Drake Maye showed more in his 24 snaps against the Eagles on Thursday night than he has in the team periods in the 13 practices leading up to the game. The question is why?
For one thing, he was well protected. Maye had 14 dropbacks in the game, and he was only pressure on five of them - and one of them, the final sack, was partly due to Maye's indecision. He was 2 of 4 for 10 yards with a sack when "pressured", and some of those are a by-product of screens. When Maye did not have pressure, he was 4 of 7 for 37 yards.
Pressure has been a constant issue in camp, especially for Maye and it reached an absurd level in the joint practice against the Eagles on Tuesday when both Maye and Jacoby Brissett were sacked on a third of their dropbacks.
One of the enduring questions of camp has been, 'Why won't they give Maye a chance behind the starting offensive line so we can at least see what he's capable of when he has a chance to breathe?' Every time Jerod Mayo has been asked that question, he would respond, "He will when he's ready." That implied he was not ready. That's not really a good reason not to give the third overall pick at least some looks. But that was their plan, apparently.
The other reason Maye looked more comfortable in this game? They weren't really running Alex Van Pelt's system, which they do run in practice. It's a run-based, old-school West Coast offense where the QB is under center a lot. Maye was in a shotgun spread offense in college, and most of his struggles have shown up in practice under center, where he's still getting acclimated and where most of his footwork issues have shown up. The West Coast offense is a precision-based offense. Every passing route is predicated on the footwork of the quarterback and receiver being synced up. Maye's not yet at that level, nor should he be expected to be.
Even if Van Pelt has tailored his system to adopt more from his former bosses, Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland) and Mike McCarthy (Green Bay), both of them ranked 21st and 22nd in the league, respectively, in shotgun snaps.
Against the Eagles, Van Pelt decided to use the shotgun almost exclusively — for both the top two quarterbacks. Maye had 13 of his 14 dropbacks (93%) in shotgun. Jacoby Brissett was 6 of 7 (86%). The Patriots haven't run 90 percent of pass plays out of shotgun in practice, not even close.
Credit to Van Pelt for going to Maye before the Eagles game and finding out what he likes. That should have been done before the first game and resulted in more valuable playing for Maye, but at least they did it in this one.
Before you can even get into the discussion about whether Maye can play early this season - which is a long discussion for a later date - Mayo and Van Pelt have to decide what kind of offense they are going to run. If they want to follow through on Van Pelt's run-based system, Brissett would be the guy until Maye is ready to be under center more. If the Patriots want to feature Maye in more of a shotgun spread where he's obviously comfortable (he's been by far the better quarterback in 7 on 7), there are a bunch of other organizational questions that have to be answered.
As for Maye on Thursday night, overall it was a bit of a mixed bag - about what you would expect from a rookie quarterback who doesn't have the experience of his first-round rookie brethren. But at least he got the chance to flash his potential on a few clean plays, like the dig to Javon Baker on third down, and the deep ball that Baker dropped.
Before we break down Maye play by play, don't just ignore the fact that overall this offense (putting aside the quarterbacks) is a mess. I mean, they had 159 yards and averaged 2.9 yards per play against an Eagles defense that used just a handful of starters. Compare that to recent second preseason games for the Patriots:
The blocking, especially with the outside zone running scheme, is a struggle. The weapons are limited. The younger players, especially Baker and occasionally Ja'Lynn Polk, are struggling at times to do the right things on routes. It's almost as if the first unit is together because they have the best idea about the system and what to do. Maye's normal second unit is the training wheels bunch. Not a surprise, but it's very much a work in progress.
So Maye may have flashed for the first time, but there's a lot of other stuff going on that has to be addressed in order to support a rookie QB.
BREAKING DOWN MAYE
2-11-NE 28 (14:10) (Shotgun) D.Maye scrambles right end to NE 34 for 6 yards (N.Dean).
Something was wrong on this play. Maye has a 3-step drop, like he's expecting either Polk or Baker to run a hitch to his right. They both just sort of run down the field. It would make more sense if Baker ran a hitch. I think that's what Maye was waiting for. Good job by him getting half the distance back to set up a third and manageable.
3-5-NE 34 (13:29) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short middle to J.Baker to NE 46 for 12 yards (K.Ringo).
Great protection for Maye as he goes through his progressions to the right, comes back to the dig to Baker. The rookie receiver wasn't perfect at the top of his route, but he came back nicely to the ball (no reason to leave his feet and body the ball). In time, Maye's going to rip that thing. Good feet by Maye, wide base.
1-10-NE 46 (12:55) D.Maye pass short left to M.Wilcox pushed ob at 50 for 4 yards (T.Hall).
I don't think Polk ran the correct route on this. Guessing he's either supposed to crack on the end who pressures Maye, or run a crosser away from Wilcox to help the defense flow even more to that side. Polk brings his coverage defender into the play. Don't think that's supposed to happen. But really nice athletic play by Maye to make the jump throw to Wilcox. That's a tough play he made look easy.
1-10-PHI 35 (12:29) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short left to K.Boutte pushed ob at PHI 33 for 2 yards (A.Maddox).
