So who starts? And who sits?
It is a question of eternity… for eternity.
Most of you know the story. Bill Belichick’s Patriots dealt 2021 first-round draftee Mac Jones too much too soon, and now Mac has been banished to NFL Siberia, Jacksonville.
The history of NFL rookie quarterbacks who immediately took command is not exactly rosy.
A few decades ago, the expansion Texans ruined top pick David Carr by sacking him 76 times in his rookie season. The poor kid set a record by recovering 12 of his own fumbles. He threw nine touchdown passes but was intercepted 15 times.
Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells says, “The fans always want to see what’s new, but with a first-year quarterback, you have to evaluate the chances of success. When they don’t succeed, sometimes it destroys them.”
Three decades ago, the Tunas started rookie Drew Bledsoe on Opening Day and the Pats lost 11 of their first 12 games. Bledsoe survived and led New England to the Super Bowl in his fourth season.
Scott Zolak, Bledsoe’s former backup and now a talk show host and de facto president of Patriot Nation, said on 98.5 The Sports Hub that he hopes Maye is the starter.
Parcells’ Super Bowl quarterback Phil Simms criticized the Patriots in USA Today, saying, “They’re trying to make everything so close because they don’t want (Maye) to look bad. ‘What if it hurts his confidence?’ Well, if it hurts his damn confidence and destroys him that much, he’s not the right guy… Let them go out there and screw it up. You learn from things like that.”
Bill Simmons, the biggest Patriots fan, chimed in.
“Mayo doesn’t seem to understand how press conferences work. There is ZERO benefit to admitting out loud that Maye has outperformed Brissett so far,” he wrote on social media. “Now what? You want to start a rookie QB in Week 1 behind the Pats’ worst O-line since the Plunkett era? The franchise is a mess.”
Ah yes, the Plunkett era.
Jim Plunkett was the “It Guy” of 1971. He was the No. 1 overall pick; a muscular 6-foot-3, 220-pound player, Rose Bowl winner, a model pocket passer and, according to UCLA coach Tommy Prothro, “the best quarterback prospect I’ve ever seen.” The Pats, with a 2-14 record, selected Plunkett over Archie Manning, Dan Pastorini, Joe Theismann and Ken Anderson.
Plunkett was ready for the NFL from the start. He played every snap in the 1971 season, completed 48 percent of his passes, threw 19 touchdowns, was intercepted 16 times and won six of 14 games.
“He was ready to step in from day one,” recalled then-GM Upton Bell. “We also didn’t have an offensive line as bad as the Patriots have now.”
In fact, the Pats’ offensive line was sloppy on Sunday night against Washington. Many reasonable fans want to keep Maye on the bench until the line shows more ability to protect the rookie.
Randy Vataha, Plunkett’s teammate at Stanford, caught 51 of his passes (and nine touchdowns) in their rookie season. He saw Plunkett’s knee and throwing shoulder suffer damage in five seasons as a Patriot starter.
“Jim got beat up hard in New England,” Vataha recalled. “He had to have surgery on both knees and I think his shoulder as well.”
The Patriots finished 23-38 in Plunkett’s 61 games.
“Who knows how it would have gone if the Patriots had brought him in more slowly? They should have built up the rest of the team first,” Vataha said. “They could have improved the team while he sat there watching for a year.”
When Plunkett was sidelined with shoulder problems in 1975, New England coach Chuck Fairbanks opted to let rookie Steve Grogan play and then traded Plunkett to the 49ers in exchange for a number of top draft picks.
Plunkett struggled with the Niners, was released, and then started a new life in Oakland, where he won two Super Bowls.
“Al Davis took him in and told Jim, ‘Sit down for a year. I don’t even want you on the practice field. Watch some film if you want, but your main job is to recover.’ And that’s what he did,” Vataha recalled.
Like every other Patriots fan, Vataha has an opinion on Brissett vs. Maye.
“I’m really impressed with Drake Maye’s throwing arm. He can throw long balls and made some good decisions against Washington. He can run, which will help him – he’s not going to just sit there and get beat up, but right now it’s not that important how much Drake has improved.
“I hope they protect him until they see that the line holds. I just hope they don’t push him.”
Dan Shaughnessy is a columnist for the Globe. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.
