Patriots Mailbag: When will Drake Maye make his first start?

Patriots Mailbag: When will Drake Maye make his first start? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The New England Patriots will head to Santa Clara as they look to pull off an upset against the San Francisco 49ers. Both teams enter the Week 4 matchup on two-game losing skids.

Jacoby Brissett will remain the Patriots’ starting quarterback on Sunday, but are his days of being ahead of rookie Drake Maye on the depth chart numbered? We’ll cover that topic and more in the latest Mailbag…

Kevin, I’ve said for a while now that some time in October would make sense. That would provide Drake Maye a base from which to work moving forward when it comes to the following: getting comfortable with installing a game plan, understanding how to break down film of an upcoming opponent, deciphering defensive tendencies, making adjustments between drives and much more.

Will he be fully ready to do all of those things immediately? Probably not. Will he be in better shape to handle those things than if he were asked to start Week 1? Definitely.

Here’s what we can tell you about how his development is going. The Patriots have been very encouraged by his progress. They knew back during training camp that he had the ability to process very quickly — getting from his first read to his second and beyond — in addition to everything he brings to the position physically. Those traits have only improved over time.

Maye’s teammates that I’ve spoken to this week have described his practice performance as impressive. Among the things that have stood out to them are Maye’s decision-making, his accuracy, and his ability to play within the structure of a given offense — whether it’s New England’s or someone else’s with him running the scout team.

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Maye’s propensity to play on time and in rhythm stood out to the teammates I spoke to more so than the “wow” off-schedule plays of which they know he’s capable. They relayed that it can be easy for young quarterbacks to default to off-script playmaking, but Maye’s willingness to execute what he’s been given has earned him the respect of veteran players on both sides of the ball.

“He’s making some great throws out there,” said one veteran defender. “He’s getting it out there the way we know he can. Sometimes it’s like, ‘I see you, man! Let’s go!’ We’re competing out there so he’s giving us a really good look.”

“He makes all the correct throws he’s supposed to make. He doesn’t just [expletive] and throw the ball all over the place,” said one veteran offensive teammate. “He makes his reads. He gets his work in. He looks good out there.”

“He’s doing his best to make sure that he can still show the coaches there’s a reason why they drafted him so high,” said another defender. “I’m sure he’s approaching it every day as though he’s the starter… He looks smooth. He looks good. If and when he does get his opportunity, I’m sure he’s going to take full advantage of it.”

Maye’s desire to be on top of the minute details for his scout-team duties, and his willingness to further develop a rapport with Patriots pass-catchers by working with them after practice has appeared to have a positive impact on his developmental trajectory. The sheer number of reps he’s received has also helped him call plays more confidently, teammates told me — calls came out a little too quickly and they were a little difficult to understand previously — when he gets his first-team reps.

The practice plan for Maye has remained consistent — he gets 30 percent of the starter reps during the week — but based on how he looks behind the scenes, it’s likely only a matter of time before he’s thrust into the spotlight as the team’s go-to option at its most important position.

Don’t hate them, Mickey.

What’s interesting about the Patriots offensive line, Geoffrey, is that they could have another starter back in the lineup relatively soon.

Sidy Sow has been practicing, which would give them four out of five of their expected starters on the field. That’s not a horrible situation. Yes, the Patriots could also be onto their fourth left tackle, which is remarkable. (Demontray Jacobs could be next up if Caedan Wallace and Vederian Lowe can’t play.) But it’s not unusual for offensive lines to have to cope with one new face somewhere in the starting lineup.

Sow’s presence — along with help for the left tackle via tight end or running back chips, or game-plan elements that diffuse potential problems coming off the left side — should help settle things down. If the Patriots have 80 percent of their line on the field, I personally would be comfortable playing Maye. That’s the NFL. Rare is the perfect offensive line situation. If they were to wait to play Maye until they find a rock-solid left tackle, they might be waiting until 2025, and I don’t think that’s necessary.

They’ve used Hunter Henry as a fullback with some success through three games. Don’t think Jaheim Bell is a great fit there. He’s more of a Swiss Army knife player who can function in a variety of pass-catching roles. He’s not proven himself to be a people-mover at the point of attack at this stage. Henry isn’t Rob Gronkowski in that regard, either, but he’s tough as nails and unafraid to stick his nose where there’s hard contact.

Would have to wait until you’re closer to the deadline and teams become obvious sellers. (Don’t see the Bengals dealing either of their wideouts until or unless they’re out of playoff contention, for example.) But around that time, I’d say looking for trades for wideouts would be smart. Depending on the price tag. Don’t contend with free agency if you don’t have to. We’ve seen them get burned there with receivers previously, obviously.

I think their inability to run wide zone successfully does have something to do with their personnel. The coaching should be there. They have a coordinator and a line coach with oodles of experience in teaching wide zone. But it ain’t working.

Through three games, at least. At the moment, per Sports Info Solutions, they’re averaging 2.8 yards per carry on wide zone, and 50 percent of the 22 wide zone calls they’ve tried to execute have led to a ball carrier being hit at or behind the line of scrimmage. Not great.

I don’t think that’s a disaster, though. Alex Van Pelt has a variety of run calls at his disposal. The Patriots are running something other than wide zone when they hand off almost 70 percent of the time. And on those hand-offs, they’re averaging 5.1 yards per carry. From what we’ve seen to this point, Van Pelt is willing to adapt to his personnel and lean on staple plays that aren’t wide zone.

There’s a complex answer here, John, because there are areas where both could be considered “better.” Maye, for example, has a quicker release and might be the more accurate passer down the field. He’s more of a run threat, too. But Brissett has a better grasp of the offense and would almost certainly be less turnover-prone (he hasn’t been picked yet this season).

For this offense, the quarterback who would be better is a relatively tough call. An offense as limited as this one can’t afford to turn the ball over. And there are few quarterbacks better at protecting the football than Brissett. But if developing Maye was not a concern, if there were no qualms about getting him out there, then I would probably be willing to go with the younger and bigger-armed player who has the potential to create offense almost on his own.

Not many 250-pound linebackers out there in the world anymore, Dave. Ja’Whaun Bentley is a player they won’t be able to replace with one person. Instead they’ll mix things up a bit back there, they’ll use Jahlani Tavai inside more, and they’ll likely hope Raekwon McMillan can help fill in some of the snaps left over — either inside or on the edge. Bentley is such a good fit for this defense though — because of his experience in the system, his size and his atypical physicality — that replacing him is going to be a massive challenge.