Drake Maye’s Patriots Journey: From Draft Day to Preseason Breakthrough
Drake Maye and his first year with the Patriots: Looking back at his beginning in New England.
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After several years of post-Brady quarterback turnover, the Patriots are betting big on rookie Drake Maye. Drafted to be the future of the franchise, Maye represents both hope and uncertainty. With questions swirling around a new offensive coordinator, protection, and the club’s personnel, this is part one of a comprehensive look back at Maye’s rookie campaign, with this edition focusing on the 2024 first-round pick’s journey from the scouting process through his first spring and training camp with the Patriots.
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Drake Maye was on the Patriots’ radar early in the draft process. The team met with Maye early in the process as part of its due diligence among each of the top prospects, which included Maye, Jayden Daniels, J.J. McCarthy, Caleb Williams, and Bo Nix.
During the evaluations, there was a big group that was on hand to visit with Maye, with Mike Reiss reporting later following Maye’s selection that Eliot Wolf, Jerod Mayo, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney, senior assistant Ben McAdoo, director of player personnel Matt Groh, senior personnel advisor Patrick Stewart, senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith and national scout Matt Evans were on hand for that meeting.
Maye clearly made a good impression, with the team then seemingly locking in on the North Carolina standout given how things went.
When initially asked about his thoughts on the club, Maye seemed honored at the notion of coming to New England.
“Shoot, New England. I mean, it’s hard not to talk about the dynasty. You know, the great, you think of the GOAT. That’s what you think of. When you think of New England, you think of the GOAT, Tom Brady,” Maye said in March of 2024 . “So, just a place that’s had a lot of success. They’ve had some years lately that haven’t been as successful, and looking to get back on track.”
Drake Maye’s athleticism is something that stood out, and there was an interesting bit of information that came out about one habit he needed to break. Maye had gotten into the habit of using his size to his advantage in college as he ran upfield. But one thing he did frustrated his coaches.
Apparently, there was a stretch where Maye, who is also a former high school basketball star, had a tendency to try and leap over defenders due to his vertical leap and his athleticism.
Former high school teammate and friend Duwe Ferris told the Charlotte Observer that it was something that coaches had to repeatedly tell Maye to stop doing because he was still doing it at the college level at times at North Carolina.
“In high school, he would always try to jump over people, and he did because he was so much bigger,” said Farris. “So there are all these great plays where it looks like he is just dunking the football over somebody on a QB run. “But then in college, his coaches were like, ‘You cannot do that.’ It took him a while, I think, to get it out of his system.”
Buffalo’s Josh Allen learned the hard way that putting his body in danger in the NFL had significant consequences, with the young quarterback admitting that he had to change his ways.
The hope with Maye is to ensure he avoids a similar road, and breaking that habit was certainly important.
After ultimately selecting him with the third overall pick, Wolf said their visits convinced him that Drake Maye was the right selection.
“He’s big, he’s young, and we feel like there’s a lot of upside to his game,” said Wolf after Maye was selected. “Throughout the process. I mean, we had a good process with all these quarterbacks, and all these players in the draft and we really started to feel comfortable with Drake…obviously the game film was really good, but we started to feel comfortable with him as we spent more time with him and visited with him at North Carolina.”
In addition to their pre-draft meeting with Maye, Mayo also said that speaking to Drake Maye’s college coach, Mack Brown, helped solidify their decision.
“First and foremost, I would say just getting a chance to spend time with Mack Brown and asking him questions about Drake really helped me get the full picture,” said Mayo. “Look, this guy’s very competitive. He would literally miss one question and he’d be on himself about it. But we like that competitive nature, that striving for perfection, and he showed us that.”
There were other things on tape besides Maye’s football acumen that stood out, with one key intangible playing a role. Maye’s toughness was a big factor, which Mayo explained influenced the decision to take him.
“One thing about Drake that we kind of talked about it this past year, they also had some holes on offense,” said Mayo. “The thing that most impressed me about him, he would get smacked and just get right back up. Right? That’s the same trait – you had a guy like Tom Brady – not saying that he’s Tom, but just that mentality. Same thing with Joe Burrow. Like, those guys just keep getting back up and continuing playing at a high level and that was like the ‘Ah Ha’ moment for me.”
For Wolf, it was Maye’s leadership that stood out, with Maye holding himself accountable no matter what the outcome was.
“He was one of the only quarterbacks in this draft that went up there after every loss and handled the media,” said Wolf. “Not that the Chapel Hill media is as tough as you guys are, but he handled it with grace, with class. Watching those press conferences, there were a lot of times where the reporters were trying to get him to throw somebody under the bus and he wouldn’t do it. He’s a 21-year old kid but he’s very mature and understands what it means to be a leader.”
