The New England Patriots look like a completely different team in 2025, with their second-year quarterback, Drake Maye, having suddenly thrust himself into the MVP conversation. After leading the team to a 14-3 record and an AFC East title, Maye has turned the Patriots into legitimate Super Bowl contenders. But things looked very different in his rookie season, when they finished 4-13. Even through those struggles, Patriots owner Robert Kraft remained impressed by his young quarterback.

“I’ll tell you something about him [Maye] that I really liked in his rookie year,” Robert Kraft said on the Quick Snap podcast. “We had so many tough games, and he only played two-thirds of the games. But after every game, he would go around the locker room to the linemen and try to boost them up, and it was genuine.

“We’re really lucky, ‘cause some of these young men in that position, especially with social media. People get so caught up with that, they forget what the basic fundamentals of how you build family, how you build a business, how you build relationships, is the real stuff and not the quickie.”

Even when Drake Maye wasn’t starting all 17 games or finishing all four quarters in his rookie season, Kraft noticed something unique about Maye. The 23-year-old, in his rookie year, made it a point to check on his offensive linemen, lift their spirits, and keep them confident during a brutal season in New England. The media might not have noticed such little gestures from Maye, but Kraft did, and it stuck with him.

But the Patriots’ owner’s belief in Drake Maye did not begin in 2025: it started back in the 2024 NFL Draft. When New England held the No. 3 overall pick, they did not consider trading down, even though teams reportedly offered massive packages involving multiple first-round picks. The Patriots were convinced that Maye was their guy when they drafted him in 2024. Of course, that meant pressure on the rookie, too.

After all, New England is the land of NFL legends like Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, who led the team to six Super Bowl wins. So, for many Pats’ fans, even a losing season felt like a foreign concept, let alone a full rebuild around a rookie QB like Maye. But somehow, none of that shook Maye’s confidence.

“I’m proud to be a Patriot,” Drake Maye said back in December 2024, a month when the Patriots could not win a single game.

Maye’s rookie season showed exactly why the Patriots drafted him so high and also why patience was necessary. He threw for 2,276 yards and 15 touchdowns in 13 games, but he also recorded 10 interceptions and nine fumbles. The talent was obvious, but so were the mistakes. So going into 2025, it was fair to ask: Would Maye take the leap, or would expectations need to be tempered in New England?

But then, before the 2025 season, the team owner helped craft the turnaround story around Drake Maye by hiring Mike Vrabel as head coach. The goal wasn’t just better schemes but a better culture in Foxborough. And it worked in 2025 as New England’s offensive line improved significantly, seemingly paying back Maye, who had supported them when things were at their worst. 

In the 2025 regular season, the 23-year-old QB went on to post MVP-level numbers, even though he was sacked 47 times, which was the fourth-highest total in the NFL. Even after the Patriots suffered their first loss since Week 3, a 35–31 defeat to the Buffalo Bills in Week 15, Maye didn’t change. Patriots’ center Garrett Bradbury noticed it immediately as he revealed how Maye helped his team move on from the loss.

It is due to Maye’s team-first approach that owner Kraft believes the Patriots are fortunate to have found him.

Robert Kraft believes humility is Drake Maye’s greatest quality

The second-year Patriots signal-caller had an incredible 2025 season as he finished with 4,394 yards for 31 touchdowns and a passer rating of 113.5. Despite Maye’s breakout season, Robert Kraft insisted that his favorite thing about his quarterback has nothing to do with stats.

“He’s [Maye] a terrific young man, but the greatest quality of him in, at least my feelings, is his humility, and I think that comes from his parents,” Robert Kraft said on the Quick Snap podcast. “In the family, he’s got three older brothers who are good. So, usually the baby in the family’s a little spoiled, but he has a humility that’s genuine. It’s like putting family first is putting team first.

“Anyone who’s solid and has had the privilege of a good family understands what this is. If you want to win, everybody’s got to put team first. Not just in words, but in actions. And if you do that and everyone can control their ego and do that, then good things can happen.”

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It’s also a quality that has helped Maye fully embrace being a leader within the Patriots locker room. Even when reporters asked Maye about MVP talk in December, he pointed to New England’s success as a catalyst.

“I’ve told everybody. It’s us, it’s not just me. It’s us in that locker room,” the quarterback said.

Even after New England’s 16-3 Wild Card win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Maye admitted that he needs to be better. That humble mindset might be Maye’s greatest strength of all. Now, as the Patriots prepare to face the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round, one thing feels clear: Maye will be ready to lead his team from the front.