Any concerns with a first start being in a weirder London setting? Maybe not but perhaps they want him to start in Foxboro where everything is more “normal”?
Maye-day Every Day
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
This has to be the week to do it. I don't think you do it in London; or the week after London. This week, else the Titans.
Drawing comparisions to Stroud seems like a silly reason to not play him. He's inevitably going to be compared to all the other QB's drafted high regardless of when he plays. I also don't think the Foxboro crowd will be an issue. Sure the team will probably get killed but I think the excitement over Maye just being on the field will dimish any crowd restlessness.
Jax being the dosghit team kinda pushes me more toward wanting to get him out there this week. Get his feet wet against a good team, then let's see how week 2 goes against a dogshit team.
Tinfoil hat here too but announcing Maye is starting could also deflect some attention from Peppers.
I'm all for starting Maye if they think that he is ready for it, but I think that it's important that the Drake or Bust folks realize what's going to happen to him with this line. My fear is that the team will still suck with Drake Maye as QB because the line is abject garbage, and this forum will collapse into a black hole of "Eliot Wolf can't draft QBs" nonsense.
Barring bad weather in Foxboro, I think this is the week they go to Maye. It just makes all the sense in the world. I don't see them having him open his Pats career on the road, nor in London. If Mixon is back, and Nico Collins is out, the game will slow down as opposed to being a shoot out back and forth.
Do I think Maye will succeed? Probably not, because they still don't have an offensive line (although IMO, Brissett has had more than enough time to throw the ball on a lot of plays and just can't do it) and their receivers still suck. But there is no way Bob Kraft is going to sit through many more games in that stadium with empty seats and the ones that are full are being used by opposing team's fans. Announcing Maye as the starter against a team a lot of fans will want to see in person makes sense in every way if you think about it as a business decision.
Do I think Maye will succeed? Probably not, because they still don't have an offensive line (although IMO, Brissett has had more than enough time to throw the ball on a lot of plays and just can't do it) and their receivers still suck. But there is no way Bob Kraft is going to sit through many more games in that stadium with empty seats and the ones that are full are being used by opposing team's fans. Announcing Maye as the starter against a team a lot of fans will want to see in person makes sense in every way if you think about it as a business decision.
Maybe they should plan on just giving him a series or two instead of starting him.
All things being equal, you'd hate to have Maye first start be a game that gets into a Darnoldian "seeing ghosts" scenario where he has to be mercy-pulled from the contest. Such a scenario is way more likely vs. the Texans than the Jags. Maye can certainly come in as a reliever vs. the Texans when the game situation has dictated that he will finish the game.
Did this happen yesterday? The crowd seemed pretty enthusiastic for the Pats despite terrible play throughout. I don't recall hearing many boos either. I doubt Houston fans are a big travel contingent either.
IMHO, the best bet was to have Maye come in relief to start the second half yesterday vs. MIA. That was a winnable football game with a quality QB and adjustments to deal with the constant blitzing. Brissett was running for his life and struggled with his targets throughout, but Maye is the better scrambler and has the better arm.
Now that that's by the boards, I'd have him prepped to relieve (not start) against HOU, and have his first start under the unbelievably low pressure conditions of JAX in London. Both teams will likely be 1-5. Neither is doing much beyond playing for pride already, despite JAX winning a no-defense game yesterday. Give em the shot there.
Shefty is speculating that Maye might start Sunday vs HOU.
"A QB change could soon be coming to New England, with rookie first-round pick Drake Maye potentially starting Sunday vs. the Texans. "
No link because I despise Musk and don't have to drive traffic to him. It's on Shefty's twitter account.
"A QB change could soon be coming to New England, with rookie first-round pick Drake Maye potentially starting Sunday vs. the Texans. "
No link because I despise Musk and don't have to drive traffic to him. It's on Shefty's twitter account.
Anytime Reiss hints at something, caveated by "opinion" it generally comes true.
As I've stated in the gamethreads, there is zero point in trotting Jacoby out there in this offense. Maye can do whatever the fuck the offense has been for the last 4 weeks with the upside of getting experience and potential for big plays. He will absolutely make mistakes like pick 6's etc... but that's part of growing.
As I've stated in the gamethreads, there is zero point in trotting Jacoby out there in this offense. Maye can do whatever the fuck the offense has been for the last 4 weeks with the upside of getting experience and potential for big plays. He will absolutely make mistakes like pick 6's etc... but that's part of growing.
It was Reiss' opinion based on Mayo's comments today. Schefter piggy backed and posted that there could be a QB change in NE.
