On Thursday morning, New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo stood tall and firm on his decision to start Jacoby Brissett over rookie Drake Maye at quarterback.
The endless waves of criticism will undoubtedly come the moment the Patriots start getting walloped in regular season games. This is a team that’s only five years removed from the greatest dynasty in NFL history.
Losing still hasn’t sunk into the vocabulary.
But the Patriots must lose in order to get better. That’s the only path forward and the only way out of the muck. Bill Belichick might be the greatest coach in NFL history, but he was far from the greatest general manager. One look at the offensive roster will tell you everything you need to know.
It isn’t a great situation to just throw a rookie quarterback into the deep end and hope he learns how to swim. Just ask yourself this one question: how would the Patriots benefit from starting Maye right now?
Maybe they’d win one or two more games in a year where they miss the playoffs regardless of who is starting. They have the second-hardest schedule in the league this year, and they’re playing in a division with three Pro Bowl quarterbacks likely leading playoff-contending teams.
Would it really be worth risking the health and mentality of the No. 3 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft for maybe five or six feel-good wins?
Maye is a mentally tough player, and these assumptions aren’t meant to suggest otherwise. However, he’s also a human being, and it’s difficult for any human to operate effectively at the quarterback position behind a banged-up offensive line lacking in depth with limited receiving weapons.
It’s a mess right now, and the new regime is playing clean-up duty. The defense didn’t need much work in the offseason, but the HAZMATs had to be brought in for the offensive side of the ball.
This time would best be used for Maye to continue being developed behind the scenes. He looks like the guy, talks like the guy and even played like the guy in the preseason.
Maye could be the guy in New England.
Finding the right quarterback isn’t something that should be taken lightly. Teams spend years analyzing endless prospects in hopes of finding that needle in the haystack, and the Patriots might have found theirs.
Drake Maye’s FULL-GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
– 13/20 completions
– 126 passing yards
– 1 passing TD
– 17 rush yardsWe finally have another LEGIT QB in New England, it’s about to get scary. pic.twitter.com/AaFxAr1Sl5
— PatsUnite (@PatsUnite) August 26, 2024
The fact that Brissett thought so hardly on the decision is proof of Maye’s rapid growth behind the scenes. New England came into the offseason with the plan of starting Brissett and bringing Maye along slowly. The coaching staff constantly referred to Brissett as the No. 1 quarterback in the room.
But slowly, that sentiment started shifting.
“What I will say this is a true competition and I would say at this current point, Drake has outplayed Jacoby,” Mayo said on “The Greg Hill Show,” via ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
A more experienced Maye behind a better offensive line and a true No. 1 receiver could instantly vault the Patriots back into AFC East contention. This might not be the long and dull rebuild fans are expecting if the team plays its cards right.
They weren’t going to just wave a magic wand and fix everything in one year. But another year and a few more pieces could put them exactly where they need to be.
