NFL Rumors: Patriots' Rivals Think Drake Maye Should Be QB1 over Jacoby Brissett

Even though the New England Patriots plan to start this season with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, teams around the league think head coach Jerod Mayo made a mistake in not going with Drake Maye.

On the latest episode of the Scoop City podcast (starts at 9:15 mark), The Athletic's Dianna Russini said teams within the AFC East think the Patriots "should roll out with the rookie" Maye.

The Patriots announced on Thursday that Brissett would be the starting quarterback to begin the 2024 campaign. It wasn't a total surprise because he started all three preseason games, but his performance in a small sample size didn't inspire a lot of confidence.

Brissett finished 5-of-14 for 36 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in the preseason. Maye went 21-of-34 for 192 yards and one touchdown through the air, with 32 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground.

Mayo even admitted publicly that Maye outplayed Brissett, but there were other factors being considered to determine the starter in the regular season.

One of the main concerns for whomever will be under center is the offensive line. The buzz about that unit coming out of training camp and preseason has not been encouraging.

Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston said on the Patriots Talk podcast (h/t Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston) that the offensive line has had two "disgraceful" performances, including the preseason finale against the Washington Commanders and a joint practice against the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 13.

Even though stats aren't officially kept in joint practices, tracking by media in attendance had Brissett and Maye being sacked a total of 15 times against the Eagles.

Maye will almost certainly get the call to start games at some point this season, but there's no reason for the Patriots to throw him out there before they can see if the offensive line is capable of being functional when the results actually matter.