, but got hurt at the end of the second game of the season, forcing him to miss two games. Then, after coming back and playing in three straight fixtures, he left early against the Dallas Cowboys due to injury. Daniels missed one game, then came back for Sunday Night Football, where he suffered a gruesome arm injury. 

Surprisingly, though, no ligament or bone damage occurred in Daniel’s arm dislocation, which means that he could come back sooner rather than later. But the season feels mostly lost, as the Washington Commanders are 3-7 and need a miracle to get back into the playoff hunt. 

The setbacks to Daniels have allowed Maye to steal the spotlight. He’s taken the ball and run with it, leading the Pats to a level of success they haven’t seen since Tom Brady. Maybe next season, the Commanders QB will have a chance to redeem himself. But injuries were already a major concern for him coming into the NFL, given his style of play. So, we’ll just have to wait and see.