![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/thumbor\/BYOs5Jflv1XNydWYbmw5Eze_o50=\/0x67:1665x2000\/1200x800\/filters:focal(666x469:980x783)\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_image\/image\/73860563\/1337505971.0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The most important asset any NFL team can have in this day and age is a capable starting quarterback. Based on his 2024 rookie season, it appears that Drake Maye can become just that for the New England Patriots.<\/p>\n
In order to get there, however, he will need to be developed properly. That job is now the responsibility of Josh McDaniels, who was hired as the Patriots\u2019 next offensive coordinator on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
McDaniels, who has held that title twice before for a combined 13 seasons, is one of the most experienced and successful OCs in the NFL. He also has worked with several quarterbacks who have performed at a starter-caliber level during their careers \u2014 from the greatest of all time, Tom Brady, to the likes of Jimmy Garoppolo, Cam Newton and Mac Jones.<\/p>\n
Now, his focus will be on adding Drake Maye to that list and helping him become the face of the franchise he was drafted to be. How will McDaniels do that, though? He gave an answer to that question during an appearance on Julian Edelman\u2019s Games With Names podcast last summer.<\/p>\n
While talking about developing rookie quarterbacks in general, a lot of what was said will likely be applied to Maye and fellow Patriots QB Joe Milton in 2025 and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to have a plan, and that obviously starts from the head coach and his perspective. You have to be able to agree on how you\u2019re going to kind of unveil that thing to the player, and ultimately bring him along,\u201d McDaniels explained. \u201cAt the end of the day, you have to take the player where he\u2019s at when he comes in. Whether that was [Matt] Cassel, or [Jimmy] Garoppolo, or [Jarrett] Stidham, or [Jacoby] Brissett, or Mac [Jones], Aidan O\u2019Connell \u2014 you have to take the player where he\u2019s at.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re all at different spots. They all have been taught different things. They have all digested different amounts of information. Some have played in different systems than yours. Some have maybe played in some that are a little more like yours. You just have to figure out, \u2018Alright, what do they know and what am I going to try to push forward to get him to progress the quickest?\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of his answer, McDaniels laid out a potential timeline for how to bring a quarterback up to speed \u2014 starting with a focus on cadence, play calls and footwork during organized team activities in the spring, and later progressing to seeing coverages, understanding defenses and setting protections in training camp. From that point on, the attention will then shift toward other areas such as the red zone, third downs and two-minute offense.<\/p>\n
\u201c There are a lot of things that go into it, but I think it\u2019s just having a really good feel for where the player is at. You can\u2019t just keep throwing stuff at him,\u201d McDaniels said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always talk about it, they have a bucket. … But when you take a young quarterback, it\u2019s more like a cup. You have to put some stuff in his cup, and when it gets to the top you have to stop. And then make sure that he has this and can do it well, and then when he\u2019s ready for more you can give him a bigger cup. Then, hopefully, he ends up with a bucket and you have a bunch of stuff in there that he can do well. But there\u2019s no shortcut to it, and I think knowing where the player\u2019s at is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n
The third overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, Maye does come with some NFL experience. Having spent a whole year in New England under previous Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney, he already showed strides from the talented-but-raw player he was at North Carolina.<\/p>\n
In total, Maye started 12 of his 13 games as a rookie. He ended the season completing 225 of 338 pass attempts (66.6%) for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also was one of the most productive rushing quarterbacks in the league last year, gaining 423 rushing yards on 52 non-kneel-down runs for an average of 8.1 yards per carry; Maye also scored a pair of rushing touchdowns.<\/p>\n
How McDaniels will incorporate Maye\u2019s dual-threat ability remains to be seen. What seems to be part of the plan, though, is putting plenty of responsibility on the young passer from early on.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody does the same thing once the ball\u2019s snapped. Really what we\u2019re talking about is pre-snap responsibility,\u201d McDaniels explained. \u201cI always looked at it like a mountain. In the beginning, we\u2019re at the bottom, we\u2019re trying to climb it. At the beginning when you start talking to them about making the calls and setting the protections and dealing with the run game \u2014 all those things that we taught our players how to do \u2014 it\u2019s harder because it\u2019s foreign. It\u2019s not that they don\u2019t understand it, it\u2019s just different.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, at the beginning, when they\u2019re at the bottom of the mountain and look up, it\u2019s \u2018Hot damn that\u2019s a tall mountain.\u2019 But I always fell like as we went through the first year, \u2018Alright, you\u2019re getting up the mountain. You know it, I know it, we all know it.\u2019 And once you get to the top of the mountain, now there\u2019s nothing left to climb because you understand it. You understand how to manipulate protection. You understand how to solve your issues with blitz zero and those kind of things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Time will tell how much McDaniels will put on Maye\u2019s plate \u2014 or: into his bucket \u2014 early on in their time together. However, the ultimate goal is to have him run the offense by himself once on the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the quarterback never be responsible for any of that stuff, there\u2019s some downside to it,\u201d the Patriots\u2019 third-time offensive coordinator said. \u201cOther people might argue that that\u2019s not the case, but I would say there are pros and cons to both. I love the idea of having the quarterback able to understand it all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
McDaniels will be tasked with developing Patriots QB Drake Maye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\n