A top-five pick is supposed to start for his team, right?
That might not be the case in New England this season.
The Patriots will enter their fifth season since Tom Brady left the franchise, and for the second time, they will be starting over with a quarterback they drafted. They picked Mac Jones 15th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, and he started for the majority of three seasons in New England, before being shipped to Jacksonville this offseason.
Now enter Drake Maye.
New England picked Maye third in this year’s draft, after he spent three years lighting it up at North Carolina.
But is he ready to light it up on the biggest stage?
Let’s check out the odds that Jones starts for the Patriots next season, via FanDuel Sportsbook, as of June 2.
PATRIOTS WEEK 1 STARTING QB
Jacoby Brissett, -350 (bet $10 to win $12.86 total)
Drake Maye, +255 (bet $10 to win $35.50 total)
Not only is the veteran Brissett favored to start in New England next season, he’s the considerable favorite to start.
Brissett, 31, is entering his ninth professional season, after spending his rookie season in New England, spending four seasons in Indianapolis, and then spending the past three seasons with Miami, Cleveland and Washington.
As a starter, he’s 18-30 over the course of his career, with an 85.3 passer rating.
Despite Maye’s pedigree entering the league, there is precedent for a player of his draft status to start the season on the bench.
And all you have to do is go back to the 2021 NFL Draft.
That year, Jacksonville took Trevor Lawrence with the top pick, the New York Jets selected Zach Wilson at No. 2, and both signal-callers started right out of the gate.
With the third pick, San Francisco selected Trey Lance, who started just twice in his rookie season. It was veteran QB Jimmy Garoppolo who served as the starter for the other 15 games.
Could the case be similar for Maye in New England?
Drew Bledsoe’s advice to Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye
In terms of other Maye betting props, at FanDuel, he’s at +2000 to win Offensive Rookie of the Year (tied for sixth on the oddsboard) and at +1100 to lead all rookies in passing yards (fifth on the oddsboard).
His Over/Under passing yard total is set at 2,650.5.
The Patriots’ Over/Under win total for this season is set at 4.5, the lowest in the NFL.
Recently, on an episode of the “All Facts No Brakes With Keyshawn Johnson” podcast, former Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe gave his thoughts on Maye ahead of his inaugural NFL season, saying that Maye will be one step ahead because of his current offensive coordinator, former longtime backup QB Alex Van Pelt.
“I’ve actually talked to Alex about [Maye] a little bit. What Alex has said is there’s tons of ability there, but he just sort of unmolded clay. That’s why I think he’s got a great advantage, because Alex Van Pelt was my backup quarterback in Buffalo. … Alex is one of those guys that you play with that you just know is gonna be a coach when he’s done.
” … I think that Drake is in a very beneficial situation because of Alex.”
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