Looks Like I've Got Competition When it Comes to Shamelessly Fanboying Drake Maye: Josh Allen Says 'He Exemplifies Football'
Nothing has marked the last five seasons of football in New England more than region-wide case of moderate-to-severe Quarterback Envy. The symptoms have included watching your defense be rendered helpless by big, strong, athletic, multi-talented opposing QBs. Which in the case of Josh Allen, has at times been nearly fatal:
Pats fans have been watching games around the league and seemingly every other possession includes some freakishly athletic metahuman slipping out of a sack, escaping the pocket, and making a 30 yard completion on a full sprint after the coverage breaks down. While we watched a series of Joneses and Zappes take the sack or turn the ball over. And so far there's been no treatment, never mind a cure.
Short of getting one of those same superhumans and putting him under center. Which we have. Finally. And Drake Maye is just what the doctor ordered. Don't take my word for it. Just look at what Allen himself has to say:
Source - Though Josh Allen has shared the field just twice with Drake Maye, he's quickly become a fan … and also believes one of his former teammates could be a guiding light for Maye.
"I think Drake is super talented, he's one of my favorite young quarterbacks in the league," Allen recently told Sports Illustrated’s Liam McKeone. "I've spent some time around him and he's got his head on his shoulders the right way. He just does things the right way. I think that he exemplifies football." …
Allen has been excitement personified throughout his seven seasons. So, the Bills dynamo shouting out that Maye personifies the game is quite the compliment.
Allen believes wide receiver Stefon Diggs, his teammate from 2020 through 2023, should also complement Maye in the Pats signal-caller's second season.
"I think he brings a lot of security for Drake," Allen said of Diggs, who went to all four of his career Pro Bowls while playing with Allen. "Obviously, having the knowledge of playing in the league for so long, he has that veteran mentorship that he can give to Drake."
Well then. As much as I might be a little concerned that Allen is trying to work my side of the street, and wish to remind him that the job of being wildly, over-the-top, irrationally optimistic about both Maye and the Patriots is currently occupied, I don't mind another rooster in the hen house:
Not when it's the league MVP. The guy who has tortured my franchise for years. Who is the template for the quarterback I've been looking for ever since the veil was lifted from my eyes and I realized there's no place in the modern NFL for a Mac Jones-style pocket passer.
If this guy wants to tell us that Maye isn't just good, or potentially great, but actually exemplifies the entire fecking league at the age of 22, well then he's more than welcome. And obviously there's not a person walking the planet who better understands what having a true WR1 like Stefon Diggs will do for Maye's second season and beyond. So come on in, Josh. There's plenty of room at this table. Though seats are going fast.
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The Summer of Hope continues. Patriots camp can't start soon enough.