What does early success look like for Maye? Former NFL QB shares expectations originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
As the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Drake Maye will be the New England Patriots’ next franchise quarterback. It’s a challenging situation for the North Carolina product, but head coach Jerod Mayo and Co. made it clear they will not rush their young signalman into action.
Meanwhile, Maye is functioning as the second QB in OTAs behind veteran QB Jacoby Brissett. While he has shown flashes of his potential in practice, he still has a lot to learn before he can establish himself as the No. 1 pick on New England’s depth chart.
What better place to learn than Quarterback School? Former NFL QB JT O’Sullivan, now founder of TheQBSchool.com, joined Phil Perry on a new Next Pats Podcast to share his assessment of Maye and what he hopes to see from the rookie.
Next Pats: Drake Maye is already seeing results attending the Patriots’ new QUARTERBACK SCHOOL | Listen and subscribe | Watch on youtube
“From the outside looking in, I would say the expectations are very low when it comes to wins and performance and that sort of thing,” O’Sullivan said. “So to me, if you go out there and take a good look, what does it mean that you can protect the ball, that you can make plays that help us win, that you’re not hurting the team consistently, that it looks like the game is not too fast for you, that you can go out there and execute what the coaches are asking you to do consistently, I think that’s an early indicator of, ‘OK, we might have something going.’ “
There’s a good chance Maye will be behind Brissett for most, if not all, of the 2024 season. O’Sullivan shared what he believes Maye needs to do to be successful once he’s finally named the starter.
“I think it’s going to be unfair to everyone in this (2024 draft) class… (compare) what (Houston Texans QB) C.J. Stroud did last year, where people are going to come in and have expectations,” he said. … “But I would look for continuous improvement. I would look for big-play ability.
“If we’re talking about what I would specifically look for in Drake Maye’s quarterback, the difference from his college game to translating to Sunday’s game, what I classify as the quality of the error, I think it should get significantly tighter. they were spray mistakes that you just don’t see anywhere from a guy who consistently starts on Sundays. And I imagine you’ll see some of that at first, but as the season progresses, everything gets a little tighter.
Also in the episode:
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Phil Perry’s Conclusions on OTAs
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Implementing the West Coast offense.
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Five things to watch at minicamp next week.
