Drake Maye has been one of the stories of the NFL season.
The New England Patriots' second-year QB has partnered with new head coach Mike Vrabel to put the Pats in position to be either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff field.
Maye has grown his game in leaps and bounds, and he's a legitimate MVP contender.
He has just one issue, and it could be the difference between winning a Super Bowl and getting knocked out.
ESPN's Aaron Schatz singled it out in a new article on Wednesday: When Maye is pushed off his first read, he struggles.
"FTN Data tracks whether quarterbacks throw to their first read or not," Schatz writes. "On first-read throws, Maye ranks fifth in DVOA. However, if he has to go to a later read, Maye drops to 22nd."
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There is a silver lining to even this problem, though.
"The problem (for defenses) is getting him off his first read," Schatz writes. "Maye is one of the league's best quarterbacks against the blitz, and among quarterbacks who have played the full season, only Philly's Jalen Hurts and Seattle's Sam Darnold were knocked off their first read less often."
That's certainly a major piece of the puzzle.
If Maye can stay on time in his early progression of each play, then it doesn't matter if he struggles in later parts of the picture.
But if a defense can find a way to disrupt Maye early in plays, it can have hope of slowing him down.
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