On Tuesday, the NFL announced that Patriots quarterback Drake Maye would be replacing Bills quarterback Josh Allen on the AFC Pro Bowl roster.
The 22-year-old receives an invite to the NFL’s all-star event after only his rookie season, albeit by way of replacing one of the original three QBs selected.
Maye will join Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson as the men under center for the AFC during the flag football game against the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster on Sunday in Orlando, FL.
Maye joins special teamer Brenden Schooler as the only other member of the Patriots being represented in this year’s game. Schooler was also named an All-Pro special teamer on January 10, along with standout second-year cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Despite the second team All-Pro selection from Gonzalez, along with being named a finalist for NFL Comeback Player of the Year, the Oregon-product was not selected to join Schooler and Maye in Orlando for Pro Bowl festivities.
So, yeah. The Pro Bowl ain’t what it used to be. But we already knew that, with former Patriots QB Mac Jones being added to the AFC roster after his rookie season in 2021 (none of us can unsee that griddy TD celebration - it’s burned into all of our brains).
But the addition of Maye will give us something football-adjacent to watch during our first football-less weekend since August. So it could be worse!
Maye gets the call after a rookie season where he threw for 2,276 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, good for a QBR of 58.6 during his 12 starts. After taking over as the team's starting QB in Week 6, New England went on to have a record of 3-9, with two of those wins seeing Maye on the bench for most of the game (one due to injury, and one due to whatever Week 18 was). Despite the poor record, Maye routinely made highlight plays, showing the potential he has as a franchise quarterback moving forward.
Hopefully, these highlight plays start to accompany winning football sooner rather than later. Let's hope that at some point sooner rather than later under newly hired head coach Mike Vrabel, Patriots fans can celebrate playoff wins this time of year instead of Pro Bowl alternate selections.