How may Patriots deal with Maye as rookie? What current historical past says

How might Patriots handle Maye as rookie? What recent history says initially appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The New England Patriots took Drake Maye with the No. 3 pick within the 2024 NFL Draft to assist the franchise return to prominence.

However that pursuit will not start with Week 1 of the common season.

The Patriots introduced Thursday that veteran Jacoby Brissett will be the starting quarterback. Maye outplayed Brissett within the preseason and in a number of practices over the previous couple of weeks, but it surely wasn’t sufficient for him to win the No. 1 job.

The controversy now could be, when will Maye lastly see the sphere? Is it truly doable that he might sit the entire season?

Properly, primarily based on current historical past, Maye not enjoying in any respect in his rookie season would positively be an outlier.

“The entire thing on rookie quarterbacks modified in 2008 when Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco made the playoffs with their groups,” Sports activities Illustrated’s Albert Breer stated Thursday on NBC Sports activities Boston’s Early Version, as seen within the video participant above.

“There have been 16 draft cycles since then, from 2008 to 2023 and never together with this yr. Forty-eight quarterbacks have been drafted within the first spherical over these 16 drafts, and there is been solely three true redshirts — Patrick Mahomes in 2017, Jordan Love in 2020 and Jake Locker in 2011.

“What these guys all had in widespread was, they had been enjoying for groups that had been contending to the very finish, and so they had been enjoying behind completed veteran quarterbacks.”

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Mahomes sat behind Alex Smith, who was an excellent QB and guided the Chiefs to the playoffs with an 10-6 document in 2017. Love was the backup for Aaron Rodgers, who gained league MVP in 2020 and led the Packers to the NFC Championship Sport. Locker performed behind Matt Hasselbeck because the 2011 Titans went 9-7 and barely missed the playoffs.

Brissett shouldn’t be somebody who’s going to steer the Patriots to the playoffs. He isn’t at that degree, and neither is the group as an entire. He is a bridge quarterback. This, amongst different elements, is why it will be so shocking if Maye did not play in any respect in 2024.

“The Patriots are going to need to be traditionally disciplined to present Drake Maye a full redshirt yr,” Breer stated. “That is a part of why I feel Atlanta is at a bit little bit of a bonus with the best way they’re arrange. There’s going to be no strain for them to play Michael Penix Jr. as a result of Kirk Cousins is there.

“What usually occurs in these conditions is you may have a bridge man, which is what Jacoby Brissett is, and then you definitely get six, eight, 10 video games into the season and it is clear to all people, together with the locker room, that the rookie most likely provides you the most effective probability within the brief time period.”

The Patriots might weigh a number of elements earlier than deciding when is the suitable time to start out Maye. One in all them could possibly be the offensive line, which has been an enormous weak spot for this group for a while. The very last thing the Patriots would need is for Maye to be sacked 40-plus occasions and be working for his life on most performs, like David Carr in 2002. The schedule is one other potential issue. New England has one of the league’s toughest schedules, particularly early on with matchups towards the Bengals, Jets, 49ers and Dolphins within the first 5 weeks.

Regardless of the Patriots determine, it is a determination they completely need to get proper. The short- and long-term success of the franchise depends upon it.