When draft day came, there was interest from other teams to try and make their way into that #3 slot to target Drake Maye.
One team was apparently the New York Giants, who were said to be impressed with Maye. During an episode of Hard Knocks, the exchange of the Giants trying to take a swing at a trade was aired between Wolf and New York GM Joe Schoen, but Wolf declined.
“I think we’re pretty happy with sitting here picking. But, again, if you offer us [your first, second and third-round pick] this year, [your first and second-round pick] next year …. I mean, I’m exaggerating. But it’s going to be something crazy like that,” said Wolf via ESPN.
“It would probably have to be pretty significant,” replied Shoen. “So, like a [first-round pick] this year [obviously No. 6 this year], a [first-round pick] next year and something more this year is not going to do it? It’s got to be multiples in ’25?”
Wolf then ended the exchange by saying, “We’re in this situation where we just probably sit and pick a quarterback.”
That echoes reports leading up to the first night that it was going to take something “unprecedented” to move the Patriots out of that spot. Given what Wolf threw out there, it was clear that’s exactly what it would have taken.
As for Drake Maye, he was certainly excited. The moment the phone rang was one he told reporters during his first conference call was one he’d “remember forever” and he was looking forward to getting to work.
“When I heard that phone ring right beside me. Kind of had the old school phone right beside me at the draft,” said Maye during his first conference call. “Once that rang, it rang real early, rang right at 10 minutes right when the Patriots were on the clock. I heard it started ringing and it’s one of the moments I’ll remember forever and I’ll cherish. I think my mom grabbed that phone and took it with her. But we’ll remember forever.”
He also made it clear what fans could expect from him.
“A competitor and a winner,” said Maye. “I think that’s the main two things that come to mind. It doesn’t matter if I’m racing you out the door, or on the football field competing. I think I’m competing to win. That’s what Patriots Nation is about. That’s what they know how to do and I’m ready to come in and do that.”
Maye also added that he would still prepare as if he were the starting quarterback, knowing that when his time comes, he needed to earn it.
“I’ll prepare and be ready to be the starter, but at the same time I think you know as a young guy coming in there, it’s not given to you, you’ve got to earn it,” said Maye. “The NFL is someplace you’ve got to work your butt off, and my job is to go in there and earn the guys’ respect. Help whoever is the starter if I’m not, I’ll be the best player that I can and help this team win.”
Drake Maye arrived in Foxborough as a high-upside selection with comparisons to Josh Allen. Physically gifted with improvisational talent, Maye was seen as a long-term investment.
However, the immediate work with Maye focused on his fundamentals, most notably, his footwork, which was something that he was aware coming out of college was an issue.
Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick acknowledged that Maye was a project during his appearance on the Pat McAfee show on draft night.
“Drake Maye, his footwork needs a lot of work,” said Belichick at one point analyzing footage of one play from Maye’s college days. “You can see here, he’s just all over the place, never resets his feet, never really gets into position to throw, gets strip-sacked.”
That became an instant focus as the work began. Maye was spotted during the spring going through quite a few reps, working with Van Pelt on getting his footwork down.
“That’s been good,” said Maye in May as things got under way. “I think kind of the first day, just feeling it out and just getting more and more reps. That’s all something new takes. Just getting more reps at it. I think there’s some perks to it. Quick game’s a lot quicker, and trying to get that. I think under center stance, I’m trying out two new stances that I’m getting used to. Just working on it, repping it, and I felt pretty good out there today, so just got to keep working.”
Former Patriots QB Brian Hoyer said during an interview that footwork was “one of the easiest things to clear up quickly” and Maye agreed with that sentiment.
“Oh, 100 %. Footwork is huge,” said Maye. “I think Brian did a long time as quarterback in the NFL. I think it’s something not easy, but like I said, once you get it and match it up with the routes and just get coached, get coached hard. He’s doing a great job of coaching me hard. I want to be coached hard. And once you kind of time it up, like you said, I think it comes easy. It kind of comes with rhythm and match-up concepts and footwork.”
During those practices, Maye continued making progress. So much so that, weeks later, the improvement started to become more noticeable.
“I like the fact we saw him struggle a little bit, very briefly,” said Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston. “In two of his first three snaps in 11-on-11 periods, we saw him miss an open receiver down the field, JuJu Smith-Schuster, looked like on a little wheel route, just overthrew him by 4 or 5 yards, incomplete. The next play, they actually sort of broke a huddle for his third play of 11-on-11, had to re-huddle because there was some sort of miscommunication, and then he proceeded to throw a tight-end screen to basically no one, incomplete.”
