It sounds like New England Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye will be on the sidelines to begin his NFL career.
The Patriots brought back Jacoby Brissett on a one-year deal in free agency and traded Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars at the start of the new league year. Then with the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Pats drafted North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.
In a surprise move, New England also used a sixth-round pick (193rd overall) on Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton. And according to a new report, it’s actually Milton who’s performed better among the rookie QBs in training camp.
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reports that the North Carolina product “continues to underwhelm while Joe Miton impresses.” Volin states that Milton has been the better QB over New England’s first six practice sessions with several “wow” plays:
“Drake Maye continues to underwhelm while Joe Milton impresses. I wrote after last Thursday’s practice that Milton is the “wow” quarterback at camp — the guy with the best size, best athleticism, and biggest arm. Now I’ll take it a step further: Milton outplayed Maye over the first six practices of camp…
Maye is running second on the depth chart and getting a ton of work, but he hasn’t made many noteworthy throws. He was the only quarterback not to throw a touchdown pass in a red zone drill Tuesday, while Milton, in limited reps, threw touchdowns on consecutive plays, one on a drag to Polk and another on an RPO slant to JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Meanwhile, Milton wows the crowd every day with his tantalizing arm and standing backflips. After Maye struggled in the red zone, Milton promptly came in and completed a nice pass to Kawaan Baker on the sideline.”
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For a while, Drake Maye was regarded as the second-best quarterback prospect behind Caleb Williams, who went first overall to the Chicago Bears. But LSU QB and 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels saw his stock rise in the weeks leading up to the draft, and he was taken second overall by the Washington Commanders.
New England has a safe short-term insurance option in Brissett, who’s been one of football’s best backups since entering the league in 2016. And it sounds like Maye has a long way to go in closing the cap for the QB1 job with the well-respected veteran.
Patriots Won’t Rush Drake Maye’s Development
The Patriots’ failure to provide adequate coaching and star players around Mac Jones has set this franchise back to the point of a full-scale rebuild. The Pats let Jones down, pure and simple, and they can’t afford to make similar mistakes with Maye.
New England is years away from contending, so they can take their time developing Maye for the big stage while letting a reliable veteran like Brissett run the offense.
