Category: New England Patriots

Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye shows off rare talent against the Dolphins

Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye shows off rare talent even in a loss against the Dolphins

Since taking over the starting role from Jacoby Brissett just a handful of weeks ago, New England Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye has continually showed off incredible flashes of talent that made him one of the top prospects of the 2024 NFL Draft. This past weekend against the division rival Miami Dolphins, Maye continued to show out and made some truly eye popping throws despite a tough loss.

 

Maye was solid on the day, completing 22 of 37 pass attempts, for 222 yards and 1 touchdown. Maye also continued to show he was an NFL-level athlete as he carried the ball 5 times for 26 yards. The throw Maye made to Austin Hooper in the fourth quarter was particularly impressive. Rolling out of pressure and throwing some 45 yards off his back foot to a wide-open tight end for a touchdown.

It has become clear that Maye is the engine of this New England offense and the future at the position. As Maye continues to develop and hone in his incredible talent, he could easily become one of the best quarterbacks in the entire AFC. The sky is the limit for Maye, who was one of the most gifted signal callers in the draft, and that is starting to show up on game day.

Drake Maye has another impressive outing in his second start against the Jaguars

Maye keeps playing well despite not getting much help from his Patriots supporting cast

Last week New England Patriots fans caught a glimpse of the future when their rookie first-round quarterback Drake Maye started his first game of the season and put on a thrilling performance in a loss against the Houston Texans. Maye continued the pattern once again overseas in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Despite another loss under his belt Maye continues to impress with his arm talent, moxie, and level of football he is playing at in just his second start. On the day Maye put up 26 completions on 37 attempts, for  276 passing yards, and 2 touchdowns.

 

While there were some hiccups in the offense that ultimately only scored 16 points, it’s hard to place the blame on Maye, who is working behind one of the league’s least talented offensive lines and receiving rooms. He’s still keeping some elite company after two career starts,

 

 

The start to Maye’s NFL journey is looking like a good one and he has a chance to really put up some solid numbers despite the talent around him. Maye will look to find his first win of the season next week as he takes on the spiraling New York Jets at home.

Drake Maye explosive in his first start against Texans

Patriots rookie Drake Maye explosive in his first start against Texans

Despite how electric the 2024 quarterback class has been, at the start of the NFL season it took a whole three weeks for one of those NFL rookie starters to throw for their first touchdown. In the first start for New England Patriots rookie Drake Maye, he found the end zone three different times. An explosive and hopeful start in New England.

 

Despite the Patriots being thoroughly dominated on the scoreboard, you would be hard pressed to find a fan who would call the day a failure as the future of the franchise looked bright behind the arm of their new quarterback. On the afternoon, Maye finished with 20 of 33 completions, for 243 passing yards, and 3 passing touchdowns. Maye did also turn the ball over twice but bounced back in a big way to help make this New England offense look the best it has all year.

 

While New England is still very clearly in the early steps of a rebuild, to have a quarterback come out like this in his first game and light it up is something to root for in the building. Maye immediately makes the team at the very least competitive and fun to watch, and should he continue with what he showed against a very good Texans defense, this team could get very scary very fast. Next team up on the schedule for Maye and the Patriots is the very beatable Jacksonville Jaguars.

Drake Maye threw a terrible INT and social media let him know about it

Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye threw a terrible INT and social media let him know about it

Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye got his first NFL start on Sunday. Playing against the Houston Texans, the No. 3 overall pick replaced veteran Jacoby Brissett for the offensively-challenged Patriots.

In the early going, Maye’s lack of experience showed. He threw a rough interception.

First, the play. Maye missed his target by quite a bit on this throw, and Texans rookie safety Calen Bullock made him pay. This is a very bad throw and a too-easy interception for Bullock.

 

The social media reaction, from Patriots media and fans, was not amused with Maye’s rookie mistake.

https://twitter.com/henrycmckenna/status/1845518627384205816

https://twitter.com/Eric_Edholm/status/1845518487722102795

 

https://twitter.com/DougKyed/status/1845518599970336902

As of press time, Maye was 3-of-6 for 25 yards and the INT while the Texans led his Patriots, 14-0.

Drake Maye will get his 1st start for the Patriots in Week 6

Maye has been sitting behind Jacoby Brissett for the 1-4 Patriots, who rank 31st in scoring and yardage

The New England Patriots are making a change at quarterback, and their prized rookie pick from 2024 will be the new starter–at least for one week.

The Patriots revealed on Tuesday that they are switching from veteran Jacoby Brissett to No. 3 overall pick, Drake Maye, ahead of Week 6. Maye has been Brissett’s backup for the first five games, during which the Patriots have ranked 31st (of 32) in both scoring and yardage on offense.

Now, rookie head coach Jerod Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will look to the future with Maye. The rookie from North Carolina had an up-and-down preseason. Maye will make his starting debut against the 4-1 Houston Texans.

Former UNC football QB Drake Maye back in Chapel Hill

Drake Maye made his long-awaited return to Chapel Hill on Saturday.

Saturday was an absolute letdown for the UNC football team, which got smacked around by James Madison in the first half en route to a 53-21 halftime deficit.

