Unlike many of his fellow rookie QBs, Drake Maye won’t be seeing any action in his rookie season as Jerod Mayo takes a leaf out of Bill Belichick and Mike McCarthy’s playbook.
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Both the HCs made their rookie QBs, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers ride the bench for some time before they got the starter role. Boomer Esiason, during his appearance on the Greg Hill Show, supported Mayo’s approach towards Maye and believes he’s the right guy to help the rookie shot-caller succeed in the NFL.
He pointed out that the Patriots’ young HC has been around Belichick for many years, and has an idea as to what a great NFL QB should be like:
“He knows what a QB is supposed to look like because he played with the GOAT. He may see that in Drake Maye, right now but he also knows that Tom Brady didn’t start from day 1, and Aaron Rodgers and Carson Palmer didn’t start from day 1.”
According to Boomer, Mayo sees potential in the UNC Alum but knows the reality of the league and his team. Sending a rookie out to play behind an ineffective O-Line could prove to be a disaster:
“I don’t think they have support around the young QB to give him a chance to grow early on in the season. I do believe it’s a right move to keep the kid on the sidelines.”
Jacoby Brissett has been brought in as a bridge QB for a season and will be taking the reigns as the starter. Brissett’s best season came in 2017 when he threw for just over 3000 yards with 13 TDs and the team went 4-12.
That’s his ceiling if he manages to play every available offensive snap. But Boomer Esiason believes that won’t happen given his tendency to get injured.
Injury just around the corner for Brissett?
Despite Maye’s superior preseason showing, Brissett has retained his position as starter and will be opening against the Bengals in Week 1. However, Boomer, believes his run as QB1 won’t last long as history has shown that he lacks reliability as QB.
During the same episode, the former Bengals QB predicted that Brissett would injure himself in the first few weeks of the season, giving Maye an opening to claim his stake in the starting:
“Jacoby Brissett is probably gonna get hurt in the first few weeks. I don’t mean to say that to be funny but it’s just the reality of the league and the reality of who Jacoby is. He tends to get hurt and that may open the door for Drake Maye earlier than I would like.”
Mayo may not have requisite experience but even he knows and understands the danger of throwing a young QB into the deep end without proper help. QBs like Sam Darnold and Zach Wilson suffered in the past and Bryce Young looked beaten and bruised after getting sacked 66 times.
By sidelining Maye, the Pats HC is allowing him to grow and learn at his own pace. In a year, the franchise can build him a better O-Line and give him the proper weapons when he takes over.
