Drake Maye is on the rise.
In terms of his reps and his standing in team drills, that is undeniably the case for the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 draft – at least, for one day. Jacoby Brissett continued to lead off the reps at quarterback in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills, but for the first time we’ve seen this summer, Maye was second in line, not Bailey Zappe.
If you need raw numbers … Maye was 4-of-6 with an interception in 11-on-11 drills, which were reasonably competitive for a non-padded OTA practice. Quick aside: these practices have been surprisingly eventful, when compared to recent open OTAs under Bill Belichick. The team has a long way to go, but head coach Jerod Mayo seems to be accelerating the preparation process compared to his predecessor.
Anyway, Maye was 3-of-4 with two “touchdowns” in a 7-on-7 red zone period, and that was when the rookie looked most impressive. But the stats are minimally important, especially at this time of year. What matters more is how Maye looks, and by the end of practice, it was a mixed bag.
But the most striking detail of Maye’s practice on Tuesday in Foxboro remains that, based on the one day, he appears to have advanced to the No. 2 spot behind Brissett. There’s still mandatory minicamp and the entirety of training camp and the preseason, so we’ll see if Maye is scaled back at some point. But Maye’s mere standing in team drills stood out more than any individual play.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye practices at OTAs in Foxobro, MA on June 4, 2024. (Alex Barth/98.5 The Sports Hub)
At the same time, it’s worth noting that Maye is still behind Brissett in the pecking order. The latter has the edge in experience in offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt’s system, and certainly in his fundamentals and details, which are still a work in progress for Maye in his first summer as an NFL quarterback, which Maye himself admitted.
“I’m kind of still working on command of the huddle, you know, spitting the plays out,” Maye told reporters after practice. “It’s easy to get them to know what I’m going to do. But, telling those guys and being in the huddle and, you know, motioning different guys, using my cadence. So, little things. Just playing quarterback, playing the position. Not so much, you know, making throws and stuff.”
Van Pelt also sent a message to Maye, whether intentional or not, that his apparent graduation to the No. 2 spot does not necessarily mean he’s on the fast track to starting.
“I think of it as a marathon, over a sprint,” Van Pelt said. “You just don’t go out and run a marathon. You have to train properly for a marathon, and it’s the same with a quarterback. There’s a process, and we follow that process, we trust that process. You can’t just stick a guy out there and expect him to be successful without the proper training. So, it is a process, and we’re making moves in the right direction.”
Read below for a more detailed look at Maye in Tuesday’s Patriots OTA practice in Foxboro…
The Good
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 29: Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots makes a pass during the New England Patriots OTA Offseason Workout on May 29, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The area where Maye excels, as he did in college, is throwing over the middle of the field. He’s more accurate and consistent there than to the outside.
During an early red zone drill with just quarterbacks and receivers, Maye threw tight spirals to the back of the end zone to JuJu Smith-Schuster (2) and Jalen Reagor, hitting them in stride between the numbers. He throws a good ball in that part of the field, but his anticipation is also noticeably strong.
That was most evident on a play in which he hit DeMario Douglas in the back-middle of the end zone. Maye pump-faked and hesitated, seeing Douglas stride into the opening, then delivered a pinpoint sidearm strike. Once Maye finally plays in real games, darts over the middle are where he’ll have a chance to make an immediate impact.
May 11, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) throws a pass at the New England Patriots rookie camp at Gillette Stadium. Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
Though Maye still needs to find consistency when throwing to the outside, he flashed in that area as well. He stood out the most when he hit Smith-Schuster in the back-left corner of the end zone with impressive timing and placement, as the receiver caught the ball in stride and dragged his feet. That would’ve been a nice-looking touchdown in a real game.
Maye also made a notable throw with the same play, but to second-year wideout Kayshon Boutte. He made an accurate connection with the receiver at the back pylon, despite throwing a little too much off his back foot. Maye’s feet are a clear area of improvement from a physical standpoint, but it goes to show that at the quarterback position, a superior athlete can still make plays even when the mechanics aren’t perfect or the play is going off-script.
“I think footwork is a big thing,” Maye said. “So, we’ve hashed on that. [Quarterbacks coach] T.C. [McCartney] and those guys, and coach Van Pelt. So, I think it’s a work in progress. And, you know, I feel like I’m pretty good about it, though.”
The Bad
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 29: Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots throws the ball in front of Bailey Zappe #4 during the New England Patriots OTA Offseason Workout on May 29, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
In the earlier drills with receivers, Maye threw an outside pass a little behind Kawaan Baker that fell incomplete. He targeted tight end La’Michael Pettway in the back-left corner in 11-on-11, against tight coverage and a pass breakup by safety Joshuah Bledsoe, probably an ill-advised decision in a real game setting.
Maye also had a short pass attempt during a late 11-on-11 period that was way off the mark, intended for running back Antonio Gibson. Maye said after practice that he thought Gibson was going to keep running instead of sitting in the zone, but we’ll err on the side of the rookie making the wrong read there. Safety Kyle Dugger made a diving interception, as his defensive teammates erupted on the sidelines. Douglas popped the ball loose and fell on it, a small sign of how relatively competitive these drills were.
Earlier in an 11-on-11 walkthrough period, Maye hit Gibson over the middle, which proved to be a stark contrast to his inaccuracy throwing left or right. He’s got work to do as far as being more consistently accurate with those particular throws, and not to mention, making better decisions.
The Ugly
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 29: Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots walks to the field during the New England Patriots OTA Offseason Workout on May 29, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
There was one moment during a late 11-on-11 period that should have us pumping the brakes on any kind of “quarterback controversy” – between Maye and Brissett, anyway. Maye threw an interception to rookie cornerback Kaleb Ford-Dement on a throw intended for Smith-Schuster, slightly to the right in the intermediate part of the field.
Maye appeared to make a clean delivery of the ball, but sailed it way high. Smith-Schuster had no chance, and Ford-Dement had an easy one dropped right into his bread basket. That was the easy low point of a hit-or-miss performance by Maye in his individual reps.
The rookie’s interceptions served as a reminder of how long Maye still has to go, despite rising up the depth chart to the second spot behind Brissett. The latter wasn’t perfect, either, as he tends to spray the ball all over the field in terms of accuracy. But Brissett minimizes the “What the hell was that?” moments, while Maye is certainly prone to those at this stage.
May 11, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) (front) and New England Patriots quarterback Joe Milton III (19)(back) work out at the New England Patriots rookie camp at Gillette Stadium. Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
Overall, Maye still has plenty to work on, in terms of both physical traits (footwork, throwing accuracy) and the more intangible stuff (decision-making, command of the huddle). But he’s clearly more physically gifted than Zappe, and ostensibly has shown enough to the Patriots coaching staff to be worthy of backup status heading into mandatory minicamp.
We’ll have full coverage of next week’s minicamp in Foxboro right here at 985TheSportsHub.com, including the next installment of Mayewatch. Mandatory minicamp takes place June 10-12 at the Gillette Stadium practice fields.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
