The Patriots were one of six teams which invested a first-round pick in a quarterback this spring. As expected, however, rookie Drake Maye will not enter training camp atop the depth chart. 
“I don’t think there’s any doubt, Jacoby [Brissett] is the starting quarterback at this point in time,” head coach Jerod Mayo said on Tuesday (via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald).
Pulling the plug on Mac Jones, the Patriots elected to start over at the quarterback spot this offseason. Jones – selected 15th overall in 2021 – was dealt to the Jaguars for a sixth-round pick. Brissett was added in free agency as a bridge starter in anticipation of a rookie being added via the draft. New England turned aside considerable interest for the No. 3 pick and ultimately selected Maye.
The North Carolina product projects as the Patriots’ starter down the road, but the team was known to be in no hurry to move him to the top of pecking order. Maye’s performances during OTAs and minicamp were sufficient to elevate him to the backup spot over Bailey Zappe, though, and he will have the opportunity to continue impressing Mayo and the coaching staff as a result.
Mayo added (via Kyed) that Maye will be able to overtake Brissett as the team’s starter if he “lights it up” during training camp. For the time being, attention will of course be paid to the 21-year-old’s ongoing acclimation to the NFL in general and OC Alex Van Pelt‘s scheme in particular. Brissett is a veteran of 48 starts, and he will offer the Patriots with a known commodity if he gets the nod for Week 1. That scenario is the one which New England remains on course for, but things could change over the coming weeks.
Maye has a little cleaning up to do in his game, but I’m more concerned about putting him behind that line than anything. Maybe they at least wait until after the primetime game against the Jets in week 3. Hopefully for them the line and the receiver group have coalesced a bit by then. In the meantime, you can do a lot worse than Brissett.
Look to Under 43 week 1 vs Cincy lol
The Patriots do get a 9 day rest after that Thursday game against the Jets but would they really want to debut this kid on the road against the 49ers? Brissett actually has a better career passer rating than the $55MM dollar man in Jacksonville so Drake could be waiting until the second half of the season to be showcased.
Drake needs to sit down and learn. I know fans will pressure the organization to start the 3rd overall pick I just know it
Looking forward to a #1 draft pick.