Zone Reads
@zonereads.bsky.social
The former football blog primarily on the NFL Draft from 2014-17. Still trying to keep up with and get better at understanding the game, but not writing so much anymore. Manned by @captainnath.bsky.social.
Man I just saw the Rotoworld headline and was like "huh" then read the actual story. They WILDLY understated it
February 8, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Man I just saw the Rotoworld headline and was like "huh" then read the actual story. They WILDLY understated it
And - the Patriots played worse teams but not necessarily worse pass defenses. Anyway, I mentioned Barnwell's column; here are the two big points that ultimately swayed me to Maye.
![Last week, I talked about Maye and Stafford against common opponents, but I'm going to take that one step further. Maye outperforming Stafford against the same opposition tells part of the story, but it leaves out a piece of the equation. If everyone got to play Maye's slate this season, would other quarterbacks also be producing career seasons?
Overwhelmingly, the answer to that question is no. Maye posted a 77.0 QBR against his schedule this season. Stafford posted a 57.7 QBR in six games against common opponents, losing to the Falcons and Panthers. The rest of the league posted a 58.5 QBR against those same teams on the whole throughout the season. The only quarterback who threw more than 100 passes against those teams and posted a better QBR than Maye is Dak Prescott, who was 0.8 points higher than Maye over a much smaller sample.
[there's a table breaking this down further]
If Maye was really a product of his schedule, his performance would be much more in line with what average quarterbacks did against the same opponents in 2025. Instead, not only have we found that Maye's schedule of pass opponents wasn't much easier than Stafford's slate, we've also found that Maye grossly outplayed Stafford and the rest of the NFL against the same opponents.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:b6p5cibaap2bvhls4lgqiokp/bafkreifenpmos2vowaxidsu6yldzzzhwosil4oyoqob5upx76ytsg6eklq@jpeg)
February 6, 2026 at 9:58 AM
And - the Patriots played worse teams but not necessarily worse pass defenses. Anyway, I mentioned Barnwell's column; here are the two big points that ultimately swayed me to Maye.
Funny, mine says the same thing
February 5, 2026 at 3:34 AM
Funny, mine says the same thing
What amazes me is that someone who has a fit whenever anyone isn't preaching doom and gloom about politics apparently is entirely clueless about how we got to this moment. All those old Republicans you love are the reason we're here! They paved the way for this!
January 28, 2026 at 11:44 AM
What amazes me is that someone who has a fit whenever anyone isn't preaching doom and gloom about politics apparently is entirely clueless about how we got to this moment. All those old Republicans you love are the reason we're here! They paved the way for this!
...I don't think the Jets are going to draft an offensive tackle in the first round in three consecutive seasons
January 27, 2026 at 8:12 PM
...I don't think the Jets are going to draft an offensive tackle in the first round in three consecutive seasons
if you want to know (I think this will work for spoilers if you have anything hidden turned on):
January 26, 2026 at 12:10 PM
if you want to know (I think this will work for spoilers if you have anything hidden turned on):
Seeing these stats on the show tonight was pretty funny. The implication between the two is that the most apt comparison for this Patriots team is the 2000 Ravens, and that is... absolutely not correct.
January 26, 2026 at 10:15 AM
Seeing these stats on the show tonight was pretty funny. The implication between the two is that the most apt comparison for this Patriots team is the 2000 Ravens, and that is... absolutely not correct.
How is this a trend and what's silly about this hire?
January 23, 2026 at 12:58 AM
How is this a trend and what's silly about this hire?
if the computer in your mock is proposing trades like this to the human, something has gone very wrong.
January 21, 2026 at 7:03 AM
if the computer in your mock is proposing trades like this to the human, something has gone very wrong.
I managed to turn what the Saints started with into 17 picks this year and *45* extra picks the next.
January 21, 2026 at 7:03 AM
I managed to turn what the Saints started with into 17 picks this year and *45* extra picks the next.
Texans seeing the Bills turn the ball over five times yesterday and lose in OT
January 18, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Texans seeing the Bills turn the ball over five times yesterday and lose in OT
Bo Nix at the end of the game
January 18, 2026 at 4:37 AM
Bo Nix at the end of the game