Why Dan Orlovsky’s Drake Maye Comparison to a Two-Time Super Bowl QB Actually Tracks

This lofty from Orlovsky comparison may just make sense.

Drake Maye is playing some incredible football to start the 2025 season. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Drake Maye is off to an incredible start to his second NFL season.

Through the Patriots' first seven games, the 23-year-old quarterback has thrown for 1,744 yards and 12 touchdowns, leads the NFL in completion percentage (75.1%), has added 200 yards on the ground and is breaking Tom Brady's franchise records in the process.

While Brady is both an easy—and perhaps unfair—benchmark given their ties to New England, ESPN's Dan Orlovsky says sees a different 2000s Super Bowl champion when he watches Maye play.

"Watching him, it's like watching young Ben Roethlisberger," the analyst explained on Tuesday's edition of NFL Live. "Because here's the thing, so often, he sheds off that arm tackler, that in the pocket shove. You're realizing, you know when he was coming out of school, how important that frame was."

"Watching [Drake Maye], it's like watching young Ben Roethlisberger." 👀@danorlovsky7 sees something familiar in Patriots QB Drake Maye ✍️ pic.twitter.com/S5LhrltQSk

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 21, 2025

"And then some of those wild throws, like Ben would make throws like that that you're just like, good God, how did you make that one into that window, or place it there ..."

While it's certainly a loft comparison, especially given Big Ben won a Super Bowl in his second season as the Steelers' starter, perhaps it's not as crazy as it seems. Here's a look at how Maye stacks up to Roethlisberger through his first 20 NFL games.

Drake Maye vs. Ben Roethlisberger stats through 20 NFL games

Drake Maye gives a stiff arm to a Titans defender. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Outside of Maye and Roethlisberger's elite arm talent and athletic ability, the numbers the two put up over their first 20 career NFL games are also very similar. Check it out:

Quarterback	Team Record	Completion Percentage	Passing Yards	TD/INT Ratio	Rushing Yards	Rushing TD
Ben Roethlisberger	18–2	64.7%	3,804	28/13	180	2
Drake Maye	8–12	69.8%	4,020	27/12	306	4

The one staunch difference here is, of course, team record. As a rookie, Roethlisberger took over a playoff-ready Steelers team and went a cool 13-0 to close out the 2004 season. In comparison, Maye was just 3–9 as a starter during his first campaign and saw his coach get fired immediately following New England's Week 18 loss.

Now under the watch of Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Maye has the Patriots at 5–2 and in first place in the AFC East. It's early yet, but perhaps comparing him to a two-time Super Bowl champion—even at the ripe age of 23—may just make sense.

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