What does early success look like for Maye? Ex-NFL QB shares expectations

What does early success look like for Maye? Ex-NFL QB shares expectations originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

As the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Drake Maye will be counted on to be the next franchise quarterback of the New England Patriots. It’s a challenging situation for the North Carolina product, but head coach Jerod Mayo and Co. have made it clear they won’t rush their young signal-caller into action.

In the meantime, Maye is functioning as the No. 2 QB in OTAs behind veteran QB Jacoby Brissett. Although he’s shown flashes of his potential in practice, he still has plenty of learning to do before establishing himself as the clearcut No. 1 on New England‘s depth chart.

What better place to learn than The Quarterback School? Former NFL QB J.T. O’Sullivan, now the founder of TheQBSchool.com, joined Phil Perry on a new Next Pats Podcast to share his assessment of Maye and what he’s looking to see from the rookie.

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“From the outside looking in, I would say the expectations are pretty low as far as wins, performance, those types of things,” O’Sullivan said. “So for me, if you go out there and look the part, meaning that you can protect the ball, that you can do plays that help us win, that you’re not hurting the team consistently, that it looks like the game isn’t too fast for you, that you can go out there and execute what the coaches are asking you to do consistently, I think that’s an early indicator of, ‘OK, we might have something going.’ “

There’s a good chance Maye sits behind Brissett for most if not all of the 2024 season. O’Sullivan shared what he believes Maye needs to do to find early success once he is finally named the starter.

“I think it’s going to be unfair to everybody in this (2024 draft) class … to (compare) what (Houston Texans QB) C.J. Stroud did last year, where people are going to come in and have expectations,” he said. … “But I would look for continued improvement. I would look for big-play ability.

“If we’re talking about what I would look for specifically quarterback-wise from Drake Maye, difference from his college game to translating to the Sunday game, what I classify as the quality of the miss I think has to get significantly tighter. There were spray misses that you just don’t see anywhere from a guy who starts consistently on Sundays. And I would imagine you’re going to see some of that early on, but as the season progresses, everything is a little bit tighter.”

Also in the episode:

• Phil Perry’s takeaways from OTAs

• Implementing the West Coast offense.

• Five things to watch at minicamp next week.