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The Brown deal is done and dusted. Campbell's 2nd year has already been over discussed, and he will either be an all pro, solid starter, or LG depending on your reading of the tea leaves. Vrabel's trials and tribulations are trying to make a comeback, and we all should save our biggest pleas for Bob Kraft to buck the trend and keep the real grass field after the World Cup leaves.
This post will concentrate on MY expectations of Drake Maye. My fear is that after coming within one vote of the MVP last season, the first time he misses an open man on a route people will be rushing to fall on their swords in the next nanosecond decrying Maye's "step back" and demand the search for our long-term QB begin again, we all know this sounds like extreme hyperbole. I only wish it were.
Drake, despite that great season, is not even close to reaching his prime at this point in his career. To put in Brady terms, this is analogous to the 02 season. A year that saw him take a step back after a hot start and go from the Superbowl win to out of the playoffs. I want to remind people that 2Drake is at BEST in the Middle School level of Josh's offense. He knows how to speak the language as is starting to understand some of why's and how's of what he is doing. Repeat, "STARTING to understand is a LOT different than mastering it. But while HE has grown in his knowledge, so has his opponents' knowledge of him. I am sure that every one of scheduled opponents have spent a considerable amount of time going over HIS tendencies, bad habits, and tells. They all will study why the Seattle and Denver D's were so successful and look for that evasive "blueprint" to run against all his perceived weaknesses.
So, putting this all under consideration, these are the Things I want to see from Maye at some point this season.
1. Playing with more "tempo". The "no huddle", the "hurry up", whatever you want to call it. I made an almost weekly cry to see this last season only to be disappointed for the entire season. Most of the time we were in the lead at the end of games or Josh had decided (and probably rightfully so) that it was just one too many things for the kid to absorb in his first year in the system. But in the end the Pats had the fewest "hurry up" snaps in the league last season.
We need to see it much more this year. It a great way to relieve pass rush pressure and put it back on the defense forcing them to simplify what they are doing and wear out their rushers. Brady was a master of the no huddle by the end of his career. Maye needs to begin his education of this part of the game ASAP. It won't be without hiccups. Nothing you do that is new ever is, but given the schedule, it is likely we will need to see it more at the end of games, but I think the best use of the no huddle offense is when you do it for no apparent reason. Just because. I think it can be highly effective when used that way. As defenses become more complex and disguised, this is an effective way to fight that
2. I want to see Drake become a better ball handler. I would like him to improve his ball fakes on play action passes especially. Last year I didn't think he was great at it and he rarely actually meshed with ball carrier he was faking to. This year we will have 2 backs in the backfield much more than last, given we are featuring a FB this year. That alone give Maye and Josh many more opportunities to create misdirection in the backfield and slow down LB pursuit and make teams pay for playing attacking defenses that predetermine reads. BUT to make it work, Maye will have to become a more skilled ballhandler. It will take some time, so for right now I'd settle for good play action pass fakes.
3. I want to see him become more evasive in the pocket. Brady, of course, was a master of making rushers miss within that 5 yd square of the pocket. Drake, with almost an infinite amount more athletic ability needs to develop that "escapability" that guys like Williams and Mahomes show on a regular basis. Now I don't expect Maye to become as good as those guys are. He is a different QB type. I'm looking for just enough "escapability" to make one man miss more often than not.
b. And on the same vein, I want to Drake to use his size more when he does take off and run and slide less and be form like Allen. I was known as being a "hitter" in my playing days, willing to put my helmet on anything that moved with reckless abandon. It was not because I was overly courageous, or aggressive. It was because I found out early on that it hurt less to be the hittER than the hitEE. And since I was not into pain, I ALWAYS aimed to be the hitter. I want Maye to that guy too.
Now I'm all for sliding to avoid hits, but it seems a good number of times Drake slid last season, he got what looked to be in bad positions with his legs caught in awkward positions or absorbing hits anyway because he slid too late. Or even worse losing 4-5 yds and the first down because he didn't want to take on a 190lb DB. He's probably close to 240lbs now. He needs to pick his spots, but he also needs to remember who he is and that it hurts less to DELIVER the blow than to take it, and I found that it was safer when you did that. Again, not always, or even more often than not, but look at Josh Allen being your guide and pick your spots.
4. Among the expectations of the offense this season is that we will see a bit more expectations of a renewed emphasis on the running game this season. That will mean that Maye will be limited to around 25-30 passes per game, much like what we saw last season. It will be interesting to see how he distributes the ball. Will it be, "the open man" or will Brown get his 7-10 targets a game force fed. This will ultimately THE question that will last well into the season as we see how it works out in reality. It will be ultimately up to Drake more than anyone else in how he distributes the ball. The only thing we know for certain is this will NOT be team that throws the ball 35-45 passes a game like the Rams on a regular basis. I find THIS question of ball distribution and the amount of passing we will be doing this season fascinating and compelling enough to be of major discussion during the next 5 weeks of dead time.
