The New England Patriots may have their next franchise quarterback in Drake Maye, but the third overall pick in this year’s draft isn’t exactly set up for success in the near term.
The offensive line and the wide receiver position remain glaring weaknesses four games into the 2024 season. Starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett has already been hit 40 times, including 15 sacks for the third-highest total in the league. New England’s wideouts have totaled only 25 catches for 226 yards over the first four weeks.
It’s nothing against Maye, but the Patriots may regret taking a QB at No. 3 rather than using their maximizing the value of the pick. Had they traded down, they could have addressed the offensive line and added another playmaker to the mix. Instead, Maye is left with no protection and no one to throw to if and when he makes his first start of the campaign.
That’s where our Tom E. Curran stands on the issue, but Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald wants to send him to Alcatraz for suggesting the Patriots shouldn’t have drafted Maye. They debated the topic on the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast.
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“Your point is simple,” Curran said. “How often are you at the top of the draft to get great players? You take them before anybody else has a chance to take them. And if you’re sitting pretty at No. 3, and you have a guy who wasn’t just good for 15 minutes but was one of the best quarterbacks in college football the previous year, you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, you get them now.
“My contention, though, is that you are wasting his time as you waste your time, and you may never see the fruits of it because your team is so bad. Now, we could talk about divvying up the blame. Is it on Eliot Wolf? Matt Groh? Bill Belichick? Nick Caserio? Do you want to give it to Matt Patricia? Lob it all on (Jerod) Mayo? Whoever gets the blame — AVP (Alex Van Pelt)? The point is, it’s a bad team and it’s going to remain a fairly bad team, which means you’re going to winnow away the ability to maximize that position because the other positions still stink.”
Callahan, like ex-Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers, believes patience is a virtue with the young signal-caller and this rebuilding Pats offense.
“My argument would be, this is one year out of a five-year contract where he’s going to be a huge deal,” Callahan said. “So that’s 20 percent, sure. But in the meantime, you still get to develop him as we were talking about. And even if this team was ready, they might have said, ‘We want you to develop anyway.’ Because we know where Eliot Wolf came from. Alex Van Pelt spent the biggest chunk of his career in Green Bay, where patience grows and then pays off, specifically at the quarterback position.
“Now, granted, the rosters there were different for Aaron Rodgers and now Jordan Love. They’re different players than Drake Maye. But even when he was drafted, anyone listening, anyone studying the tape like I was, like Phil (Perry) was, goes, ‘OK, he’s not a project, but he’s someone who needs a little bit more seasoning.’
“This might have been the plan anyway, even if they were ready to protect him in a way that’s not allowing pressure and hits and hurries on 50 percent of their snaps right now, which they’re doing for Jacoby Brissett. So I think this is fine even if it takes a full year. I don’t think it will. I think he’ll start either later this month or next month.
Also in the episode:
- Did the Krafts make a mistake by only replacing Bill Belichick last offseason? Does Eliot Wolf deserve more time to build the team he envisions?
- Is the team beginning to teeter after struggling the last three weeks?
- Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar breaks down how the Patriots defense is getting so outflanked in recent weeks.
- Is there any way the offense can have success without figuring out the deep passing game?
- Is it time for the Patriots to make the move to Drake Maye?