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[Brissett Named Starter Over Maye]
Jacoby Brissett was named the Week 1 starter over rookie Drake Maye. But that doesn't mean the Patriots won't see Maye under center this season.
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The Patriots named Jacoby Brissett their starting Week 1 quarterback Thursday morning, making it official that Brissett will start over rookie third overall pick Drake Maye when the Patriots play at Cincinnati on Sept. 8.
Maye (6-foot-4, 223) was a highly productive dual-threat quarterback at North Carolina, where he threw for 8,018 yards, 63 touchdowns and 16 interceptions as a two-year starter, adding 1,209 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground (4.0 YPC). Maye eventually projects as the kind of starting quarterback who can carry an offense by both passing and rushing at a high level, but at just 22 years old tomorrow, Aug. 30, the Patriots might have understandably been leery of putting too much on Maye's plate too early, especially with big questions remaining about the New England offensive line.
What Brissett offers the Patriots is ball control. Brissett can't make the big plays Maye can and Brissett can't handle the ball as much in general before overexposure occurs, but the Patriots don't plan to throw that much in 2024, anyway. While it's true that Brissett would likely start glitching if he had to throw the ball 35 times a game most weeks, to the Patriots it's moot because they only plan to throw the ball 30 or so times per week. That's especially true because the Patriots offensive line remains in a flux – the Patriots have only one definitely solid starter in right guard Mike Onwenu.
As much as Thursday's starting announcement was a hit to the hopes of Maye's fantasy investors, and as much as Brissett isn't nearly as exciting of a fantasy prospect in Maye's place, it really might be the best for Maye in the short and long term to stay sheltered while the New England offensive line sorts itself out. While the Patriots have a handful of prospects and fringe prospects that they hope will emerge on the line, even as of today they're not entirely sure who will be playing, let alone whether they think the players eventually playing are any good.
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt worked with Brissett in Cleveland previously, and like that 2022 Cleveland offense the Patriots of this year will need to operate a high-volume rushing game. With the Browns it was done with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, while in New England they're emulating that model with Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson. Brissett wasn't much of a fantasy force in that season, throwing just 12 touchdowns in his 11 starts, but he was a stabilizing presence who scored more total touchdowns (14) than he committed turnovers (10).
The Patriots likely considered 2024 a rebuilding year, and going into the offseason they probably didn't even plan on Maye falling to their third overall selection. While they were happy to select Maye at that pick, the Patriots believed all the same that they lacked the offensive infrastructure for a rookie quarterback to succeed. As much as coach Jerod Mayo would likely describe Brissett starting as What's Best For The Team, it's not really a Win Now move. Starting Brissett now is likely more so a way to make sure the Patriots preserve their future by keeping Maye safe from the dangers of playing in a cold, defense-heavy division behind a potentially poor and fluctuating offensive line.
If the Patriots offense ever hopes to reach greater heights then they'll need Maye to take over the offense from Brissett. As much as that's true, the present reality might be that the Patriots offensive line is not good enough for the offense to reach greater heights anyway. If the offense must be pared down into a primitive form, and if the blocking might remain vulnerable anyway, then Brissett offers as much short-term potential as Maye in the Patriots' system – or at least, Maye isn't enough better than Brissett this second to make it worth the risk of damaging Maye behind an offensive line that has yet to prove itself.
It's likely that the Patriots will turn to Maye as starter at some point in the 2024 season, and it's possible that the Patriots are starting Brissett initially to function as a human shield through New England's tougher early-season matchups. In Weeks 3 through 8 the Patriots play the Jets twice and at San Francisco, and the other three games (Miami, Houston, Jacksonville) look challenging, too. The Jets defense is likely the toughest in the NFL, so sparing Maye those matchups makes sense, especially if New England is at risk of trotting out a bad offensive line in those contests.
Waiting until Week 9 (at Tennessee) or Week 11 (home against the Rams) might be the window where the Patriots look to deploy Maye as the starter. Given his rushing ability, Maye could be an immediate fantasy factor once he does step into the starting role. In any case, the fact that the Patriots named Brissett starter is not a red flag in any way for Maye's long-term NFL future. Sometimes there just isn't enough at stake to make risk worthwhile, and that's probably where the Patriots are at, at least until they're done playing the Jets this year.
