When To Start Maye

Drake Maye was a boom or bust prospect and everyone knew it. If you disagree, sorry but you're kidding yourself. There's a reason why Mayo mentioned his floor during the pre draft period. Johnny Manziel is Drake Maye's floor. Where is Manziel? So when do the Patriots start Maye?

The smartest thing the Patriots can do is start him when they believe he's ready. They have Maye for four or five seasons. And if he's not ready until sometime in year four, so be it. Those who thought he was too big of a red flag should at least agree with this.

Now if you're on the fence, that might not be good enough. To that I say the team should believe he's ready by no later then some point next season, the 2025 season, regardless if he plays. If Maye were Daniels or McCarthy, this is where my expectations for him would be.

For those that only looked at his ceiling and big play ability, You don't start Maye in 2024 until the season is lost. Take the pressure completely off of him. Once they start him, treat every game like a preseason game and let him know that he will be pulled to protect him if needed. That allows them to so develop Milton.

Unless one wants to see a team do to Maye what Belichick did to Darnold, the timelines I mentioned are the best ways to approach when to Start Maye. Right now Drake Maye is at his floor until he proves otherwise. He is someplace between Nathan Petermann and Johnny Manziel. His mid level is Rob Johnson and his ceiling for me is Eli Manning.

Go into the season with your worst expectations of the rookie quarterback. That way if he's bad, you expected it but if he has a good game, you didn't expect it and he can impress you repeatedly until you just expect him to be average or better. If you're expecting MVP Josh Allen, you're probably gonna hate the guy before he can get there.