Reiss' opinion was drawn from Mayo's radio interview and press conference today. Mayo did not use the "Jacoby's our starter" line when discussion the QB postion. Mayo said they were evaluating the position, like they evaulte every position. Now we know Mayo's media messaging is not good so this could be more of the same but it did feel like there was a legit shift in his tone.
I think Maye is announced as the starter on Wednesday.
I think if Maye puts up a 13-28 line but has a play or two to dream on, we'll be okay.
I'd prefer he start the game before the rest of the team is already beat up and quitting because the game is out of hand.
Give him 1-2 series each half.
Has any NFL team ever integrated a young QB doing the 1-2 series a game or half thing?
Not saying it's a bad idea but it feels unprecedented. Just seems like there's a lot of variables and it's hard to control the situation when Maye goes in.
Not saying it's a bad idea but it feels unprecedented. Just seems like there's a lot of variables and it's hard to control the situation when Maye goes in.
Not sure, I wasn't there, but Dolphins fans have notoriously been a very, very vocal and large contingent in Foxboro (IMO, the worst of the worst when it comes to opposing fans). This morning on talk radio, they were live broadcasting from the stadium and kept joking, "well, we're here with roughly the same amount of Patriots fans that were here yesterday." Obviously, hyperbole, but I can't imagine that Kraft would have been happy with what he saw yesterday. Of the 50 or so season ticket holders that I've been attending games with for 20+ years and have a group text chain with, a total of zero were there yesterday.
It seems to be a league wide issue. Yesterday there were empty seats at pretty much every stadium they showed on TV when I was home in the 1 pm window. The NFL product has gotten so much worse over the last 5 years. Between the lack of quality practice time with contact, the saturation of the college-type spread offense leading to players who have no idea how to operate pro style offenses coming into the league, and the defenses catching up to the spread the product is much worse even when the best teams are playing each other let alone that abomination yesterday.
I think you know how much I love football. I chose to go to a soccer game at 3:30 yesterday. This product at Gillette is horrible. Now if Maye gets in there, that will at least make it more interesting because he's the future.
Absolutely, but I don't think most owners give a shit. Yeah, they might lose a few bucks on concessions, but the tickets, by and large, are bought and paid for either way, and of course, it's the sweet, sweet television money that really moves the needle.
However, to be fair to Bob Kraft, he is not most owners. He's truly a fan of the team, and he's not going to accept empty seats or seats filled by opposing fans for very long. Drake Maye being announced as the starter will almost immediately change that equation. Who the fuck wants go watch Jacoby Brissett and this offense?
Kraft is a big optics guy. Empty seats for the rest of the year is not going to sit well with him.
Owners with empty seats don't make the hall of fame.
Not that I think that matters but I am sure Kraft is screaming it.
Bumping these posts from June as we approach what rumors suggest may be Maye's first start Sunday. I still feel as I felt in June. Still, many on here felt differently in June and feel differently now in October.
My thoughts:
- There's still no need to rush Maye on this terrible roster and a season playing out almost exactly as many of us assumed it would. The injury devastation of the O line only underscores my feelings.
- Brissett is not an NFL-caliber QB at this point. Season high for passing yardage in a game being 168 yards after 5 games is obviously unacceptable. This isn't the 1960s or the Big Ten. I don't mean to give a talk radio hot take, but I'm not impressed that Wolf went with Brissett for $8M instead of Joe Flacco for $4.5M, especially given the offensive coaching staff's familiarity with Flacco from Cleveland last year. Maybe that was their call (or Flacco's call).
- It may be hurting the development of the skill position players to have a limited QB like Brissett in there (see: Polk having to try to make a circus catch in the end zone with the game on the line yesterday)
- Ultimately, I think I'd rather stick with Brissett.
With Maye potentially starting Sunday, does this change anyone's views?
- Throw the kid out there, he can't be worse than Brissett and if he gets hurt he'll have plenty of time to get healthy before next year?
- Keep Brissett out there, no reason to risk the kid?
- Start Joe Milton?
- Lalalalala can't hear you I'm rewatching my Three Games to Glory DVDs?
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Or the opposite. Nobody was watching the Pats. If he plays, there will be a lot more eyeballs.
Hah yeah I should have framed up the question better. I guess what I mean is: let's say they announce Maye is starting Sunday.
Does the impending reality of Maye starting change anyone's views?
I am getting the impression that Bob is really concerned about only one thing right now: getting into the Hall before he dies.
It's an everywhere talking point, the national outlets all wrote about it over the summer, most of notably a big ESPN piece compete with a quote of from the one of his supporter's that he deserves to be recognized before he dies.
