Drake Maye more than proved he should be the Patriots starting QB

The Patriots 2024 pre-season is in the books. It’s a lousy read. Right now, they are ticketed to last place in the AFC East again. There is no shock there. The question can be raised that the team’s
management has tanked the 2024 season before it’s even begun. Mr. Kraft must be thrilled.

Patriot Nation should be in an uproar. As much as the Pats' media apologists have tried to put a sheen on the team's bungled offseason by seeking to paper over Eliot Wolf's rookie gaffes, it is what it is: a terribly put-together squad. A novice with a computer and a couple of draft magazines could have assembled this club better.

Only one decision has the remotest possibility of leading this group even close to a winning season, and that’s who plays quarterback. Whoever is selected will have a tough time with the train wreck of an offensive line that’s been fashioned by Wolf and his amateurish personnel team.

Regardless, only one man has stood out and deserves the starting quarterback job. It's as plain as the nose on Cyrano de Bergerac’s face; it’s rookie Drake Maye. All the excuses and so-called "justifications" for not using him are bogus. Here’s why.

Drake Maye earned the starting job the hard way, by being better

In a dream world, football should be a meritocracy like any other business. If you’re the best, you should be treated that way. Of course, that only happens in Disney World. Whatever. We're talking about the New England Patriots, and the only season that matters is 2024.

If you aim to at least attempt to win (questionable with the 2024 Patriots), Drake Maye starts and plays from the first snap to the last every moment he's healthy. That begins against Cincinnati. He’s won the job, period by his performances in camp and the pre-season, for anyone who can’t recognize that the Celtics' quest for Championship No. 19 begins around October.

Maye gives the possibly self-tanking Patriots the best chance to win, regardless. It’s as simple as that. Trying to paper over the expenditure of $8M on backup, journeyman quarterback Jacoby Brissett is no reason not to start your best. Neither is their disaster of an offensive line. You go with your best or concede the season disgracefully before a ball has even been kicked.

Maye can compensate for a whole host host of deficiencies

Yes, the O-line stinks. What did anyone expect with no left tackles signed or drafted, a Super Bowl contender? The guys who were supposed to be able to transition (two right tackles) can’t even play on the right. This need screams for a trade. Additionally, barrels full of high offensive line draft picks have flopped all over the O-line.

So why Drake Maye? Trash all the foolishness about footwork, arm angles, blah, blah, blah. Maye has proven he can make any throw in the book. He’s shown he can move the offense and score. And he can run well (just learn to slide, please, Mr. Maye!). When your (N)O-line stinks, you'll have to. Maye, unlike his 2024 predecessors, runs for first downs and touchdowns.

In addition, though Tom Brady thinks rookie QBs should sit like he did for a year, four other first-round QBs drafted QBs this season either will start or would have. They are Caleb Williams of Chicago, Jayden Daniels of Washington, and Bo Nix of Denver. The Vikings injured J.J. McCarthy won’t, but only because he’s injured. It must be a truly terrible idea, TB12.

They’ll start as Maye should because they won the jobs, as he did. Are the Pats smarter than the entire NFL, Brady’s comment notwithstanding? Hardly. And those are just a few reasons why the precocious Maye should start.

There are two main reasons for this. First, he won the job with his performance. There’s not even any question remaining about that. Second, he gives the team the best chance to win. What better reasons could there be? If it's papering over offseason blunders, there are no reasons at all.

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