There may be a big portion of the Patriots fanbase that wants to see rookie quarterback Drake Maye start right away this season, but former New England offensive coordinator Charlie Weis is not among them.
Appearing on The Greg Hill Show Monday morning, Weis said he doesn’t think the competition between Maye and veteran Jacoby Brissett is even close right now.
“Oh, I don’t think it’s close. I think that Jacoby is clearly number one,” Weis said. “I think that Drake - let’s face it, when you draft a quarterback high in the first round, he’s gonna be your starting quarterback. But I mean, Jacoby is not ‘just a guy.’ I mean, Jacoby’s a legit NFL-caliber quarterback.
“He might not be a quarterback that’ll win you a Super Bowl, but he’s a quarterback that can lead your team. And, where Drake Maye probably has more talent than Jacoby, I think that the knowledge base and the experience base is so - there’s such a wide discrepancy, and I think that you’re not forced to throw Drake Maye to the wolves and just put him in there right from the start.”
Weis cautioned against thinking that Maye, the third overall pick this year, could do what C.J. Stroud did in Houston last season when he led the Texans to a seven-win turnaround and a playoff victory as a rookie after being selected second overall.
“Sometimes you get a situation, a rare situation like how C.J. Stroud played,” Weis said. “Now, everyone wants to look at Stroud and think, ‘Well that’s the rule.’ Let’s face it, that’s the exception, not the rule. I think that the Patriots are in a good situation [at] quarterback because they’re not forced to go ahead and play Drake Maye right from the start. And when they feel the time’s right, they’ll put him in there.”
Weis was the Patriots’ tight ends coach in 1993 when Drew Bledsoe started right away after New England drafted him first overall, but he said that situation wasn’t quite the same as what Jerod Mayo has now.
“Well, he [Bledsoe] played right away for two reasons. One, he was so much better than the incumbent, number one. And then two, the team was terrible,” Weis said. “So, I mean, no one expected the team to be a playoff-caliber team that first year. So, when the team is terrible, and no one expects you to be a playoff team in the first year, it’s a little different. I mean, right now, if I’m in the Patriot building, I’m not throwing in the towel on this season before the season’s even started, because tell me in the AFC East who the favorite is.
“I can’t even tell you who the favorite in the division is. Buffalo, Miami, the Jets - all three of those teams are being talked about in different capacities. So, until I know that we’re gonna be fourth in the division, or looks like we’re battling, not for a playoff spot, but just trying to get somewhere near .500, until I know that’s the case, I’m gonna go into the season figuring we have a fighting chance.
“[In 1993], we inherited a team that won, what, one game? One or two games, I forget what it was when Bledsoe came in. The team was coming off either a one-win or two-win season. That’s a totally different scenario, in my perspective.”
Weis is right that the Patriots went 2-14 in 1992 the year before Bledsoe arrived (and 1-15 two years earlier in 1990), but you could make the case that New England’s 4-13 season last year wasn’t a whole lot better.
Weis also talked about Bill Belichick’s future and where Tom Brady would rank in the NFL if he came back to play right now. Listen to the full interview at the top of this post.
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