While Jerod Mayo has been consistent in his approach to the decision of who would start at Quarterback, it is still disappointing to not see Drake Maye get the nod.
We’ve seen the same song and dance many times in the NFL offseason when a rookie QB is selected by a team early in the draft. Normally, the team will either already have or will acquire a veteran signal caller as a de facto mentor to the rookie. The Head Coach and the Front Office will endorse said veteran as the starter entering camp, normally as not to let the rookie get a sense of entitlement or complacency.
After this, we will normally see the young QB start to take strides, and the Coach will comment on the competition being very much real, while talking up the speed of development that the QB has experienced. In reality, 90% of the time the rookie was always the planned starter and the veteran was a smokescreen. In recent examples, we have Bryce Young and Andy Dalton, Tyrod Taylor and Justin Herbert, and even Mac Jones and Cam Newton.
In other cases, the veteran does start off the season, like in 2018 with Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson. And then we have cases like a Steve Young back in the day, or more recently Patrick Mahomes, where a QB is brought into an already winning team with a successful, high-impact vet at QB for the youngster to learn behind. This year in New England, the Patriots have what could be deemed as a “placeholder” veteran in Jacoby Brissett. Brissett has now enjoyed a fairly successful 8 year NFL career with multiple stops that began in New England, where he now has been named as the starter in his return.
To Jerod Mayo’s credit, he has been fairly open about his intentions to start Brissett since the day Drake Maye was drafted. While Maye showcased incredible tools in his time at UNC, may experts deemed him as a project QB and not a pro-ready guy. At the start of camp, Mayo was adamant that Jacoby was the starter, but then videos started to show up of Maye making beautiful throws throughout camp, with writers validating this with reports of Maye’s rapid ascension and grasp of the offense.
Then around came the preseason. In the first game, Maye was only given one real series, while Brissett got a large chunk of the reps. Then in the second game against Philadelphia, Brissett struggled mightily, only to see the rookie come in and flash his potential with great play extension, deep ball ability and accuracy being displayed. After this game, Mayo acknowledged that the QB competition was still ongoing, and that he was impressed with Maye.
In the final preseason game at Washington, Maye shined brighter than he did the week before, making plays all over after entering possibly earlier than expected following a Brissett injury. Maye left the new Head Coach with a decision to make after a mediocre to poor showing from the veteran, paired with the eye-opening performance from the rookie hotshot. By Mayo’s own admission, Drake Maye outperformed Brissett throughout the preseason. However, on Thursday morning, Mayo informed the media that in Week One, Brissett will be the starter against the Bengals.
This simply seems like the wrong decision, but at the same time an expected one and one that you can make an argument for. The Patriots Offensive Line is a mess, with a set of uncertain pieces grouped with veterans David Andrews and Mike Onwenu. The OL ranked dead last in Pass Block Win Rate in 2023, so it would make sense to not immediately want your number three overall pick QB to take a beating behind a suspect line. And in a year where the Patriots are not going to contend with any Quarterback, it is not necessary to rush Maye in.
But at the same time, while there won’t be a lot of winning in Foxboro this season, the year should be about evaluating Maye, as well as other young rookies Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, to figure out the best way to build around them for 2025. On top of that, it should be a year for Maye to take his lumps in a sense, and learn from his experiences on the field. both good and bad. The bottom line is that he gets no better sitting on the bench on Sundays, and practicing against the second stringers.
If Brissett and/or the offense struggles, expect Maye to get thrown in sooner than later. With him being the initial backup, the earliest we should expect to see the rookie is probably week five or so. And once Maye gets thrust into the starting lineup, don’t expect him to look back. While Mayo seems to have made the wrong choice, it is a reasonable one, and it is only a matter of time until we see the young gunslinger throwing touchdowns in Gillette stadium.