The rare company Drake Maye could join with a second-year MVP

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is one of the finalists for the Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award for the 2025 season, a remarkable achievement for a player in just his second year in the league. The winner has already been voted on by a panel of media members but will be formally announced during the NFL Honors ceremony on Thursday, February 5, 2026, at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco as part of Super Bowl week festivities.

Maye, 23, has captivated football fans and analysts alike with a breakout season that has vaulted him into MVP conversations alongside established stars like Matthew Stafford, Christian McCaffrey, Josh Allen, and Trevor Lawrence.

A rare second‑year MVP finalist

Only six players in NFL history have won the MVP award in their second professional season. Should Maye win the award, he would join this elite group:

• Dan Marino (1984 - QB)
• Kurt Warner (1999, QB)
• Patrick Mahomes (2018, QB)
• Lamar Jackson (2019, QB)
• Jim Brown (1958, RB)
• Earl Campbell (1979, RB)

Maye’s statistical rise this season has been one of the most dramatic transformations in recent NFL memory. In 2025, he threw for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns and only eight interceptions, completing an impressive portion of his passes while operating a dynamic Patriots offense. He also chipped in on the ground, adding significant rushing production that expanded his overall impact.

That performance helped New England finish with a 14‑3 regular‑season record, a stunning turnaround for a franchise that went 4‑13 in Maye’s rookie year. He’s now helped lead them to the Super Bowl, where they’ll face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, February 8.

Maye’s efficiency and accuracy have stood out all season. He led the league in passer rating and completion percentage, and posted franchise‑record stretches of consistently elite play, including numerous games with multiple touchdown passes and high passer ratings, that have echoed historic MVP trends.

He was also named the PFWA Most Improved Player of the Year, the first player in Patriots history to receive the honor, and earned multiple weekly AFC honors along the way.

Among the league’s youngest MVP candidates

At 23 years old, Drake Maye is not just a standout sophomore. He is also on track to join a select group of NFL players who have won the MVP at such a young age. If he takes home the award for the 2025 season, he would be only the fourth player to do so at age 23, joining Walter Payton (1977), Dan Marino (1984), and Patrick Mahomes (2018).

Looking at the broader history of the NFL MVP, the only players younger than Maye to ever win the award were Jim Brown, who won at 21 in 1957 and again at 22 in 1958, and Lamar Jackson, who captured the honor at 22 in 2019. Among quarterbacks, Maye would be in extremely rare company, trailing only Marino, Mahomes, and Jackson in terms of youth when achieving the league’s highest individual honor.

With this in mind, it’s clear just how extraordinary Maye’s 2025 campaign has been. Not only has he led the Patriots to a Super Bowl berth, but he could potentially be one of the youngest MVPs in league history, a milestone that places him among the NFL’s all-time rising stars.

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