Good read of man coverage and taking Boutte, whose defender was well off, quickly. The throw was not good and Maye was saved by a ridiculous catch by Boutte. Maye's long motion really hurts him on these shorter throws. Need more Jimmy G in his motion, but Rome wasn't built in a day.
3-8-PHI 33 (11:12) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete deep left to J.Baker
Wilcox was the better option open in the middle of the field, but I don't have an issue throwing the deep shot to Baker - they might have told him to do that. Throw was good, it's just Baker allowed himself to be muscled off his route.
SECOND SERIES
1-10-PHI 49 (5:55) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short right to J.Polk to PHI 43 for 6 yards (N.Dean).
Not sure why Maye suddenly goes from under center to the shotgun because it's not like he makes a check of audible at the line. Maye he just wasn't comfortable operating under center. A little slow getting to Polk but good decision.
2-11-PHI 30 (4:08) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete short right to J.Baker.
High throw to Baker but I think Maye was expecting Baker to hitch quicker. Maye does another three-step drop but Baker isn't ready at that time. Something wasn't synced up.
3-11-PHI 30 (4:05) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short left to J.Hasty to PHI 7 for 23 yards (T.McCollum). P6
Great call by Van Pelt as Hasty bluffs the block and slips out. Good job by Maye executing the play.
3-4-PHI 4 (2:00) (Shotgun) D.Maye right tackle for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This appears to be a designed QB keeper all the way. I don't think Maye was really reading anyone.
THIRD SERIES
1-10-NE 37 (10:00) D.Maye FUMBLES (Aborted) at NE 37, touched at NE 35, recovered by NE-J.Hasty at NE 32. J.Hasty to NE 32 for no gain
Leverett appears to be a little early, but the snap appears fine. I put this on Maye. This is where the rookies who haven't been under center struggle a little bit. Not a big deal. Part of the process.
2-15-NE 32 (9:23) (Shotgun) D.Maye scrambles right guard to NE 37 for 5 yards (J.Trotter).
The old Hoss Y Juke. Maye had the hitch to Baker. Not sure why he didn't throw it.
3-10-NE 37 (8:43) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete deep right to J.Baker.
The throw. Not really pressure on this play - Robinson yields a little bit but recovers - but Maye climbs the pocket like a vet and throws a perfect ball. Baker doesn't have his eyes in the right place out of his break, which throws him off. Not sure he had to leave his feet for this, but he needs to catch it.
FOURTH SERIES
1-10-NE 32 (5:02) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete short left.
Not much open on this play.
3-7-NE 35 (4:17) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete short right to J.Baker.
Not really a great throw down the sideline to Baker, who gets bodied again and is bailed out with OPI. Would like to see a back shoulder throw there in the future, but doubt they've gotten to that yet.
1-10-50 (4:12) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete short left. Thrown away from outside the pocket
Baker runs a really crappy slant that should be available, but he never gets his head around and Maye lacks a little patience with it. In time, he's going to know he has the back side slant and he'll buy a little more time by looking left and then shooting it in the hole. But Baker wasn't ready for it. Lost his footing a bit.
2-10-50 (4:05) (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short left to J.Polk to 50 for no gain (N.Dean).
Not a good decision to throw the arrow screen with three defenders there. The dig to the other side to Baker was the play. Would love to see a pump to Polk, go backside to Baker. This is why you play the rookie, so he can see and learn from the film.
3-10-50 (3:27) (Shotgun) D.Maye sacked at NE 42 for -8 yards (N.Smith)
I don't know what's going on with the routes by Polk and Baker on this play - it looks like a mess - but Maye should have quickly bailed on it, and went to Harris in the left flat who was completely uncovered. Half a sack on him but it's not horrible.
RATINGS
FOUR UP
WR Kayshon Boutte: Out of the reserve receivers, Boutte looks by far the most comfortable and capable of executing consistently. Not sure I thought I would ever say that. Had three plus catches. He's making a run at the roster.
OG Layden Robinson: Continues to play well and push for a chance to compete for a starting spot. Had a great pass pro rep and a run finish to the ground.
RB Rhamondre Stevenson: Had only 6 carries for 18 yards but it would have been a lot worse if Stevenson wasn't Stevenson. 27 yards after contact.
QB Drake Maye: Far from perfect against backups, but he didn't get much help from his receivers. Definitely took a big step forward.
FOUR DOWN
QB Jacoby Brissett: It dawned on me during the game, after watching him plateau in practice and show worse in the games — "Oh man, he's Brian Hoyer. Looks good in practice. Great guy. Knows the playbook. But when the light comes on and there's pressure, he looks different. He was terrible in this game, and has been in both games. Had one good throw under pressure, but he had poor throws to Hooper (not a great route either), the bad interception when Thornton was open, bad throw to Polk and a poor decision that led to a knockdown.
OG Atonio Mafi: 1.5 sacks allowed on 10 pass blocks. Yikes.
RG Mike Ownenu: Really struggled on the double teams to the second level - kept sticking on the double too long. Doesn't look like a great fit in the zone scheme either.
TE Austin Hooper: Not a great route on the pass from Brissett, and should have done more on the interception play. Not sure why he didn't go to the post on that.