The New England Patriots already failed to develop one first-round quarterback in Mac Jones. They can't afford to make the same mistake with Drake Maye.
That's what makes this offseason so crucial for the Patriots. While Maye has serious franchise QB potential, the team needs to surround him with the right players and coaches if it wants to maximize his immense talents.
Adding wide receivers and offensive tackles via free agency and the NFL Draft seems obvious. But do the Patriots need to make coaching changes as well -- specifically at offensive coordinator -- or should they allow Alex Van Pelt to continue working with Maye in 2025?
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The MMQB's Albert Breer outlined the case for keeping Van Pelt at OC on the latest Patriots Talk Podcast with Tom E. Curran, and he made an interesting analogy to how Andy Reid set Patrick Mahomes up for success with the Kansas City Chiefs.
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"I don't think it's impossible to make it work with Alex Van Pelt," Breer said. "I'll bring up the example of what Andy Reid did in Kansas City. When he first got there (in 2013) ... after the Michael Vick experience in Philly, he decided, 'I need to do more to try to get myself up to speed on what's happening in the college game and get more creative offensively, so whenever I find my next long-term quarterback, I'll be ready for it.'
"So, he hired a guy named Chris Ault from Nevada, who was Colin Kaepernick's college coach. ... He's bringing in a spread game specialist and saying, 'OK how can we make this more user-friendly for kids coming out of college at all positions, and in particular quarterbacks?'
"So, after they went through that and bring this guy in to help them retrofit the offense, by the time Patrick Mahomes got there, they had something that was really going to work for Mahomes."
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New England obviously is in a different situation with Maye; Reid had years to build up his staff in Kansas City before Mahomes arrived, while the Patriots will need to build around their young QB on the fly. But Breer's point is that the Patriots could look to hire their own version of Ault as an offensive consultant who can help tailor the system to Maye's strengths.
In that scenario, Maye wouldn't have to start over with a new OC in Year 2 and could work for the same boss who spent countless hours developing him last summer.
"I think that there are different ways to go about this," Breer added. "Yes, you could (say), 'It's time to flip the apple cart over. It's time to hit reset and start over on offense.' You could do that.
"Or you could say, 'We don't want to completely disrupt the momentum Drake Maye is building as a player, and we don't want to completely pull out all of the institutional knowledge we have of his development in the building. So, instead of just firing everybody and replacing them, maybe we add.'"
Also in this episode:
- Comparing the handling of Drake Maye to Jayden Daniels
- Can the Patriots learn from what the Commanders did with Daniels?
- Is Jerod Mayo off the hot seat?