But also he's been aggressively campaigning for years, with an escalation when he Jerry Jones got in. It got dragged more into the spotlight by the Dynasty TV series.
Kobe Braynt started 7 games in his first 2 NBA seasons. (15 MPG in 1; 25 in 2).
Might have had more to do with the fact that he was a teenager on a championship caliber team than a fear of ruining him forever. Just spitballing here. If Drake Maye were 18 and these were the 2014 Patriots I'd be fine with him sitting.
So half of this is a thing, and half is the WORST argument people keep making.... who gives a shit if the team is good? The idea that you throw what is best for developing what you hope is a superstar out the window because the team is bad is insane.... if anything the team being bad is MORE reason to sit him, because what you are giving up in return for a better QB long term is... a bad season anyway. The opposite would be a great argument... if this were a SB caliber team, and Brissett imploded, then yeah, you sacrifice some development to try and win a SB this year.
This is operating on the assumption that what is best for him developmentally is to sit right now, and not to play. I think that’s kind of the crux of the debate. If its better for him to get NFL reps who cares if the team is good or bad, and in fact it might be better that they are bad because if he throws some costly picks (which of course no doubt he will) he’s not costing them much of anything.
I mean the nature of the position is that panic decision making derails QB careers quickly. Throwing a QB into an NFL game behind the 4th best O-line in the ACC is a recipe for turning your talented QB into Mac Jones.
If the plan all along was for Maye to start at some point this year, and he's progressed a little faster than they had hoped, and the team is doing poorly (kind of as predicted) under Jacoby, starting Maye now may look like a "panic" move, but it might actually be the perfect time to do it.
I think there are plenty of ways for them to frame this to make themselves look good and like things are proceeding according to some "plan". Just get the kid in there and get to work digging out of this hole. Jacoby is fine as a resource, mentor, second set of eyes, etc. He's doing nothing for the rebuild as the starter.
I mean, we currently own the #1 pick in large part due to Jacoby (and the OL) so he’s been great in that regard.
And on that note:
https://www.thedraftnetwork.com/2024/10/06/nfl-mock-draft-2025-october-nfl-week-5#google_vignette
Kelvin Banks Jr, come on down?
At this point I think Brissett is holding back the WR development on this team. He only throws to receivers that are open and processes slower than Justin Fields. He is a gamer who will take a hit and get back up but I'd rather have a QB that has a modicum of anticipation and or is willing to throw a WR open. Of course Brissett is also extremely limited on arm talent so perhaps that is why he hesitates to make NFL QB caliber throws. The only thing he doesn't do is throw Mac like picks but I feel he his holding back this offense more so than the OL which is terrible but on par with a lot of OL play this season.
This.
Best case scenario of throwing Maye in right now is that he doesn't develop bad habits and has the toughness to run out of trouble and take a bunch of horribly crushing hits just fine...and the team still sucks something fierce and he really learns nothing about playing typical NFL QB because he's spending all of his time playing Hail Mary offense trying not to get killed...and we get a worse draft pick. But the Veruca Salt contingent here gets their shiny object, so at least the "why won't they PLAY him" posts stop.
That's best case. We finish 6-11 instead of 3-14, get a worse pick, and Maye isn't permanently scarred physically or spiritually from the damage he takes. Also good vibes (yay the future is here!!!).
Every other timeline is worse.
I do like the idea of giving Maye 2-3 series per game (and hell, why not start the game with him on a scripted drive) which would give him a chunk of real game experience in a somewhat controlled situation that he could prepare for. Instead of mastering the whole playbook, let's get you some experience doing a limited number of things and you know you're only going to have 20 or so plays.
But it's outside the box so you don't see NFL teams doing it. There is an idea that you have to have the QB1 who is leading the offense and practice and studying the defense and it's a controversy if he's not in charge of everything. Which probably makes sense most of the time, but I'm not sure Mayo could really get away with it even if he wanted to as it's kind of an admission that you're not playing for this year.
But it's outside the box so you don't see NFL teams doing it. There is an idea that you have to have the QB1 who is leading the offense and practice and studying the defense and it's a controversy if he's not in charge of everything. Which probably makes sense most of the time, but I'm not sure Mayo could really get away with it even if he wanted to as it's kind of an admission that you're not playing for this year.
Isn't the holy grail of QB play in 2024 someone who can make plays out of structure? Because this roster feels like a perfect place to develop out-of-structure QB play.
I've wondered a bit why teams don't even just platoon a young QB and like have them play every other game with 2 weeks of preparation or something different like that. In the end, I think the coaches are still such a major part of game prep and game plan that probably their focus is the time constraints but I agree that it surprises me nobody ever really tried anything unique