If Bill Belichick still ran the show in New England, Drake Maye might not have been the newest Patriot.
Belichick, during a pre-draft appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” criticized New England’s new quarterback and No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft while breaking down his game film.
“Drake Maye, his footwork needs a lot of work,” Belichick said during the lengthy segment. “You can see here, he’s all over the place, never really sets his feet, never really gets into position to throw. He gets strip-sacked. Too much hopping around. Step up and throw.”
Now, in fairness to Maye, Belichick critiqued all of the top-ranked quarterbacks in this draft, including Bears’ No. 1 pick Caleb Williams and Commanders’ No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels.
But what makes it interesting is in the lead-in to the prospect breakdowns, Belichick harped on how Tom Brady and Peyton Manning had great footwork.
“If you watch this clip on Brady, his feet in the pocket, he’s in good balance, he slides, he resets, delivers the ball, shoulders, hips pointed toward the target, great job,” Belichick said while breaking down his former quarterback. “It’s what you want a quarterback to do in the pocket.”
We should note here that asking Maye to have the footwork of arguably the two best quarterbacks of all time is a tall ask and should not be seen as an indictment.
While there are some questions about Maye’s ceiling at the NFL level, he’s a dual-threat quarterback who will have the chance to lead the Patriots’ rebuilding efforts.
The Patriots are rebuilding since Belichick’s former quarterback, Mac Jones, flamed out after a promising rookie season.
New England traded him to the Jaguars this offseason for a sixth-round pick.
Maye, the former North Carolina star, threw for 3,608 yards and 24 touchdowns this past season, while adding 449 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
