The Patriots rookie gets into trouble when those subtle slides in the pocket become wasted moves. This is where he gets himself in trouble. All he has to do here is mimic the same move we saw in the Osborn game. Instead, he finds himself at the line of scrimmage, throwing late over the middle from a shaky base.
New England needs more of the first example from Maye while training him out of the second example. The second clip is what we saw on his UNC tape, which caused many pundits to criticize Maye’s game during the draft process. The good news is that there are clips where Maye has good footwork and fundamentals, but he needs to get his feet steadier to throw from a more solid base, which will make him a more consistent passer.
With further ado, let’s empty the Patriots Unfiltered mailbag ahead of the regular season:
Q: What is your opinion on the players the Patriots have brought off the waiver list? – All
For those who don’t know, the Patriots got four players off the waivers list on Wednesday: LB Curtis Jacobs, OT Demontrey Jacobs, T/G Zachary Thomas and DT Eric Johnson. Frankly, we shouldn’t count on waiver claims. The likelihood of any of these players becoming a starter is slim. In addition, the Patriots had to make four corresponding roster moves to make room on the roster. They released WR Jalen Reagor, DT Trysten Hill, DB Isaiah Bolden and G Michael Jordan.
As for the players themselves, Demontrey Jacobs and Eric Johnson are the most interesting. Jacobs is a 6’6″, 300-pound left tackle who performed well for Denver in the preseason. He played a lot of snaps against backups in the second half, but only allowed two quarterback pressures on 54 pass-blocking snaps. Johnson plays with a lot of power at the point of attack. He’s a little below average, but has long arms and can make up for blocks.
Again, let’s keep things in perspective. The Patriots see something in the guys they signed, but it’s not very often that players claimed off the waivers list turn out to be impact players.
Q: How is the Patriots’ roster better than last year? How is it worse than last year? – @Box_of_Joe
Let’s start with the obvious: The Patriots are worse in the defensive front seven. You can’t ignore that they traded Judon and likely lost Christian Barmore (blood clot) for the season. There are concerns that they have three-down defenders who can pass rush on early downs, stop the run and get them off the field on third down. Along the offensive line, it’s about the same as last year, which is to say, shaky.
On a positive note, the Patriots have improved their quarterback and wide receiver positions. The wide receiver position looks more promising. In particular, trading JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker for Polk, Baker and Osborn feels like an improvement. At least there is more potential there with the youth movement. Pop Douglas also has breakout potential, while Tyquan Thornton might finally put it all together. The receiver position is still missing an elite receiver (WR1), which limits the offensive’s effectiveness. However, I am more optimistic about this group than I have been in recent years.
Q: Do you think Coach Mayo has done a good job so far? – Danny
First, from a competitive standpoint, I was impressed with the training camp Mayo ran. The Patriots wore protective gear as often as possible, he stuck to the mantra of “you get better at football by playing” by using starters in the preseason, and the Patriots held physical, full-contact practices. Mayo was not a player-friendly softie this summer. Frankly, I expected him to hold shorter practices and go easy on the players. He didn’t, and that was a good thing.
There are quibbles about how he’s treated the quarterbacks in terms of reps, while he could probably save himself some if he was more consistent with press conferences. But the press conferences are overdone unless they become an issue with the players. So, no offense, but our outside opinions mean nothing.
Overall, he’s getting a solid C+/B- so far. Now the real test begins, as the jury is still out on whether this team is capable of preparing the team and developing game plans that will win regular season games.
Q: What is the best offensive combination for the Patriots? – All
The worst thing you can do to an offensive lineman is to have him play at the wrong position, especially when the overall talent level of the group is questionable. Sometimes you’re forced to have guys play at their second-best positions, but health permitting, it’s better to make everyone comfortable. The second worst thing you can do is throw the line into a blender. Consistency and continuity built over time through practice repetitions are the keys to success on the offensive line.
With that in mind, my starting offensive line for the Patriots would look like this, with the first name corresponding to the incumbent starter and the second name pushing the current starter:
- Right Tackle: Chuks Okorafor/Caedan Wallace
- Right Guard: Mike Onwenu
- Center: David Andrews
- Left Guard: Sidy Sow/Layden Robinson
- Left Tackle: Vederian Lowe
After watching every rep he’s ever taken as a right tackle, I firmly believe the team is doing Onwenu a disservice by letting him play out there. He may be the best right tackle on the roster, but that doesn’t mean much. Big Mike survives as a right tackle out of necessity instead of dominating as a right guard. Okorafor and Wallace are right tackles by trade, so they’re supposed to duke it out there. Robinson has at least been working out as a LG this summer. The rookie has already pushed Sow for that spot in camp, and Lowe is a left tackle by trade.
Let everyone play in their natural position, build some chemistry with the same starting lineup, and see what it looks like to have Maye on the field in a month or so. Don’t overcomplicate things.
Q: Aside from the offensive line needing more depth, where else on the team do you think the team needs the most help? – Ken M
One could argue that they still lack top talent at wide receiver, but if they get a decent quarterback and protection, the wideouts should be sufficient this season. My bigger concern is the defensive front.
The Patriots don’t have that many pure pass rush winners who can win one-on-one matchups, and we also have to remember that Barmore has developed into a beast against the run as well. I fear they will be too situational, with guys who can either stop the run or pressure the passer, but not enough defenders who can do both. Then they won’t have a pass rush on early downs, for example, because it’s harder to generate pressure on first and second downs.
New England needs its defense to stay in the game, and while they’re still an above-average team on paper, they don’t have the elite players they once had in the front seven. Hopefully Keion White will develop into one of those players for them.
Q: Which player were you most shocked to see released? – John
I was surprised that the Patriots released Kevin Harris. He was on my final roster projection since the Patriots have four running backs. He had a solid summer and looked like he brought some momentum. However, Harris was passed up by JaMycal Hasty, who is more of a scatback. All’s well that ends well, and Harris and undrafted rookie Terrell Jennings were signed to the practice squad.
Q: Can you give fans another reason to be excited about the season other than Drake Maye’s development since the spring? – Xavier S
Even though they lost some players, I’m still optimistic that the Patriots defense will keep them in the game. The schedule was loosened up a bit a year ago with some backup quarterbacks, but without Judon and CB Christian Gonzalez, they were ninth in DVOA for most of the year. Now they have a healthy Gonzo, an up-and-coming Keion White, and a pretty good roster of Belichick-era starters.
There are still solid football players on this defense: Davon Godchaux, Deatrich Wise, Ja’Whaun Bentley, Jahlani Tavai, Anfernee Jennings, Josh Uche, Daniel Ekuale, Jon Jones, Marcus Jones, etc. I’m also optimistic about Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers as a safety duo. These two could be the best duo in the league by the end of the season.
Overall, the Patriots’ season will depend on the success or failure of the offense. However, they should be competitive on defense and that will be enough to stay in the game. If the offense performs above average, they have a good chance of being better than last year.
Q: Any idea how hard the NFL will actually push for tackles not being properly aligned? Will that be emphasized as much during the season? – Tyrone
After last Sunday night’s game, I asked around the locker room if this was a rule the league was trying to emphasize this season. As far as the players were aware, they had not heard this was a focus, which is something we typically hear during the preseason. Typically, the league tries to be stricter on certain things, so they call overly harshly in the preseason and September, and then there’s a combination of players adjusting and the league becoming more lenient as the games become more important.
The overhead view clearly showed Okorafor and Onwenu lined up in the backfield. I thought those were legitimate decisions.
