It’s Already Maye Day For The Patriots

FOXBOROUGH – Next Wednesday has already arrived in Foxborough.

On Thursday night at the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, the Patriots held on to their number three pick. Once Chicago selected USC quarterback Caleb Williams and Washington picked LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels with the second pick, New England was up next and their minds were made up. Despite late trade requests from the Giants and Vikings, the Patriots took only five of the allotted ten minutes to select quarterback Drake Maye of North Carolina.

In Maye, the Patriots get a large (6-4, 225 pounds) physical quarterback with a rocket arm, and an ability to run out of the pocket. Some experts compare him with Buffalo’s Josh Allen, while others see him as comparable to the Chargers’ Justin Herbert. As far as weaknesses, most of what experts see is that he needs work on his footwork, and may need some coaching up on game management.

One might conclude early on is that Maye is the opposite of their last first-round quarterback, Mac Jones. Jones was high on accuracy, reading defenses and work ethic, but in the end was betrayed by bad coaching and team construction and is now the backup in Jacksonville. Maye is already better equipped than Jones thanks to what looks like better coaching stability and a front office which is bringing back the importance of quality college scouting.

All that said, the Patriots need to do two things. Make Maye serve an apprenticeship for at least a year before you consider putting him out there as the starter. Surround Maye with more quality offensive players.

Going into the 2024 season, Jacoby Brissett should be the starter. Brissett is a former Patriot who is well acquainted with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterback coach T.C. McCartney from their time with Cleveland. Brissett, along with Van Pelt and McCartney, can and should serve as sounding boards for Maye. This right here is far better than whatever passed as coaching for Jones over the last few years save for Bill O’Brien or Josh McDaniels. Maye comes into an environment that is already better than what Jones had.

Patrick Mahomes had a one-year wait. Aaron Rodgers waited three years. His successor, Jordan Love, waited two years. Tom Brady took over as starter in his second year. Carrying this further, Atlanta signed Kirk Cousins for four years yet drafted Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth pick. Penix is 24 and could be 27 when he gets the keys to the Falcon car. If Penix is upset with this, put him on a plane to Dallas and sit down with former Cowboys QB Roger Staubach. Staubach played college ball at Navy, graduated in 1964, and finally joined the Cowboys after his Navy service in 1969 at age 27. Staubach was 29 when he finally secured the starting job. He went on to win two Super Bowls and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The moral of this story: Sit at least a year or longer and learn the job before you take over. Putting Maye out there when he is not ready to realize his full NFL potential is just plain wrong. There will be complaints from fans and media types if Brissett does not play well this year, but you still have to hold back on Maye.

Which leads us to the next task, and that is giving Maye a good team to play with, something that Brissett won’t likely have in 2024.

Going into Day Two on Friday, the Patriots had the 34th (R2) and the 68th (R3) picks. Early on, the Patriots traded down with the Chargers, moving to the 37th pick as they sent a fifth round pick (137) to the Bolts for a fourth round pick (110). The Patriots used the 37th pick to select Ja’Lynn Polk from Washington, which addresses a huge positional need and gives the Patriots a possible weapon that defenses will need to account for. A bit later, the Patriots did select at 68 and did take an offensive lineman, a right tackle from Penn State named Caeden Wallace.

Polk was one of the three deadly wide receiver weapons from Washington which Penix had the pleasure of using as the Huskies offense wreaked havoc on all their opponents until facing Michigan in the title game. Georgia WR Ladd McConkey was available at 34, but the Patriots traded down just before making this pick and the Chargers stepped up and took McConkey at 34. McConkey had a terrific combine, but Polk was in a high octane offense all season long and does give the Patriots an improved presence at the wideout position.

Polk is 6-1 and 203 pounds. This isn’t tremendously big for the position but he does have more length than Pop Douglas or Keyshawn Boutte. Polk will have some adjustments to make at the pro level, related to what exactly the Patriots want to do on offense. Polk can most likely step in at any wideout position and make an immediate impact. In any case, Polk does represent an upgrade at the position and could be someone who becomes the favorite target of Maye in due time.

Wallace is 6-5 and 314 pounds. Wallace played at right tackle for Penn State, in an offense which had good talent but underperformed at times, especially in key games against Ohio State and Michigan. With Michael Onwenu seemingly entrenched at right tackle, one has to wonder if one of these men will switch to left tackle. It would be a waste of a pick if the round three pick which was made on an offensive lineman went to a depth player and not a projected starter.

So with the three picks in the first three rounds, the Patriots addressed their three biggest areas of need. For day three on Saturday, the Patriots could do well to stack up more on wideouts and offensive linemen. Other positions where depth might be a good idea would be tight end, defensive line and perhaps some defensive backs.

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About Bob George

Covering Boston Sports since 1997. Native of Worcester, Mass. Attended UMass and Univ of Michigan. Lives in California. Just recently retired after 40 years of public school teaching. Podcasts on YouTube at @thepic4139

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