Patriots
Drake Maye’s growth, Jerod Mayo’s first year as coach, and the state of New England’s O-line will be things to watch.
Football season is finally back in Foxborough — and the Patriots are staring at an uphill climb this fall.
Expectations aren’t all that high for first-year head coach Jerod Mayo and the Patriots — not with several glaring holes still present on their depth chart.
But even if New England might be a ways away from re-establishing itself as a football power in the AFC, there are several things worth keeping tabs on this season — especially when it comes to looking to the future with Drake Maye under center.
With New England’s season opener set for Sunday in Cincinnati, here are eight questions facing the 2024 Patriots.
1. When will Drake Maye play?
Let’s face it — things don’t exactly look great for New England this season.
And with an already flawed roster set to open the season with games against the Bengals, Seahawks, Jets, and 49ers, there stands a perfectly reasonable chance New England opened the new year 0-4.
Silver linings might be hard to glean this season, but the collective headspace of Patriots fans should improve if New England’s potential franchise QB Drake Maye flashes some of his potential.
The question is, when exactly will he take to the field?
Given the state of New England’s porous O-line and a daunting schedule to open the year, Mayo made the right call putting Maye on the sideline to start the season in favor of Jacoby Brissett.
But as tempting as it might be for Eliot Wolf to stick to his Packers principles and “redshirt” Maye for a year like Jordan Love, the Patriots’ QB doesn’t exactly have Aaron Rodgers blocking him atop the depth chart.
And with Maye narrowing the gap between him and Brissett during preseason action, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft could be knocking on the door for starting reps in short order — especially if Brissett falters.
Could New England turn to Maye after Week 4 — especially with matchups on tap against weaker defenses like the Dolphins (Oct. 6) and Jaguars (Oct. 20)?
Will they wait until after the bye week — which would give Maye just four starts to close the season? Or will it be a full redshirt season?
Here’s hoping it’s sooner rather than later, especially if Maye continues to progress in practice and New England’s O-line finds some semblance of stability.
There’s a lot to like about Maye’s poise, arm strength, and athleticism, even with the growing pains that will inevitably follow as a rookie.
The Patriots’ roster isn’t strong enough to let a rookie thrive, but Maye has the means to impress down the stretch — offering up hope in a bleak season that New England just might have a budding franchise QB in place.
2. How will Jerod Mayo fare in his first year as head coach?
Expectations may not be high in Foxborough, but it will be telling to see how Jerod Mayo keeps morale up and runs his ship in a season where positives might be few and far between.
Much like Maye, it should be expected for there to be some growing pains for Mayo in his first season in an elevated role.
We saw both good and bad from the former linebacker this preseason. Even though he ran a physically daunting training camp with multiple long practices in the heat, he’s also expressed a willingness to unbutton to some of the rigidness that was a hallmark of the organization under Bill Belichick.
He’s had a few stumbles in his addresses with the media — be it his vague comments and flip-flopping on the quarterback competition, or his willingness to delegate sizable responsibilities to his top coordinators like offensive coordinator (or “head coach of the offense”) Alex Van Pelt.
Of course, the main question with Mayo shouldn’t be how he handles the media — but how he conducts things from the sideline.
Mayo has been dealt a tough hand stepping in with this roster, let alone replacing a legend in Belichick.
But if he can show that he can get players to buy in, keep morale up, and prove adept at both developing talent and managing in-game situations, the Patriots could be the latest in a long line of teams on the upswing who have hit on a young coach whose stock should continue to rise.
3. Can Jacoby Brissett buy time for Maye to develop?
All eyes might be fixated on Maye and what he can offer later on this season, but it would serve both the rookie and the rest of the Patriots organization well if Brissett can at least hold his own out the gate.
Brissett may not have the arm strength or athleticism of Maye, but the 31-year-old QB was viewed as an ideal bridge starter in New England thanks to his experience and low-risk approach while conducting drives down the field.
These first few weeks might be challenging (and painful) for Brissett as New England tries to sort things out on the O-line, but so long as he takes care of the ball (23 interceptions over 79 games) and doesn’t implode a la Mac Jones — the Patriots will take it, especially if he continues to keep the seat warm for Maye.
The last thing the Patriots need is for Brissett to get walloped or completely unravel a week or two in, and then end up feeding Maye to the wolves with a road matchup against stout defenses like the Jets and Niners.
There’s a lot to like about Maye’s ceiling, but a solid start for Brissett could give Maye valuable time to hone his craft and develop on his own timeline — especially at the start of the fall.
4. Can the offensive line … function?
In a season where just about everything went wrong for the Patriots in 2023, their offensive line was particularly putrid — sapping Mac Jones of any semblance of confidence and leaving New England’s rushing attack stuck in the mud.
And based on what we’ve seen so far in preseason, this 2024 O-line grouping doesn’t look all that better.
Look no further than New England’s frustrating loss to the Commanders on Aug. 25, where in the first half alone, the Patriots’ O-line was knocked for:
- A sack against Brissett that led to a shoulder injury.
- Four illegal formation penalties, including one against Chukwuma Okorafor that wiped out Maye’s second touchdown to Osborn.
- Three total holding penalties.
- Two bad snaps — including one that nearly backed Maye up to New England’s own end zone.
- One false start.
- And one dislodged shoe after Sidy Sow inadvertently stepped on Maye’s foot.
It’s important to note that the interior of New England’s line should be in good shape with David Andrews, Mike Onwenu, Layden Robinson, and Sidy Sow in place.