“But from there, he completed 14 of his next 16 passes, including what I thought was the best throw of the day, which was about a 40-yard throw to Tyquan Thornton down the sideline. You couldn’t have handed him the football any better. So I like the fact he started out slow and seemed to then get his feet underneath him despite what had happened early in the practice to have a really strong day.”
Heading into training camp, Mayo made it clear that veteran Jacoby Brissett was their starter, with the rookie’s job simply to continue working.
“Coming out of the spring, I don’t think there’s any doubt. Jacoby [Brissett] is the starting quarterback at this point in time,” said Mayo. “We can look at these other quarterbacks on the roster. At the same time, it’s about competition. And so when we get out on the field this summer with the pads on, we’ll see how it all plays out. But coming out of the spring, I think it’s clear that Jacoby is the most pro-ready guy we have and played a lot of football.”
Brissett said at the time that he was embracing his role as a leader, and setting an example for everyone, including Maye.
“I think that comes with the position. It’s being able to take command of the offense in all of the details, not only for myself, but for the receivers, the running back tight ends, and so forth,” said Brissett. “I think that’s part of the job is demanding that not only from yourself, but from the other guys. I think being the older of the group that guys are going to look to me for that. It’s another goal of mine for this training camp and trying to… Obviously, I’ve been in this offense for a year before, so just bringing guys along and helping teach and so forth.”
As for whether or not Drake Maye could be a factor, Mayo added that the rookie would still face competition from Bailey Zappe and fellow rookie Joe Milton.
“Look, and this goes to any position, if he comes out here and he lights it up, and once again, it goes back to the quality of reps, it could absolutely happen,” said Mayo on the possibility of Maye breaking through to catapult himself into a starting role. “I sit here and tell you, coming out of the spring, Jacoby looks like the starting quarterback. Now, with that being said, he’ll have competition. Let’s not forget about even Joe Milton. Let’s not forget about [Bailey] Zappe. All those guys will have opportunities to go out there and be the starting quarterback in week one.”
Day one showed some nice moments from Drake Maye. The biggest one came on one throw where the dropped in a pass that was just out of reach of Jalen Reagor during a 7-on-7 period, but the wideout managed to make a terrific one-handed grab for a would-be touchdown, which caused quite a reaction from the fans who were on hand to take in the session.
The thing that was probably the most impressive is the fact that it looked fairly effortless on Maye’s part, with the rookie showing off his arm strength at several points in that Wednesday practice, including another long throw later in the session.
It wasn’t perfect, as the rookie did have one play with a botched snap (which came as Nick Leverett reportedly got some work in at center) along with a sack, while reporters had him at 6-of-10 during competitive periods.
He faced some adversity later that week. He had his first real rookie moment of the preseason that Friday, tossing a pick-six to Matthew Judon on a play where he was targeting Rhamondre Stevenson in the flat.
Judon snagged the errant throw from the rookie and took off the other way for an easy touchdown, reminding Maye that against good players, he’s definitely going to need to be a little more careful.
Give Maye credit. From there, he completed some throws and managed to finish strong, so it ended up simply being a learning moment for the rookie, albeit the turnover Judon made was also a nice play.
When the club finally held its first preseason game, fans who braved the rainy weather at Gillette Stadium went home disappointed. Maye appeared for just six snaps during one series, with the rookie completing 2-of-3 passes for 19 yards on short throws to both Antonio Gibson and Kevin Harris. The one to Gibson was a nice read on a 3rd-and-12 where Maye was fluid on the swing pass to the running back, who was then able to take off and pick up 13 yards and move the chains.
But that was it, with fans groaning as Maye’s night came to an abrupt end as they sat through the remainder of the night watching Bailey Zappe see the majority of the snaps, along with Joe Milton getting in some work.
Mayo said after the game that the offensive line remained a concern, which seemed to contribute to Maye’s short debut.
“That’s always a consideration,’ said Mayo. “If he’s in there, you want him in there with the starting offensive line. We got to protect that guy. Not saying we don’t have to protect the other guys, but that absolutely did go into it.”
He added that he felt Maye would likely see more action the following week against Philadelphia.
“I mean, those things are always under consideration,” said Mayo that Friday. “I would also say during practice, he gets a lot of reps, and then going into the Eagles week, this honestly is a huge week for everyone to practice against the Eagles. And then really, we’ll see how the reps kind of break down in the game. But I expect Drake to get more reps than he did in the first game against the Eagles.”
