NFL Rumors: Patriots Rivals Think Drake Maye Should Be QB1 Over Jacoby Brissett | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats & Rumors

While the New England Patriots plan to start this season with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, teams around the league feel head coach Jerod Mayo made a mistake by not selecting Drake Maye.

In the last episode of the Shovel City podcast (starts at 9:15), Dianna Russini of The Athletic said that teams within the AFC East think the Patriots should “go with the rookie” Maye.

The Patriots announced Thursday that Brissett would be the starting quarterback to begin the 2024 campaign. It wasn’t a total surprise, as he started all three preseason games, but his performance in a small sample size didn’t inspire much confidence.

Brissett finished 5-of-14 for 36 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in the preseason. Maye went 21-of-34 for 192 yards and one touchdown through the air, with 32 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground.

Mayo even publicly admitted that Maye outplayed Brissett, but there were other factors that went into determining the starting player in the regular season.

One of the biggest concerns for whoever ends up under center is the offensive line, and the buzz about that unit coming out of training camp and the preseason has not been encouraging.

NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran said on the Patriots talk podcast (courtesy of Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston) that the offensive line has had two “disgraceful” performances, including the final exhibition game against the Washington Commanders and a joint practice against the Philadelphia Eagles on August 13.

While no official statistics are kept of joint practices, media coverage has shown that Brissett and Maye were tackled a total of 15 times against the Eagles.

Maye will almost certainly be called upon to start games at some point this season, but there’s no reason for the Patriots to put him on the field before they see if the offensive line can function when results actually matter.