This post will concentrate on MY expectations of Drake Maye. My fear is that after coming within one vote of the MVP last season, the first time he misses an open man on a route people will be rushing to fall on their swords in the next nanosecond decrying Maye's "step back" and demand the search for our long-term QB begin again, we all know this sounds like extreme hyperbole. I only wish it were.
Drake, despite that great season, is not even close to reaching his prime at this point in his career. To put in Brady terms, this is analogous to the 02 season. A year that saw him take a step back after a hot start and go from the Superbowl win to out of the playoffs. I want to remind people that 2Drake is at BEST in the Middle School level of Josh's offense. He knows how to speak the language as is starting to understand some of why's and how's of what he is doing. Repeat, "STARTING to understand is a LOT different than mastering it. But while HE has grown in his knowledge, so has his opponents' knowledge of him. I am sure that every one of scheduled opponents have spent a considerable amount of time going over HIS tendencies, bad habits, and tells. They all will study why the Seattle and Denver D's were so successful and look for that evasive "blueprint" to run against all his perceived weaknesses.
So, putting this all under consideration, these are the Things I want to see from Maye at some point this season.
1. Playing with more "tempo". The "no huddle", the "hurry up", whatever you want to call it. I made an almost weekly cry to see this last season only to be disappointed for the entire season. Most of the time we were in the lead at the end of games or Josh had decided (and probably rightfully so) that it was just one too many things for the kid to absorb in his first year in the system. But in the end the Pats had the fewest "hurry up" snaps in the league last season.
We need to see it much more this year. It a great way to relieve pass rush pressure and put it back on the defense forcing them to simplify what they are doing and wear out their rushers. Brady was a master of the no huddle by the end of his career. Maye needs to begin his education of this part of the game ASAP. It won't be without hiccups. Nothing you do that is new ever is, but given the schedule, it is likely we will need to see it more at the end of games, but I think the best use of the no huddle offense is when you do it for no apparent reason. Just because. I think it can be highly effective when used that way. As defenses become more complex and disguised, this is an effective way to fight that
2. I want to see Drake become a better ball handler. I would like him to improve his ball fakes on play action passes especially. Last year I didn't think he was great at it and he rarely actually meshed with ball carrier he was faking to. This year we will have 2 backs in the backfield much more than last, given we are featuring a FB this year. That alone give Maye and Josh many more opportunities to create misdirection in the backfield and slow down LB pursuit and make teams pay for playing attacking defenses that predetermine reads. BUT to make it work, Maye will have to become a more skilled ballhandler. It will take some time, so for right now I'd settle for good play action pass fakes.
3. I want to see him become more evasive in the pocket. Brady, of course, was a master of making rushers miss within that 5 yd square of the pocket. Drake, with almost an infinite amount more athletic ability needs to develop that "escapability" that guys like Williams and Mahomes show on a regular basis. Now I don't expect Maye to become as good as those guys are. He is a different QB type. I'm looking for just enough "escapability" to make one man miss more often than not.
b. And on the same vein, I want to Drake to use his size more when he does take off and run and slide less and be form like Allen. I was known as being a "hitter" in my playing days, willing to put my helmet on anything that moved with reckless abandon. It was not because I was overly courageous, or aggressive. It was because I found out early on that it hurt less to be the hittER than the hitEE. And since I was not into pain, I ALWAYS aimed to be the hitter. I want Maye to that guy too.
Now I'm all for sliding to avoid hits, but it seems a good number of times Drake slid last season, he got what looked to be in bad positions with his legs caught in awkward positions or absorbing hits anyway because he slid too late. Or even worse losing 4-5 yds and the first down because he didn't want to take on a 190lb DB. He's probably close to 240lbs now. He needs to pick his spots, but he also needs to remember who he is and that it hurts less to DELIVER the blow than to take it, and I found that it was safer when you did that. Again, not always, or even more often than not, but look at Josh Allen being your guide and pick your spots.
4. Among the expectations of the offense this season is that we will see a bit more expectations of a renewed emphasis on the running game this season. That will mean that Maye will be limited to around 25-30 passes per game, much like what we saw last season. It will be interesting to see how he distributes the ball. Will it be, "the open man" or will Brown get his 7-10 targets a game force fed. This will ultimately THE question that will last well into the season as we see how it works out in reality. It will be ultimately up to Drake more than anyone else in how he distributes the ball. The only thing we know for certain is this will NOT be team that throws the ball 35-45 passes a game like the Rams on a regular basis. I find THIS question of ball distribution and the amount of passing we will be doing this season fascinating and compelling enough to be of major discussion during the next 5 weeks of dead time.
