12. Drake Maye, new England Patriots
With four interceptions through two games, Drake Maye is on pace to throw 34 this year. He's thrown for just 386 yards through two weeks, and, at least now, it's clear that the New England Patriots are regressing. Maye is average just seven yards per pass attempt and just isn't showing anything that we saw from his breakout season in 2025.
His 63.1 passer rating is also lowest among AFC starting QBs this year. AJ Brown is hurt and will be out for a little bit longer, but even not factoring that in, Maye just looks overwhelmed. The one thing saving the Patriots is how awesome the defense has been, as they're 1-1 to begin the season and have played well each week thus far.
But if this is the offense we'll get from Maye and the Patriots in 2026, the team is going to struggle to win nine games.
I guess seeing the regression play out in real time isn't a major shock, as the Pats benefitted from the NFL's easiest schedule since 1999 back in the 2025 season. Maye also was a flawed player last year, as he took way too many sacks and didn't always get rid of the ball when needed.
Maye is talented enough to turn this around, but it might not come close to anything we saw during his near-MVP season last year.
11. Geno Smith, New York Jets
Well, Geno Smith and the New York Jets are 1-1, so that's a thing. Smith is who he is at this point - he's thrown 32 interceptions since the start of the 2024 campaign and is on his third team in as many years. With the Jets having a trio of first-round picks in the 2027 NFL Draft, it feels rather obvious that they plan on making a big-time splash for a rookie QB.
Smith is likely just here to hold the fort down in the meantime. He does have the arm strength to test all levels of the field, and the Jets do have some neat talent on offense, but on a week-to-week basis, Smith and the Jets aren't going to be a team worth tuning in to.
Smith does rank 5th in the AFC in yards and has completed 70.8 percent of his passes, but he has just one touchdown pass through two games. He's No. 11 in our AFC QB power rankings.
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