Breaking down Patriots' hesitance to start Drake Maye despite Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams and Bo Nix's relative success
How soon is now? Not only a terrific song by British rockers The Smiths released some 40 years ago but a question New England Patriots fans are begging to ask about their newly drafted quarterback.
Thus far, the quarterback class of 2024 looks to be as good as advertised. Jayden Daniels is playing lights-out football in Washington, Caleb Williams is making Bears fans believe the franchise made the right choice and Bo Nix has done a solid job in Denver. Meanwhile, Patriots fans impatiently wait for Drake Maye, the third pick of the draft, to take the field as the team’s starter.
Is the franchise doing the right thing by making their newly minted quarterback of the future sit on the bench this early in his rookie season?
Where Patriots are at with Drake Maye
After a surprising Week 1 win over the Cincinnati Bengals followed by a close loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Patriots got their lunch handed to them last Thursday by the New York Jets. The final score of 24-3 told a fraction of the story as Jacoby Brissett threw for just 98 yards and the offense rushed for just 78 yards.
The Patriots allowed their quarterbacks to be sacked seven times and only accounted for 11 first downs, a horrid ratio. Maye saw his first action of the season late in the contest when nothing was on the line.
The Patriots offense has struggled as the weeks pass by, and the knee-jerk reaction would be to blame Brissett and demand the insertion of Maye into the lineup. But is that the right move at this point?
Consider that eight of the Patriots’ next nine games are against defenses that presently sit at the top of the league list for sack production this season. Each of those teams is averaging more than three sacks per game.
Something else to consider is that the Patriots offensive line is presently in shambles. Third-round pick Caedan Wallace, a college right tackle from Penn State, replaced the injured Vederian Lowe at the all-important left tackle position after Lowe injured his knee in the Week 2 contest against the Seahawks.
Veteran guard Sidy Sow has yet to take the field this season due to an ankle injury. Center David Andrews is struggling with a hip injury, and right tackle Mike Onwenu, whose best position is guard, is dealing with a wrist injury.
Then there’s the curious case of Chukwuma Okorafor, who was signed in the offseason to be the team’s starter at left tackle but was benched 12 plays into the first game and is now on the NFI list after abruptly leaving the squad.
Factoring all this together, why would any Patriots fan want to rush Maye onto the field?
The NFL draft is rife with the names of quarterbacks who were taken with top-five picks but had their careers ruined after getting pummeled as rookies, playing behind woefully inadequate offensive lines. The names of Tim Couch and David Carr immediately come to mind.
Conversely, the best signal caller in the game today, Patrick Mahomes, sat on the sidelines for all but one game as a rookie until Andy Reid, one of the best quarterback coaches in our lifetime, determined he was ready to play. And don’t forget, the Chiefs made a big move into the top 10 of the 2017 draft with the express purpose of selecting Mahomes.
Maye is a talented pocket passer with decent mobility to his game. He’s not a true RPO quarterback who will consistently pick up yardage with his legs or escape edge rushers and run for his life every other snap. He has a big arm and the ability to stand in against the rush and make proper decisions.
Maye will eventually be inserted into the lineup as New England's starting quarterback, yet because he’s coming off a somewhat disappointing final year at North Carolina and will need time to get up to speed, the decision by head coach Jerod Mayo to stash him on the sidelines until the Patriots offensive line gets settled is the best thing the team can do for their quarterback of the future.
Hey, even Tom Brady sat on the sidelines as a rookie with New England!