Drake Maye Making Big Push to Start Despite Unlikely Betting Odds
By Cem Yolbulan
When the New England Patriots kicked off their training camp, all eyes were naturally on their third overall pick, Drake Maye. Selected as the future quarterback of the future, Maye carries the hopes and dreams of the franchise on his shoulders.
At the same time, he is a 21-year-old quarterback with only 26 collegiate starts under his belt. The organization has preached patience at every turn when it came to their young QB. That is why it was widely expected that Jacoby Brissett would start at first while Maye got his feet wet in the NFL.
However, these plans may change after Maye's practice performance on Day 8 of the training camp. All the reporting from Friday suggests that Maye showed massive improvement from the early days of camp. According to Boston Herald reporter Andrew Callahan, Maye threw 10/14 and 7/9 on 11-on-11s while Brissett struggled.
#Patriots QBs training camp Day 8:
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) August 2, 2024
🏈The best passing practice day of camp. Full pads, too.
🏈Brissett 16/26 (2 drops); Maye 10/14
🏈11-on-11s: Brissett 12/21 (2 drops); Maye 7/9 (2 scrambles)
🏈Brissett hit Pop Douglas for a TD on a seam route to end his 2-minute drill.
🏈Maye… pic.twitter.com/VqXerHWybu
This was confirmed by Pats insider Mark Daniels, who called Maye's Friday practice a "really nice rebound". He reported that Maye is up to 18/24 in his last two practices.
Drake Maye went 18-of-24 (75%) in the last two practices. Really nice rebound for the rookie after a tough 2-practice stretch on Monday and Tuesday.
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) August 2, 2024
He’s 21 and there will be hiccups but you want to see him improve. That happened this week.
This is exactly what you want from your young quarterback. Maye had struggled early in camp, with reports suggesting that fellow rookie Joe Milton may be outplaying him. Development is not linear and there will be ups and downs. However, Maye finally proves why he was considered one of the best quarterback prospects in the draft, which should make the Patriots fans excited.
Despite Maye's impressive showing, he is still lagging behind Jacoby Brissett on odds to start in Week 1 on DraftKings Sportsbook. The veteran is a massive -900 favorite to be the starter against the Cincinnati Bengals on September 8, while Maye is at +550.
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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.