Drake Maye

Maye, the third pick in the 2024 Draft, began last season behind Jacoby Brissett but took over the starting job for good by Week 6. He fought through knee and hand injuries and a concussion, plus he struggled with interceptions (3.0 INT percentage, seventh-highest), but overall he did enough to inspire much hope among the Patriots faithful. Maye’s 72.8 on-target percentage ranked 18th, and his 66.6 completion percentage was 13th. That was built on a lot of short passes, though. His average target depth was 7.3 yards (23rd), with nearly 70 percent of his attempts going less than 10 yards downfield. It’s perhaps surprising Maye’s strong arm wasn’t put to better use, but the Patriots lacked downfield weapons -- well, any weapons -- and the coaching staff was so ineffective that it got flushed after just one season. Proven offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, back in New England for the third time, should greatly benefit Maye, and the Patriots upgraded their roster with free agents WR Stefon Diggs (assuming he’s healthy after an ACL injury last year), RT Morgan Moses and C Garrett Bradbury. They then drafted LT Will Campbell (fourth overall), RB TreVeyon Henderson (38th) and WR Kyle Williams (69th). The latter’s 4.4 speed may give Maye the deep threat he lacked last year. Maye also has good wheels (7.8 YPC on 54 rushes) and loves to scramble, which may be his ticket to establishing value in single-QB leagues.