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The New England Patriots are finally handing the keys over to their rookie quarterback, as the team announced on Tuesday that No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye will make his first career start on Sunday against the Houston Texans. The move comes on the heels of the Patriots' fourth consecutive loss, this time against the Tua Tagovailoa-less Miami Dolphins, and Jerod Mayo and New England have concluded that it's time for Jacoby Brissett to head to the bench.
Many fans and pundits voiced concerns coming into the season about the situation that Maye was walking into, and the lack of offensive line talent was the top talking point. Those concerns haven't been eased in the first five weeks, as the Patriots have the third-worst PFF pass blocking grade as a team. Jacoby Brissett has been pressured on 74 of his 160 dropbacks, and Maye was pressured five times in 12 dropbacks during his relief appearance against the Jets.
Former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky voiced his concerns about what Maye is walking into after the move was announced.
“Hope they get a new OL as well,” Orlovsky wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The Patriots will have an uphill battle in front of them against the Texans no matter who is at quarterback. DeMeco Ryans has the Houston defense playing very well, and the Patriots aren't equipped to attack them effectively.
Why now is the wrong time to start Drake Maye
The Patriots are making a big mistake with the timing of the move to bench Jacoby Brissett in favor of Drake Maye. The question you have to ask yourself right now is this: what has changed in New England? The reluctancy to start Maye from the outset of his rookie season was there because of the poor Patriots offensive line and lack of pass catching talent.
Through five weeks, the Patriots offensive line has played poorly and their pass catchers have struggled to separate. Surprise! The same bad situation that many people didn't want to put Maye into at the beginning of the season has done nothing except be confirmed as a bad situation, and now it's somehow the time to throw Maye into the fire?
Ideally, Maye could sit out this season, maybe get some game reps here and there, and then take the starting job next season when the Patriots add a little bit more talent. However, if they insist on Maye starting this season, there is one obvious place to do so.
New England has a Week 14 bye, which makes it late enough in the season where Maye can get adequate mental reps before then and then can have two weeks to prepare for a game. New England could come back from the bye and give Maye four low-leverage starts to end the season, assuming they're out of playoff contention by then. Their first game back from the bye is against the Arizona Cardinals, who have one of the worst defenses in football.
Starting Maye after the bye would give him the best chance of success this season, but it's going to be tough sledding for 12 games with this supporting cast.
