Patriots Film Room: Most Underrated Part of Drake Maye's Season

The New England Patriots quarterback seemed to have a sixth sense in one of the most crucial aspects of his position — one that allowed him to mask the team's greatest weakness.

August 8, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) throws a pass against the Carolina Panthers during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports / August 8, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) throws a pass against the Carolina Panthers during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

The New England Patriots' search for a franchise quarterback in the post-Tom Brady era is a lot like many episodes of the best reality TV; heart-aching guilty pleasure drama that disgusts me yet keeps me glued to the screen.

From the initial excitement of acquiring one-time league MVP Cam Newton, to the falsely presumed "passing-of-the-torch" to heir apparent Mac Jones, to the desperation-fueled love-hate relationship with Bailey Zappe, the last five NFL seasons have inflicted New Englanders with nothing but misery and Missourian threats to the dynasty's legacy.

Enter the savior, one Drake Lee Maye.

Maye's rookie season, as reasonably expected, was full of promise and relatively void of substantiative production. The wide receiver corps was self-evidently abysmal, though Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte did show moments of long-term potential.

At the center of the team's offensive woes was an offensive line that ranked 31st in pass-block win rate (51%), dead last in run-block win rate (67%), 31st in pressure rate (39.5%), and 29th in sack rate (9.0%). They were the only offensive line in the league to be ranked in the bottom four in every single one of those metrics. From both an analytics and film perspective, this was one of the worst offensive line seasons we've seen in the NFL in some time.

And yet... it didn't feel quite that bad after a few weeks.

Maye's most underrated and impactful quality as a rookie was how quickly he adapted to being thrown in the fire with this line. The line's porous presence was masked by his acuity in sensing pocket pressure and adjusting with a combination of quick decision-making, elusive mobility, and a speedy release.

Flashes of this were apparent from the very first time he stepped onto an NFL field.

In this 4th and 10 in his first career drive, Maye immediately has to deal with a stunt off the right side of the line between the wide-9 and 2i-tech. Compared to his college film, his dropback footwork and hitch are more efficient and balanced here. He naturally drifts to the soft spot in the pocket, holds the linebacker with his eyes, and delivers an anticipatory laser to Douglas for the conversion.

This play highlights a flash of decisiveness from Maye that, earlier on in the season, was inconsistent. And while the consistency of his decision-making has certainly improved, it's still not to the level it needs to be at for him to be a top-tier quarterback. Yet, his mobility and quick release have filled in the gaps when needed; this was often required with the poor separation his receivers generated on top of the subpar offensive line play.

On paper, Maye has a pressure-to-sack rate of 21.5%, taking 34 sacks on 160 pressures. However, this figure is heavily inflated because of Maye's tendency to scramble from the pocket when his receivers are covered and he is pressured; since these technically end up in the stat sheet as run plays, no official pressure is logged. In total, Maye had 45 scrambles this season off pressured pass plays Taking these into account, his true pressure-to-sack rate is closer to 16.5% — still not great but more understandable behind this line.

Maye used his improvisational scrambling as a core component of the New England offense this season. This allowed him to read 1-2 player keys and make decisions more quickly; for example, he began to rush more when he read downfield man coverage with defenders' backs to him.

However, it also felt like the premeditated reliance on scrambling limited his ability to fully think through a defensive coverage pre-snap and adjust correspondingly. Maye's processing speed in transitioning between reads was understandably slow as a rookie, and this will most likely be the rate-limiting step in his development moving forward.

Yet, as the season progressed, Maye's pocket presence improved; he began to maintain better footwork and kept his eyes downfield through his pocket navigation.

Moments like this week 16 scramble against the Buffalo Bills show exactly these two conflicting points. The edges of the pocket immediately pinch in at the top of the dropback, and the middle rushers compress the pocket vertically. Maye does a fantastic job of avoiding pressure and keeping his eyes upfield, even faking a pass to his checkdown. While the play ends in a net gain of ten yards, he takes off quickly and misses a wide-open Hunter Henry down the middle of the field for potentially more yardage.

This internal philosophical battle between pass-first or run-first was decided for Maye by the poor quality of his supporting cast; he simply embraced it as the season progressed. However, as the quality of his receiving corps and line hopefully improves with the new coaching regime, he will need to readjust. The next step in Maye's development will revolve around keeping his game primarily centered in the pocket. Moving forward, his rushing will ideally be an offensive weapon, not as a defensive one.

One of the truest barometers when evaluating the long-term success of quarterbacks is identifying how well they move in the pocket. What separates the good quarterbacks from the best quarterbacks is how well they make the "9-5 throws." The routine passes that turn 1st and 10 into 2nd and 3 are the lifeblood of successful drives.

Maye is comfortable in the pocket. On plays where he didn't have a completely disrupted pocket, he showed patience in simply maneuvering the pocket and reading his progressions. In today's game, we see even the best quarterbacks pointless bail on clean pockets.

The end-zone view doesn't do the defensive line justice on this play; they immediately reset the line of scrimmage from the 22-yard line to the 27-yard line, and while this isn't officially logged as a pressure, it's a chaotic pocket with multiple linemen being compressed. Maye shows poise, drifts again into a soft spot, and delivers a precise rope into a zone window. His comfort in the pocket keeps him from unnecessarily fading off his back foot, something that pressure-sensitive quarterbacks tend to do in similar situations. This play is born out of a presnap read and shows a promising glimpse of Maye's potential as a cerebral passer.

In upcoming seasons, new head coach Mike Vrabel will almost certainly prioritize building the receiving corps and offensive line. Maye has already made one of the worst offensive lines in recent years look manageable. He will get more opportunities to showcase his poise in the pocket and hone his football IQ under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

New England fans have reason to be hopeful that his tests as a rookie have better prepared him for a successful career.

Make sure you bookmark New England Patriots on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

• Patriots Top Free Agent Target Drops Cryptic Message
• Patriots Reporter Shuts Down Myles Garrett Hope
• Patriots Voted Best Offseason Coaching Hire
• Patriots Linked to Popular RB in Major Steal
• Patriots Add Star Playmaker in Interesting Trade Idea