Drake Maye vs Matthew Stafford
By: Jake Rajala
There is a tight battle for the MVP in 2025-2026. Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford just happen to be the two front-runners for the glorious trophy. They are playing lights out, and let’s be fair: the MVP is a quarterback’s award. With that said, the question is: who has the edge?
Maye has 4,203 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, and eight interceptions on the season. He is coming off his best game of the season, against his close enemy, the New York Jets. He unleashed five passing touchdowns. He has had 11 games of at least two touchdown passes. He carries a PFF grade of 86.6, which is seventh among QBs.
The legendary Patriots QB Tom Brady didn’t play in his first season, so I will discuss his second “active” season, which was his third season in the league. In that season, he threw 28 passing TDs, 14 ints, and 3,764 passing yards. It’s very similar to Maye’s numbers.
Stafford is playing his best football of his career. It’s hard to doubt him after he gets to play with Puka Nacua, who is arguably a Top-3 WR. Furthermore, he has Davante Adams in his arsenal, who has 14 touchdowns on the season! Stafford has unleashed 4,179 passing yards and 40 passing TDs thus far. He only has thrown five interceptions, too. Stafford has a PFF grade of 93.4, which is first in the league!
Maye and Stafford have both had depressing losses. Maye lost to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Well, Stafford and the Rams blew a lead against the Seattle Seahawks and lost. The Pats play the Dolphins, and the Rams play the Cardinals in the last week of the season. I can’t imagine they will get a lot of props for winning their remaining game.
Right now, I have to give the edge to Stafford. He has played in a tougher division, and he has more impressive stats, too. Stafford will likely add an MVP trophy to his closet, which already has a Super Bowl ring. I expect him to be a first ballot Hall of Famer, too.
I would like to see Maye have more firepower around him. Stefon Diggs is the lone wolf in their WR room. Perhaps they could draft a WR in round one of 2026, or sign a free agent WR that could start across Diggs.
Leave a Reply