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NFL defenses are already changing against New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.

It hasn’t taken long for NFL defenses to change the way they play against New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. The second-year passer is forcing opponents to become more passive to try and contain his dual-threat skills.

Change is being summed up by Maye seeing “zone coverage on 83.3% of his drop-backs, fifth-highest in the NFL, and over a 10% increase from his rookie season (71.2%),” according to Patriots.com Senior Writer Evan Lazar.

The latter speculated this coverage trend through two games “could be a small sample size alert, or defenses worrying about Maye scrambling vs. man.”

Identifying Maye’s threat as a runner as the catalyst for change among defenses is the correct assumption. More zone also makes sense because aggressive pressure schemes aren’t working to rattle New England’s would-be franchise passer.

Drake Maye Responding to New Challenge

Sitting back in zone isn’t just allowing defenses to keep eyes on Maye in case he breaks contain and flees the pocket. The heavy diet of zone shells is also challenging the third player taken in the 2024 NFL draft to make the right reads and beat densely populated coverage.

That’s a tough challenge for any young QB1, but the good news is Maye’s been answering the challenge. The 23-year-old has been a model of efficiency during the first two weeks of the campaign.

Maye’s efficiency is summed up by him being “1 of 2 QBs to throw 68+ times and only account for 1 Turnover Worthy Play (TWP). The other is Josh Allen,” according to SCOUTD NFL’s Daniel Rotman, who noted “Maye is playing very clean football.”

The numbers are an endorsement of the impact returning offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has made to Maye’s development and performances. He’s back for a third tour as play-caller, and McDaniels already has Maye being more selective with his targets and protecting the football.

Those are no small things when Maye entered the league as a feast-or-famine playmaker. Not only is McDaniels reining in the signal-caller’s more gung-ho instincts, Maye’s smarter and safer brand of football is punishing defenses willing to take risks of their own.

Patriots Have Answers for the Blitz

Any team hoping to force Maye into mistakes via the blitz is finding out the hard way an attacking game-plan won’t work. Defenses need a less reckless strategy because Maye ranks among the NFL’s best defeating the blitz, per Taylor Kyles of Patriots on CLNS, who cited statistics from Pro Football Focus.

Many of those numbers can be explained by changes made by McDaniels. He’s given Maye simple reads and quick completions against defenses trying to take away the boom-or-bust throws, while also leaning into the player’s athleticism as a runner.

This is a potent combination making the Patriots more effective at football’s most important position. Progress has been obvious, but there’s still room for improvement.

Notably, Maye needs to get key wide receivers DeMario Douglas and Stefon Diggs more involved. The pair have combined for a mere 20 targets and 13 catches, but more is surely to come from an after-catch specialist like Douglas, while Diggs is one of the only true vertical threats on the roster.

For now, Maye can continue getting to grips with the McDaniels playbook and mastering the complexities that helped make Tom Brady a legend and Mac Jones a Pro Bowler.

James Dudko covers the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens for Heavy.com. He has covered the NFL and world soccer since 2011, with bylines at FanSided, Prime Time Sports Talk and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy in 2021. More about James Dudko