amid what has been a mostly lackluster training camp and preseason for the Patriots, the latest round of controversy striking the team is actually quite a good thing. Rookie Drake Maye, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft and the undisputed future of the franchise, closed the preseason with such a strong showing against Washington that there is now ample cause to make him the starter right out of the gate.
That was not, of course, the Patriots’ plan. The idea with Maye was always to have him sit behind veteran Jacoby Brissett for at least half a season or so, and have Maye emerge in the last part of the year to get him some experience he can carry into 2025.
But Maye’s 13-for-20, 126-yard performance, which included a cool-headed 88-yard drive for a touchdown, against the Commanders seems to show he made enough progress to get him on the field sooner rather than later. The fact that Brissett has struggled, too, has only pushed the notion that it should be Maye’s job.
While there is some hemming and hawing over whether it might be better for Maye to wait, ESPN analyst and seven-year NFL veteran Louis Riddick had a very clear thought.
“Start. Drake. Maye,” Riddick wrote on Twitter/X on Sunday evening.
Drake Maye ‘Our 2nd-Best Quarterback’: Jerod Mayo
Patriots coach Jerod Mayo has not exactly been crystal clear on his intentions at the position. The Patriots still have Brissett as the starter, and though Brissett injured his shoulder and came out after one series on Sunday, Mayo said that was always the plan. He also said he’d decide on a starter by Monday night, but made clear where he is leaning.
“I would like to sit here and say, 100%, he’s our second-best quarterback on our roster right now,” Mayo said of Maye.
