What Starting Drake Maye Means for Patriots

What does the New England Patriots starting rookie quarterback Drake Maye in Week 6 mean for the franchise?

Aug 15, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) runs the ball in for a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first half at Gillette Stadium. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The New England Patriots made a massive change on Tuesday afternoon. After five straight weeks of subpar quarterback play from Jacoby Brissett, they made the call to bench him and start rookie No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye.

Maye getting the start has reignited excitement from the Patriots' fan base. Perhaps the offense will finally start being able to move the football.

This week's game will truly start a new era in New England. Jerod Mayo's coaching debut was a partial start of the new era, but the expected long-term franchise quarterback finally taking the field makes it official.

All of that being said, the question now becomes, what does the switch from Brissett to Maye mean for the Patriots?

What Does Starting Drake Maye Mean for New England?

Some may run with this too far and think that starting Maye will give the Patriots a chance to rebound and make a run at the playoffs. While that can't be counted out entirely, no one should be expecting that.

New England has quite a few issues that run well past the quarterback position.

What it mainly means for the Patriots is that they can get their rookie quarterback important early reps. They'll focus on developing him and building his confidence up.

Fans also should not expect that the offense will immediately become a pass-first offense. Mayo is not going to switch up the philosophy that he has had so far. He's going to continue running the football a lot and sprinkling the passing game in like he did with Brissett.

Granted, the passing game should look better than it did. Maye has a much better arm in every aspect than Brissett. But, the coaching staff is not going to have their rookie throw the football 30-40 times per game.

Since the beginning of the year, the 2024 campaign has been about growing talent and rebuilding. New England was never going to be a contender this year. That was never the goal.

However, as they move into the latter stage of the season, the hope is that they're a more competitive team. As Maye gets his playing legs under him, he will continue improving and the team should as well. There is enough young talent that there should be signs of improvement by the end of the year.

Even though losing is frustrating, at least there's some excitement now. Maye is not going to come in and power the Patriots to winning. Expecting anything close to that is unreasonable.

Fans should simply enjoy watching the young quarterback grow. Hopefully, the team around him is able to help enable that growth rather than make it more difficult.

All of that being said, Maye will be under center in Week 6 when New England takes on the Houston Texans. It will be interesting to see how he looks in his starting debut against a very good football team.

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