Bill Belichick is wary of new Patriots quarterback Drake Maye
The New England Patriots finally have a new quarterback to usher in this new era. With the No. 3 overall pick, the Patriots have selected University of North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye. And immediately after the pick became public, Bill Belichick spoke about McCarthy's potential with Pat McAfee on the Draft Spectacular. "Well, I think […]
The New England Patriots finally have a new quarterback to usher in this new era.
With the No. 3 overall pick, the Patriots have selected University of North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.
And immediately after the pick became public, Bill Belichick spoke about McCarthy's potential with Pat McAfee on the Draft Spectacular.
"Well, I think that's certainly a top need for them. It's quarterback, tackle and wide receiver, so this is one of the top needs," Belichick said. "Drake compares himself a lot to Josh Allen, he's been doing that for quite a while. We'll see about that. I think there are some similarities, size and athleticism, but Josh Allen's a pretty special player now.
"A very talented kid. Good size, runs well, has a good arm. He just hasn't played very much. He really doesn't have a lot of experience. He makes some big plays … He's going to need some work in reading defenses, reading coverages."
And even before the draft began, Belichick had something to say about Maye's style of play.
"Drake Maye—his footwork needs a lot of work," Belichick said while watching a clip of Maye scrambling during the Tar Heels' loss to Clemson on Nov. 18. "You can see here, he's just all over the place. Never resets his feet."
"He never really gets into position to throw," Belichick added. "He gets strip-sacked."
Player Scouting Report from A to Z Sports Film Room's James Foster
Strengths: (Copied from James Foster's Big Board)
- Prototypical size and arm talent
- Speed & quickness to be an effective runner in the NFL
- Comfortable hanging in the pocket & working through progressions
- Can break the pocket and make plays out of structure
- Recognizes post-snap safety rotations
- Makes difficult off-platform throws from different release points
- Aggressive attacking tight windows over the middle
- Has shown flashes of elite ball placement
Weaknesses: (Copied from James Foster's Big Board)
- Extended windup & average release speed
- Finished 2023 with his 2 worst games of the season (Clemson/NC State)
- Throws late on backside cornerbacks
- Over-estimates arm talent and forces the ball into closing windows
- Makes some dangerous throws when he doesn't see underneath defenders
- Average blitz recognition
- Ranks last in this QB class with a 66.1% on-target rate
- Sails easy passes, puts slants behind his WR, overshoots go routes, & leaders WRs out of bounds
- Inconsistent lower-half mechanics results in erratic ball placement
- Unnecessarily drifts away from throws
