4 days ago
There's not much positive to look back on from the 2024 Patriots season, except these two Drake Maye highlights
Occasional carelessness with the football aside, Maye was everything Patriots fans could have hoped for after three seasons of gradually realizing Mac Jones was not the next Chad Pennington, but a born backup whose leadership skills were as uninspiring as his wet-noodle arm.
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Sure, Maye was a little bit reckless (again: expected) and often, a lot of fun. His arm strength (particularly his touch on deep throws) and mobility (he ran for 421 yards, and is already ninth all-time in rushing among Patriots quarterbacks) suggest he could develop into The Franchise Quarterback. It didn't hurt that Maye has a natural, easy-going charisma, which stood in contrast to Jones's personality, which was about as compelling as an Eggo waffle without syrup.
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When you try to summon positive memories from last season – and I think we agree a full NFL Films recap of the '24 Patriots would run roughly as long as a between-innings commercial break on a NESN Red Sox broadcast — two Maye highlights come to immediately to mind, the kind that make you say, 'Oh, this kid has
got
it.'
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The first came in the Patriots' Week 9 loss to the Titans, Maye's fourth start, and I suspect you're already replaying this one in your mind. You know the circumstances and the beats, but let's reiterate anyway.
With no time left on the clock, the ball on the Tennessee 5, and the Patriots trailing, 17-10, Maye dropped back, patted the ball, scanned the field, scanned some more, bounced left, rolled right, scanned, scanned, scrambled left, eluded one Titan hell-bent on ending the game right then and there, and just as he got crunched by two others, threw the ball across his body to Rhamondre Stevenson for a touchdown, forcing overtime.
DRAKE MAYE MAGICCCCCCCCC!!!!!!!!!
📺: FOX
— New England Patriots (@Patriots)
That cool was evident, too, on a perfectly timed yet almost casual shovel pass for a touchdown to DeMario Douglas during the Patriots' Week 15 loss to the Cardinals.
Drake Maye makin' plays for the
📺:
📱:
— NFL (@NFL)
Of course, highlights are different from achievements. The Patriots won just one of Maye's starts. I'd argue his greatest achievement was looking competent and usually poised with very little help around him.
Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper were reliable tight ends. Receivers Kayshon Boutte and Douglas had occasional promising moments. Antonio Gibson gave it his all. But other than that? Let's see. The offensive line was overrun like a busted dam, the best running back kept putting the ball on the ground, the head coach wasn't ready for the job, and the coaching staff was made up mostly of retreads and newbies who were underqualified for their responsibilities.
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I'm not saying Maye came into the most hopeless situation in recent NFL history. That title belongs, perhaps permanently, to David Carr, who got broken by the expansion Texans after being the No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft. Getting sacked 76 times in a season will change a man.
I am saying the massive disadvantages Maye faced last season have probably been underestimated. And it's going to be fascinating to see how much a leap he can take now that he has a real support system.
Related
:
The upgrade from Mayo to Mike Vrabel is the biggest Patriots head coaching upgrade since Bill Parcells replaced Dick McPherson. (And you know what? I'll hear you on the massive upgrade of going from Pete Carroll — a fine coach now who was way too
happy-happy-joy-joy
during his three gradually worse years here — to Bill Belichick.)
Nearly as important, Vrabel has an experienced, deep, and well-rounded staff, including offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who is acclaimed here for his championship collaborations with Tom Brady, but also got the most anyone could have out of Cam Newton and his shot shoulder in 2020 and rookie Eggo Jones a year later.
Maye's supporting cast on offense is still a work in progress, one requiring more help in the years ahead. But with
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It's telling that Vrabel has been tough on Maye in preseason,
Early returns suggest it's not the relentlessly sarcastic approach that eventually drove Drew Bledsoe to frustration with Parcells, but a
sometimes
sarcastic approach delivered constructively and often with humor.
Vrabel, and McDaniels too, can coach Maye in a way Mayo and Alex Van Pelt could not. It's one more thing Maye needs to become the quarterback his talent, charisma, and highlights from a season worth forgetting, suggest he can be.
Chad Finn can be reached at