Drake Maye made some unbelievable throws against Philadelphia during their joint practice session, including an outstanding one to rookie, Ja’Lynn Polk. However, the Eagles defense had their way with New England’s offensive line, making it tough for the rookie quarterback to operate.
His two-minute drive at the end of Tuesday’s practice was a disaster, with his final four plays finishing with sacks on three of those snaps and an incompletion on another.
Part of those struggles stemmed with the experiment where they had Atonio Mafi working at center, which played a role in that poor stretch by Maye.
“It was fun for us as a team to get to hit, put on pads, and hit another team,” said Maye after it was over. “That’s the best part about it, going against somebody else, suited up in the same color jerseys, and just getting after it.”
“That’s the best thing about joint practice. You go watch the film, you learn from it.”
Maye stepped up on a night when Brissett struggled. The veteran made a back-breaking interception in the end zone to end one drive, which came on a horrible decision as he forced a throw to tight end Austin Hooper, who was matched up against Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox.
Maddox was step-for-step with him on the play as Hooper battled with him, but couldn’t gain any leverage on the play. As the ball arrived, Maddox stepped in front and picked off the pass in the end zone.
“It was just forcing the play. We had other guys open on that play. It was a poor play,” said Mayo on Friday. “It was a terrible play. We can’t have those, especially when you have guaranteed points on the board. It turns from a, ‘All right, we got a field goal already pretty much secure,’ to now really being a seven-point play by turning the ball over. So just a poor play overall. And I think if you asked Jacoby, he would say the same thing.”
Meanwhile, Maye got off to a good start, putting together two scoring drives while completing 5-of-7 (71.4%) for 47 yards in that first half, including a 51-yard field goal, and then followed that up with a rushing touchdown of his own on the next possession.
Overall, he finished 6-of-11 for 47 yards, but his performance had Mayo saying things were opening up in the QB battle.
“I do,” said Mayo when asked if he still sees it as a competition. “We have three more days of training camp practices, and it’s our job as coaches to evaluate, and the competition isn’t over. They’re still going to go out there, and they have to show not only themselves and the coaches, but also their teammates. So it’s definitely still a competition.”
Maye was no stranger to adversity, given what he dealt with during his time at North Carolina.
Unfortunately, he needed every bit of that experience to deal with what he faced in New England’s final preseason game against Washington.
Center Nick Leverett was a player who didn’t fare well in that one, with Leverett having difficulty up front as the Patriots held out David Andrews ahead of the regular season.
Leverett seemingly handled both Taylor Stallworth and defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis fairly easily on the first series, allowing Maye to put together an impressive 11 play, 88 yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass that Maye fired out to the sideline for running back Kevin Harris, who broke a tackle and took off for the end zone to complete the drive.
The bad news is, later on, Leverett absolutely had his hands full. He was completely manhandled by defensive tackle John Ridgeway, with Leverett getting blown back and completely unable to handle him. He brought Leverett to his knees to start off their third offensive series, pushing him aside while dropping Harris for a 1-yard loss. He then got a hit on Drake Maye on the next play after shoving Sidy Sow aside.
Looking at the replay, that was the play where Ridgeway had gotten his hands up and he caught Maye’s throwing hand on the follow-through. That also explains why Maye’s pass to Tyquan Thornton on a 2nd-and-11 didn’t reach him.
Maye seemed to be shaking his hand after the play, but he fortunately appeared to avoid any type of significant injury.
“I think the big dude, the nose tackle, I think 91 was his number. He’s a good player,” said Maye after the game of Ridgeway. “So I got to get out of there faster. Nick’s doing a heck of a job of fighting in there, so I could get away from center.”
Overall, Maye finished the night 13-of-20 (65%) for 126 yards along with a touchdown.
Following final roster cutdowns, Mayo remained mum on who would be the starter to begin the 2024 season.
“I know everyone wants to know that,” said Mayo. “I’m going to talk to the individual players tomorrow. I’m going to have a team meeting tomorrow, and then I’ll get it to you guys.”
The starter to kick off the regular season turned out to be Jacoby Brissett, but Drake Maye would go on to be the back-up behind him to begin the 2024 campaign.
From the draft process to his first preseason and beyond, Drake Maye’s journey with the New England Patriots has been one of steady growth and determination. His early progress paid off, culminating in a well-earned starting role by Week 6—and from there, he delivered a strong rookie campaign that gave Patriots fans a reason to believe in the future.
(The next edition will take a full in-depth week-by-week look back at Maye’s 2024 rookie season.)
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Impressive work Ian. TY!
Thank you, Mike. Much appreciated. Sort of started as a thing where I was compiling bits of information and then sort of became a thing from there. 😉