Drake Maye will be a wasted pick for the Patriots if not a starter in 2024

The noise around whether rookie quarterback Drake Maye should start for the New England Patriots from day one is as irritating as a glove with fingers full of nails scratching on a chalkboard, enough with this nonsense already.

Boston media and observers are frankly unclear on the concept. The New England Patriots invested their highest draft pick in thirty years on a precocious young quarterback, Drake Maye. In case these observers haven't noticed, the quarterback is the most important player on any NFL or other pro sports team.

In light of that, there is no way any last-place NFL team, having made such an investment, should keep that young player on the bench. Lots of reasons/excuses have been made. Some will be explored here. Maybe the media cognoscenti will come around and "get it." Or maybe not.

Arguments "justifying" keeping Drake Maye corralled on the bench

A huge argument debunked previously is Drake Maye's supposed underdeveloped "footwork." Please spare any long-time or astute short-time NFL fan this silliness. There is no one way to set up to throw the football. The objective is not to set your feet a certain way, or create a perfect arm angle, or whatever other specious arguments are concocted to sell papers (or get internet clicks).

Only one thing matters: get ball A to receiver B so he can catch it. That's it. That's the objective and the only one that counts. Drake Maye can do that quite well, thank you. And if not, why was he drafted so high in the first place?

Then there is the argument that Maye hasn't played much football, though he played enough evidently at UNC to be regarded as one of the consensus top-three quarterbacks in the 2024 draft. Go figure, guess that's insignificant, as well.

Then there's another good one. He's only 21 years old, and he's evidently too young to start at quarterback in the NFL. It's interesting since he was good enough to make everyone in NFL circles notice how great his arm is and how he can make all the throws an NFL quarterback needs. Additionally, he can run and run well, not just scramble.

The bottom line on Drake Maye starting is this

Sitting Drake Maye helps the new Patriots' personnel head, Eliot Wolf, to paper over a huge mistake. That was his ill-advised squandering of big bucks ($8M) on a journeyman, backup quarterback, Jacoby Brissett. Wolf knew he had to draft a quarterback high in the draft, and he had to play.

Signing Brissett to that contract is a poor allocation of funds that should have gone elsewhere. Just admit the mistake and move on.

All this gobbledygook leads to one inescapable conclusion. Drake Maye has to first be given all the first-team reps. Maye has to be given the reins in all the pre-season games. And finally, the young quarterback has to start every game he's healthy in 2024. Otherwise, here's the bottom line. He should not have been drafted with that third overall pick at all.

That's the reality of the situation and the only argument that makes sense. Owner Robert Kraft wanted a young QB around whom to build. Wolf did the right thing and gave him a good one. Think the owner wants to see his prize pick sit on the pine while a journeyman backup who was paid way too much money gets the first-team reps? Hardly.

Additionally, experience is the best teacher. Maybe Maye will get clobbered because he has a porous offensive line and no left tackle (hard to argue there). But Maye can run well, and that will help. Maybe some feel he may get a bruised ego if he's not an instantaneous success.

That may be the worst BS of all. If a player has the Right Stuff, he'll adapt and overcome. If not, he'll be traded for a sixth-round pick, and it's next man up.

That's it—some "Drake Maye should sit" blarney. The bottom line is this: The young man was drafted to be a starter and quickly turn things around. He gives the team the best chance to win, and the right move is to give him every opportunity to do just that.

If the team didn't believe Drake Maye could perform right out of the shoot, he shouldn't have been drafted at pick No. Three. If the team doesn't realize he gives them the best chance to win, then the team is the problem, not the young quarterback. If that's the case, the team is way over its head. And that's an even bigger issue.

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