AP Photo/Mark Stockwell
It was a good weekend for the first round quarterbacks in week one of the preseason. At least for five of the six that were drafted. Drake Maye did not play enough to make an impression.
Here is how the rookie quarterbacks did in limited action this weekend.
Caleb Williams (First overall): 4/7, 95 yards, 101.8 passer rating
Jayden Daniels (Second overall): 2/3, 45 yards, 1 rushing TD, 109.7 passer rating
Drake Maye (Third overall): 2/3, 19 yards, 84.0 passer rating
Michael Penix Jr. (Eighth overall): 9/16, 104 yards, 76 passer rating
J.J. McCarthy (Tenth overall): 11/17, 188 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 116.8 passer rating
Bo Nix (Twelfth overall): 15/21, 125 yards, 1 TD, 102.3 passer rating
Great weekend all around for all of them expect Maye. Maye can’t even get reps with the first team let alone play. He played one series on Thursday night, with the second team. That’s it!
For what it is worth, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt seem to be pleased with Maye’s progress. Mayo did say this morning that Maye would be getting more reps this week against the Eagles.
“Yeah, I mean, those things are always under consideration. I would also say during practice, he gets a lot of reps. Then going into the Eagles week, this honestly is a huge week for everyone to practice against the Eagles, and then really we’ll see how the reps kind of break down in the game. But I expect Drake to get more reps than he did in the first game against the Eagles.”
Van Pelt told Patriots fans today that the reps at practice have paid off for Maye.
“He’s been impressive and done everything we’ve asked him. He studies really hard and puts the work in. We’ve cleaned up his footwork … the biggest thing I’ve seen from him is the ability to process quickly. He can go from the first read to the third read very quickly. He sees the field really well.”
All of this sounds good, but Maye needs to play. After this past weekend, he is clearly behind the other quarterbacks in his class in terms of development and he needs to catch up. It would help if he got reps with the first unit. Maybe we will see that happen this week. If it does, it will help Maye’s development and could lead to more playing time on Thursday night.
On paper, Maye is on par with his peers physically but he cannot turn into a franchise quarterback if he doesn’t play, The fans want to see more of him. He has to play at least a quarter against the Eagles. If he does not, it could be proof that he is behind in his development.