Is It Too Soon To Say The Patriots Have Reached Maye Day?
The New England Fans Are Ready To See The 2024 Draft Phenom In Action. Is It The Right Time? Are The Drum Beats Wrong, And It's Too Soon?
Poor Play From Jacoby Brissett Is Increasing The Volume Of Calls For A Change. Will New England Make A Move? And, More Importantly, Should They?
Is Jerod Mayo ready to put Drake Maye in the starting lineup?
Take a look at this stat line:
TD Yds Cmp Att Cmp%
0 160 18 34 52.9
Those numbers belong to Jacoby Brissett and his performance against Miami in week five of the 2024 season. Brissett's totals on the year are:
TD Yds Cmp Att Cmp%
2 686 79 135 58.5
In other words, Brissett’s dismal day against Miami actually exceeded the yardage and completions he’s averaging on the year. He also did that against a Miami defense that hasn’t been playing particularly well.
Brissett is regarded as a tremendous person. He is said to have phenomenal study habits and a terrific locker room presence. There is a lot to like about him and the example he sets. After acknowledging Brissett is a great person, is he really providing the Patriots with what they need from a starting quarterback?
The level of Jacoby Brisset's play is not giving New England the best chance to win.
Five 2024 games have been played, which means this is what he’s delivering each week on average:
TD Yds Cmp Att Cmp%
0.4 137.2 15.8 27 58.5
The New England Patriots are looking for a quarterback that gives the team its best chance at winning each week. That’s a wonderful, cliched way to support the needs of any team, and a generic way to explain any decision. It is impossible to look at Brissett’s performance and defend it as New England’s best chance at winning. It doesn’t even reach a level that supports any argument as the best chance for the team to compete.
When New England upset Cincinnati to open the season, the team being led by Brissett to open the year seemed to have a fair amount of credibility. Brissett does not turn the ball over. The offensive line was in tatters, raising concerns about protecting the quarterback. He seemed to be offering calm and steady play rather than swirling waves of chaos. Since then, the Bengals have shown they have plenty of issues to resolve, and the Patriots have been struck by reality. Neither of these clubs is fielding a good team. The opening day upset does not appear quite as shocking in hindsight.
The Boston Herald reported on Monday, October 7th, that there was something different in the way head coach Jerod Mayo addressed questions about Brissett as the starter. In a 5-point loss, the end of the game featured two New England drives deep into Miami that were ended by incompletions and poor clock management. Brissett does not seem as firmly entrenched in the role as he once was.
Here are three things the Patriots need to consider before giving Maye the starting job:
First – Will the offensive line hold up? The answer here is no. Brissett has been sacked 17 times this year, one of the worst totals in the league. David Andrews is out for the remainder of the season. Additional injuries are rotating an already thin roster into weaker play. Giving Maye the ball during live games does not mean he will be learning and developing. Instead, he quite likely will be scrambling on plays that break down immediately following the snap.
Second – Tom Brady has said multiple times that he feels many organizations are pushing young quarterbacks too quickly onto the field. A summary of his idea is that the players fail to develop, and are given fractions of the full training they need before taking on a starting role. Maye deserves the opportunity to start when he is ready to start, and not because there is a loud roar demanding that he plays. If the gameplan is going to be overly limited and simplified for him, chances are good the team should wait on playing with him. That could mean waiting until 2025.
Third – If Maye is moved forward, it needs to be done when the team is certain he will never step back. In Carolina this past week, Bryce Young took the field in a blowout loss to Chicago. Young had been benched after week two, in favor of Andy Dalton. During the 2023 season, Young played in 16 games and took a pounding in the name of growth and development. There is a risk Young is beginning a bounce between the field and the bench, and will be looking over his shoulder after any mistake and every loss.
New England doesn’t need to look outside the organization for examples. Mac Jones followed up a promising rookie season in 2021 with two years of production that led to his departure for Jacksonville as a backup and the drafting of Maye. Plenty of young quarterbacks have slid into potential back-and-forth scenarios that have definitely stalled their development, and possibly derailed their careers.
If the Patriots move to Drake Maye, they need to be certain they won't pull him back.
C. J. Stroud and Jayden Daniels have started and thrived early in their careers. There’s room to believe Maye could be fine if handed the responsibilities of the gameday offense. There are also numerous examples where players have taken years to overcome being rushed onto the field, and in many cases, those recoveries have involved changing uniforms. Geno Smith and Sam Darnold are doing well this year, though neither is doing well on behalf of the New York Jets.
Jacoby Brissett is the starting quarterback in New England. The team overall, and his play specifically, has not been good enough to justify Brissett continuing as the starter. If the Patriots are going to change to Maye, however, they need to do it in a way that gives him every chance of succeeding. That means positive things not only in the near future, but also off in the distance and in their uniform.
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