Patriots Made Smart Behind-the-Scenes Move for Drake Maye After Mac Jones Failure

Ryan Phillips | Nov 13, 2024

Maye has thrown for 954 yards in five starts this season, with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. / Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

The New England Patriots are taking Drake Maye's development seriously to avoid the mistakes they made in the past.

On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer revealed the Kraft family had called people to ask about the best ways to handle and develop a young quarterback.

Breer said, "They have done some research over the last few weeks on how to handle a young quarterback. And obviously they failed with Mac Jones from 2021 through 2023. So the Krafts have asked people and done their homework on how the right way to handle a young quarterback is, and how they're going to do that going forward."

Presumably the Patriots have been reaching out to other teams or executives, past and present, for advice.

New England selected Jones with the 15th pick in the 2021 NFL draft and he struggled through three seasons with the franchise. As a rookie in 2021, he had his best season, completing 67.6% of his passes for 3,801 yards, with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. His passer rating (92.5) and QBR (56.9) were the highest he'd achieve during his time with the team. He slowly fell apart over the next two seasons before being traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars in March of this year in exchange for a sixth-round pick.

The Patriots selected Maye with the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL draft and don't want to make the same mistakes again. The team named Maye the starter in Week 6 and he has had mixed results since. So far this season the North Carolina product has completed 64.7% of his passes for 954 yards, with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. He has a passer rating of 84.1 and a QBR of 55.2.

The Krafts have been seeking advice for his development. We'll see if it helps avoid the issues that popped up with Jones.

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