North Carolina turned the ball over four times, including a pick-six for JMU’s last score of the first half. After showing signs of life early offensively, UNC only scored seven second-quarter points. JMU’s offense scored 38 first-half points, while its defense blocked a punt for a touchdown and recorded a pick-six

While the on-field product was bad, the Tar Heels had a special visitor on the sidelines.

That special visitor was Drake Maye, North Carolina’s 2022 ACC Rookie and Player of the Year, who the New England Patriots chose third overall in this year’s NFL Draft.

Maye impressed during NFL preseason action to the point where his head coach, Jerod Mayo, hinted at Maye possibly being New England’s starter. More recently, Maye made his regular season debut in garbage time against the New York Jets.

If only Maye played defense, the Tar Heels certainly could’ve used him today, as UNC allowed over 400 yards in the first half ALONE.

Maye was in Heisman Trophy contention each of his two seasons (2022 and 2023) in Chapel Hill, only for those campaigns to be undone by North Carolina’s signature, late-season collapses.

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Drake Maye debuts in Patriots Week 3 loss to the Jets

Rookie QB Drake Maye made his NFL debut in the Patriots blowout loss to the Jets in Week 3

The New England Patriots, going into Week 3, had looked better than most people had anticipated; with the typical high-end defense and a powerful running game, the team looked to be competitive in most of their contests on the year. As the New York Jets rolled to town, the wheels fell off on offense and veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett looked downright bad behind a patchwork offensive line with limited receiver help.

As the night dwindled on and it was obvious the game was out of hand, Jerod Mayo made the executive decision to put first-round quarterback Drake Maye in for his first snaps of the regular season. Right away it was apparent that Maye was going to deal with the same issues that Brissett did and even with his physical skillset he would not be able to escape the kind of pressure the Jets defense was putting forward. Maye ultimately ended the night by completing 4/8 passes for 22 yards and adding another 12 yards on the ground.

Whether or not this decision at the end of a blowout loss holds any significance for who will be the week 4 starter remains to be seen, it’s more likely than not that Brissett will once again be under center for the Patriots next weekend. It’s clear that New England wants to protect their first-round investment in Maye, and it would be hard to expect him to develop and have success, given the offensive talent surrounding this offense.

Drake Maye shows off Patriots potential in Week 2 of the preseason

No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye shows off Patriots potential in Week 2 of the preseason

We didn’t get to see much out of the New England Patriots third overall pick in their first preseason game, as Drake Maye was more or less held back during that game. In his second preseason game, however, we saw plenty of Maye, and he showed off some of his electric potential that got him taken near the top of the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Maye flashed his cannon arm and athletic prowess during his semi-limited performance. There were multiple times were we saw the creative playmaking ability he possessed as well as his beautiful deep ball, particularly a 55-yard dime that was ultimately dropped by fellow rookie Javon Baker. Maye capped off his performance with a nice four-yard for a touchdown.

It was nice to see Maye go out there and show off some of his potential and build up some more hope for New England fans who may have been in a bit of a panic from some of the training camp stories and the past few seasons of quarterback play. If Maye continues to show out, he could find himself as the starter in Week 1 of the 2024 regular season.

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WATCH: Former star UNC quarterback Drake Maye scores first NFL touchdown

The New England Patriots’ decision to play Drake Maye more on Thursday night paid off.

The UNC football team was no stranger to Drake Maye touchdowns over the past two seasons, with the former star quarterback scoring 79 times during his Tar Heel career.

On Thursday, August 15, Maye scored his first NFL touchdown. In the New England Patriots‘ Week 2 Preseason matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, Maye gave his team a 9-3 lead with time winding down in the second quarter, keeping the football and scoring on a read option.

New England’s scoring drive was the first extended preseason action for Maye, who only played one drive in Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers. Through the first half of Patriots-Eagles, Maye completed 5-of-7 passes for a New England-best 47 passing yards. Maye showcased his running abilities, too, carrying the ball twice for 10 yards, and his late second-quarter score.

Compare Maye’s first-half to projected starter Jacoby Brissett, who completed 3-of-7 passes for 17 yards and an interception. Maye has already looked more impressive than Brissett through two games, though he lacks NFL experience.

If Drake Maye continues to shine this preseason, his head coach, Jerod Mayo, will have a tough decision to make when it comes to starting quarterback.

This is Maye’s second time playing against an NFL defense, which – despite not playing against a ton of starters, professional football players are significantly more challenging than college stars.

Where will Maye end up on New England’s depth chart as we head into the NFL Regular Season?

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Rookie quarterback Drake Maye is stealing the show in New England

Rookie quarterback Drake Maye is stealing the show in New England offseason, building momentum in his first minicamp

There was a lot of hype for former North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye heading into the 2024 NFL Draft. Maye was consistently placed right next to eventual first overall pick Caleb Williams as one of the best signal callers in the entire class, and one of the better prospects to come out in recent memory. After getting leapfrogged by Jayden Daniels in the draft, Maye might have found his perfect landing spot with the Patriots.

Maye has reportedly looked like the clear favorite to land the starting gig early on into minicamps. While it is of course too early to project that with training camp and preseason games to be played out, it has to be a position sign for many given Maye was criticized for his NFL readiness coming out of North Carolina.

Should Maye continue his current trajectory and separate himself further from the pack, Maye could easily find himself as the starter for the Patriots in the opening game of the season.