Drake Maye has been impressive during his two starts. While the Patriots rookie first-round pick has made mistakes, he’s done nothing to dispel the notion that he’s the quarterback of the future.
During his appearance on “Eye on Foxborough,” former Patriot Christian Fauria agreed Maye has shown some flashes. But the two-time Super Bowl winning tight end threw up the caution flag. Fauria said it’s too early to make any grand assumptions about Maye just yet.
“I guess you can be cautiously optimistic,” Fauria said. “It’s two games, and I’m not crowning him in any way shape or form … We have no idea what he’s really going to be. Zero. His last six games might be a freaking disaster.”
Fauria pointed out that Maye, in Sunday’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, was lucky not to add a few more interceptions to his total. He said one of the Jaguar defenders should have had a pick-six. But Fauria was also quick to point out some of the good things he’s seen from the 22-year-old.
“What surprised me, he had a better understanding of how fronts work, and how coverage works based on how I see him slowly, subtly coming to the line,” Fauria said. “I see him watching the movement, the safety blitz. I see him checking at the line of scrimmage.
“If he can’t understand what they’re trying to do to him,” Fauria went on, “then he’ll never be able to be successful.”
Other positives?
“You can tell he can throw that deep ball, that fade to (Kayshon) Boutte pretty well. That’s two weeks in a row,” Fauria said. “Those two guys share a brain on that play and Drake has a lot of confidence throwing it. Obviously he loves the tight ends.”
Fauria, who currently hosts the “Coached 2 Win” podcast on the YouTube channel, also noted Maye’s toughness, saying “you can’t play the position unless you have some courage, especially when you know you’re going to get hit.
Through two games, Maye has thrown five touchdown passes. He also has two picks, and a fumble on a strip-sack.
“The good thing about Drake, is that he hasn’t shown you anything where you’re like, ‘Crap, that’s not it.’ He hasn’t shown that yet,” Fauria said. “He hasn’t been a reckless young quarterback that runs all over the place, holds the ball in one hand, somebody hits his elbow … and it just looks like a comedy of errors.”
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