For better or worse, the most important question surrounding the 2024 New England Patriots involves Drake Maye, and specifically when the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft will make his first career start.
Maye has been making significant progress behind the scenes, with our Phil Perry hearing from multiple Patriots players who have been impressed with rookie quarterback's poise and processing ability in practice. And after Maye saw his first game action last Thursday night in New England's blowout loss to the New York Jets, the calls to play the rookie over veteran Jacoby Brissett have grown louder.
NFL Media's Ian Rapoport threw cold water on those calls Sunday morning, insisting that Maye is "a ways away" from starting in New England. But the rookie QB does appear to be gaining positive momentum. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer offered more insight Sunday into Maye's development and what the team thought of his NFL debut against the Jets on NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Pregame Live.
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"What they saw in that game against the Jets, they saw his legs show up, they saw his overall athleticism show up, and a really important piece of this too, they saw his ability to take a hit," Breer said. "That wasn't intentional. They didn't want to see him get beat up, but they did get to see that piece of it."
Maye took a pair of sacks and five QB hits on just one drive while working with a shaky Patriots offensive line, but he was able to avoid pressure on a handful of plays and scrambled for 12 yards on two rushes. So, what more does New England want to see before Maye takes over full-time for Brissett?
The answer to that question is twofold, Breer explained.
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"My expectation is that he's gonna start at some point this year, but it's gonna take two pieces to the puzzle here," Breer said. "The first piece is gonna be his own readiness to play in a way where the good habits are able to maintain through taking hits, and he doesn't revert to any of the bad habits.
"And then of course, there's gonna have to be a (second) piece of it, which is the Patriots being ready around him to play him and support him as a rookie quarterback.
"You can go back to that game against the Jets: The good was that he was able to get in there; the bad is the reason why he was in there, which is the game was a blowout -- which would indicate that the Patriots may be a little further away from being able to support him starting games as a rookie quarterback."
It sounds like Maye is close to checking off the first box of showing enough in practice and limited game action to prove he's ready. The holdup might be that second box -- specifically an offensive line that's allowed the second-highest QB pressure rate in the NFL this season and hampered an operation that looked dysfunctional in Week 3 against the Jets.
So, if the Patriots can find more stability on the offensive line and show more offensive competency -- beginning this Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers -- that could go a long way toward Maye finally taking the reins.
Check out the video above to hear more from Breer on Maye's progress.