But Sow is currently injured, Onwenu might be moved back to right tackle, and New England’s current depth at left tackle (you know, the most important spot on the line) is a mess.
Perhaps rookie Caedan Wallace impresses or Onwenu holds things down on the right, but the current duo on the left side in Vederian Lowe (who is injured) and Chukwuma Okorafor (who played right tackle in Pittsburgh) just isn’t going to cut it.
You can forget about all of the talk of Maye’s promise, Brissett’s stability, etc. if this O-line continues to play like they did against the Commanders. There needs to be some growth up front for an O-line that has New England’s entire offense on shaky foundations.
5. Can the Patriots establish the run?
This might fall in lockstep with how the Patriots’ O-line fares, but it’s clear that Van Pelt and New England’s revamped offense wants to put extra emphasis on gaining yards on the ground this season.
Not only do the Patriots have the personnel in place to extend drives, but it would alleviate some of the pressure on both Brissett/Maye — especially with this O-line currently blocking for them.
Rhamondre Stevenson has long been one of the few bright spots on New England’s offense — averaging 830 rushing yards over the last two seasons to go along with 107 total receptions.
Free-agent addition Antonio Gibson should be a useful complement as a third-down back capable of bailing out his quarterback as a short-yardage receiver — averaging 43 catches a year during his four seasons in Washington.
Amid all of the question marks surrounding New England’s offense, Stevenson and New England’s running backs should offer some form of stability — so long as they remain healthy. Gibson was added to the team’s injury report on Thursday with a hip injury.
6. Can a young receiver corps emerge?
The Patriots’ seasons-long pursuit of adding a proven No. 1 wideout came up short once again in August with Brandon Aiyuk reportedly spurning New England’s contract offer.
But after cutting bait with veterans like DeVante Parker and JuJu Smith-Schuster over the offseason, the Patriots are embracing a youth movement within their pass-catcher corps that does boast plenty of upside.
DeMario Douglas will need to stay healthy, but the 5-foot-8 wideout routinely carves up defenders with his stop-and-start acceleration and route running. He could be in line for a breakout season as the next great slot receiver to emerge in New England.
Second-round pick Ja’Lynn Polk should also be in line for regular reps out of the gate, especially after putting together a very strong training camp. The Washington product may not boast the ceiling of a true No. 1 receiver, but there’s a lot to like about his floor as a dependable route runner with sure hands.
K.J. Osborn should be a steady veteran presence who can reel in some deep balls if Maye gets into games later on this year, while Kendrick Bourne could be a useful mid-season addition once he returns after Week 4 due to ACL rehab. For all of the issues on New England’s offense in 2023, Bourne was on place for over 800 yards and eight touchdowns over a full 17-game slate.
The rest of New England’s wideout group has some wild cards in place — with third-year pro Tyquan Thornton staring at a make-or-break year, and rookie Javon Baker offering plenty of big-play potential, but struggling with drops and off-the-field distractions.
There’s still plenty of work to be done rounding this receiver group into form, but there’s some young talent here that can steps forward this fall.
7. Will second-year defenders establish themselves as franchise pillars?
New England’s defense was the lone bright spot on the team in 2023. But after losing several key cogs to injuries/trades over the last few months, new DC DeMarcus Covington will have to try to right the ship with a defensive unit featuring a pair of second-year pros poised for breakout seasons in Keion White and Christian Gonzalez.
With Christian Barmore potentially out for the season due to blood clots and Matthew Judon dealt to the Falcons last month, White is poised for an increased role in New England’s pass-rushing gameplan. The stone-faced defensive end only recorded one sack last season, but has been a one-man wrecking crew during preseason action this summer.
Even with the loss of Barmore and Judon, New England’s pass rush should still be able to land some punches with personnel in place like White, Josh Uche, and Deatrich Wise.
Gonzalez has had a relatively quiet preseason, but the 2023 first-round pick was on his way to legitimate NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year consideration after a sterling debut last fall.
Despite earning daunting matchups right out of the gate against top pass-catchers like A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Garrett Wilson, and CeeDee Lamb — Gonzalez held his own, recording an interception and winning Defensive Rookie of the Month honors in September before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.
Gonzalez’s continued emergence would give a significant lift to a secondary already featuring established players like Jonathan Jones, Jabrill Peppers
The 2024 Patriots also need to look to the future on the defensive side of the ball, and both White and Gonzalez could offer hope of a new foundation being set down moving forward.
8. Will Eliot Wolf and Co. wave the white flag this season?
Let’s not kid ourselves — the best-case scenario this season likely involves a mix of youngsters like Maye, Polk, and Gonzalez showing flashes of their potential, and New England netting a top-three pick.
The Patriots’ arduous rebuild should be accelerated if they can add a franchise tackle like Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr. or LSU’s Will Campbell, or a potential lockdown corner/receiver like Colorado’s Travis Hunter. A top-three pick could be traded down for even more draft capital — allowing Wolf and his team to plug several holes across the roster.
Given the clear flaws on this roster, the Patriots are likely staring at a spot at the bottom of the AFC standings. But could Wolf and Co. boost New England’s odds of landing a blue-chip prospect by dealing away veteran pieces (Jonathan Jones? Bourne?) at the deadline.
Of course, the definition of tanking on an already cellar-dwelling team might be tough to discern. Selling off at the deadline for a team mired in mediocrity should be viewed as more of a forward-thinking move more than anything.
Still, Wolf and the Patriots might have to determine just how ugly they want this season to get by the deadline rolls around. This season could be tough, but it ideally gives way to stronger returns in the years ahead.
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