Insider predicts if Patriots' Drake Maye can win starting job over Jacoby Brissett

First-year New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo unsurprisingly confirmed at the start of training camp earlier this week that veteran Jacoby Brissett "is the starting quarterback at this point" ahead of rookie Drake Maye.

For a mailbag published on Thursday, Patriots and NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated shared why he believes Brissett will remain atop New England's depth chart through the club's regular-season opener at the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 8.

"He’s made progress, and he’s clearly the Patriots' most gifted quarterback," Breer wrote about Maye. "But, as the staff saw it going into training camp, Maye is still immersed working on fundamentals from the ground up. For example, he’s been almost exclusively a shotgun quarterback, so he had almost no classic footwork training before this spring. Getting fixes for that stuff is going to take time."

Maye's footwork and his history of receiving snaps in shotgun formations were significant talking points both before and after New England made the 21-year-old the third overall pick of this year's draft.

While Maye reportedly showed improvements in multiple aspects of his game throughout springtime workouts, he seemingly has a ways to go before he's ready to face a live defense in a meaningful game.

"Between (offensive coordinator) Alex Van Pelt, (senior offensive assistant) Ben McAdoo and (quarterbacks coach) T.C. McCartney, New England has a good group of guys working with Maye, and a group that I see as committed to creating a new set of sustainable habits in Maye," Breer continued. "Be patient with it. For those reasons, I think the earliest he starts is probably around Halloween, barring an injury to Jacoby Brissett pushing him onto the field earlier."

The Patriots host the rival New York Jets in Week 8 on Oct. 27 before New England plays at the Tennessee Titans in Week 9 on Nov. 3. Some believe the fact that the Patriots don't have a bye until Week 14 in December could result in Maye spending a bulk of his rookie season serving as Brissett's primary backup.

As of Thursday afternoon, FanDuel Sportsbook listed Brissett as a massive -1600 betting favorite to start over Maye (+750) at Cincinnati's Paycor Stadium.