Ex-player with Drake Maye connection touted as option for Patriots next OC

The excitement of Drake Maye being the Patriots' next franchise quarterback continues to rise with every new game, no matter if they win or lose. The rookie has shown the attributes of a young, rising star in the league early in his career and the possibilities of what he can become in the NFL becomes more clear after every performance.

With that comes concerns about his development and how the current regime might hinder his progression, as the Patriots, unfortunately, did with Mac Jones.

The biggest worry surrounds offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who has been at the center of scrutiny the entire season so far, as his play-calling seems to set the offense back more than push them forward.

It's prompted questions about his long-term fit with the team, to the point that Jerod Mayo was asked if he would consider any coaching changes mid-season, to which he declined. But it has become a conversation amongst fans and analysts about who could be a solid replacement next season, with a former player joining the conversation recently.

Vikings' QB coach & former quarterback Josh McCown is an intriguing OC option for the Patriots

During an appearance on Zolak & Bertrand of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer suggested former quarterback turned coach Josh McCown as a possible replacement of Van Pelt in 2025.

On the surface, it doesn't sound great to replace a tenured coach with an inexperienced one, especially since McCown is not a play-caller in Minnesota right now. But his connection to Maye makes him a fascinating candidate.

"So, Drake Maye is a high school teammate of Josh McCown’s kid. So, one of Josh McCown’s kids was high school teammates with Drake and so there’s a real relationship there. He’s coaching the Shanahan-McVay offense with Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota."

If a trust and solid relationship with the quarterback already isn't convincing enough that McCown should be (at the very least) considered for the position should it become available, Breer shared even more information about Maye's Combine experience, shedding more light on his connection to McCown.

"The idea of Josh McCown, though, makes some sense to me because you’d be bringing in a guy that Drake trusts and has a relationship with Drake. In fact, I think I had this in a story I did in March. When the Vikings had him at the combine, he didn’t even know Josh was in the room. I guess they hid Josh McCown in a part of the room at the Combine and he popped out. I remember Kevin had told me you could see the bond between the two of them.

So, it’s somebody Drake Maye trusts and somebody that played quarterback in the league either. The question of course with him would be like you don’t know what he is going to be as a play-caller."

There are certainly a lot more questions surrounding this hypothesized scenario since McCown hasn't been an offensive play-caller in his young coaching career yet, but there is importance behind a solidly built relationship that can take a player far in the NFL.

We saw it over the years between Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels, which is a big reason why he remained a Patriots coach for as long as he was, and it's a possibility that could be the case for Maye and McCown.

It's a risk the Patriots would have to really consider taking because there are many things that could go wrong by hiring another inexperienced coach. They need to avoid replicating anything from the Mac Jones experiment over the last three years, especially since a rotating door of offensive coordinators was one of the many factors that set him back, and that is not what they need to do to Maye.

No matter what, whether it's McCown or something else, Mayo and Co. have to take a hard look at the coaching staff this offseason and decide if the right people are in the best positions and, if not, who should be their replacements, especially on offense because something isn't working. The last thing you want to do is ruin your promising young quarterback, and unless Van Pelt's play-calling somehow improves during the remainder of the season, they're on track to accomplishing that with Maye already.

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