The New England Patriots are clearly rebuilding, but their head coach, Jerod Mayo, seems to be undecided on this one crucial piece. While I was not at all a fan of the Patriots hiring Mayo to be their new head coach, taking over for Bill Belichick, I will give them credit for their QB situation.
The team took Drake Maye third overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. This was the right move. They also signed Jacoby Brissett in free agency. Brissett is a very talented backup QB and has backed up young QBs before. Brissett is business and is the perfect QB to have for a rookie to lean on.
Well, here is what Mayo said much earlier this offseason:
"While his backing of Brissett was rather definitive back then — “Coming out of the spring I don’t think there’s any doubt: Jacoby is the starting quarterback at this point in time.” — Mayo did acknowledge that him starting the regular season was not guaranteed either. Rather, Brissett would have to prove himself against the other QBs on the roster."Jerod Mayo / Bernd Buchmasser
And now, here's his new tune:
"Whereas Mayo said in no uncertain terms that Brissett would be the Patriots’ QB1 heading into the spring, he has begun singing a different tune. Appearing on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show and later meeting reporters ahead of training camp practice No. 17, he said that the starting quarterback job was up for grabs and that Maye “100 percent” could still end up overtaking Brissett before the start of the regular season.Jerod Mayo / Bernd Buchmasser
“We’re still in training camp. We still have a preseason game against Washington. We don’t have a starting QB right now,” Mayo said. “When it’s time, we’ll announce that. But [Maye] could absolutely be QB1, so could Jacoby. We’ll just have to see how it plays out.”"
When Drake Maye was taken with the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, many people thought the raw QB needed some time to develop. Some cited his footwork as a small cause for concern. And with the Pats having signed Brissett, who has been the full-time starter before, it would make sense for the Patriots to put Maye on ice in year one.
Many QBs have found success by sitting for a year, but many have also played immediately and done just as well. There really is no perfect science to this, but with Jerod Mayo clearly changing his tune, you have to wonder if Drake Maye has made this decision hard.
The Patriots aren't going to win many games regardless in 2024, and with their offensive line and WR room still being among the worst in the NFL, them starting Jacoby Brissett may make the most sense. Would the Pats coaching staff really want to put Maye out there with that disaster of an offensive personnel situation?
De-facto GM Eliot Wolf is in the first year on the job and does still have a ton of work to do to fix the offensive side of the ball. For that reason, they should consider red-shirting Drake Maye and letting Jacoby Brissett be the starter, but they seem to be open to the idea of the rookie Maye getting the QB1 job.