New England Patriots News: QB Battle and Team Outlook

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00:00A new NFL season is on the horizon.

00:08It is cut day around the National Football League.

00:10How many quarterbacks are the New England Patriots going to keep?

00:14Or which quarterback is going to be named the starter for week number one for the Pats?

00:20If there is anybody that can decipher the madness this preseason has brought in the

00:24quarterback room for the Patriots in New England, it's George Palecci of Nessun joining

00:30us here on this Tuesday on the Early Line on Sports Grid.

00:34Georgie, as always, we thank you for your time.

00:37A ton of Patriots conversations come your way here in these next 10 minutes.

00:42Donnie, Benny, always great talking with you guys, especially talking the madness that's

00:47happening in New England.

00:48I'll give a little hint, though.

00:50Don't start Drake May because this offensive line sucks, but we'll get into it.

00:55Yeah, that's really where it seems to be, George.

00:58It was what the thought was entering camp and preseason when Jerrod Mayo said Jacoby

01:04Brissette is our most pro-ready quarterback.

01:06He is going to be number one.

01:08And both Donnie and I said, don't point the finger at Drake May when there's so many other

01:13issues to let the rookie QB take the hit and the onus from the very start.

01:19And then the preseason happened.

01:20In all three preseason games, Jerrod Mayo elected to play all four quarterbacks for

01:25the pass.

01:26It ended on Sunday night in Washington against the Commanders.

01:31Jacoby Brissette won possession, was injured.

01:34Drake May went out there and looked pretty good.

01:36But even after the game, Jerrod Mayo had this to say following the preseason finale for

01:41New England.

01:42So he was asked, you know, if Jacoby Brissette gets hurt, is Drake May the guy that'll come

02:09into the game?

02:10And Jerrod Mayo goes, 100%, Drake May is our second best quarterback.

02:13And then there was a follow-up from Phil Perry, who does a great job covering the team going,

02:18is that a yes?

02:19And Jerrod Mayo said, I don't know.

02:20I need to watch film.

02:21What do you need to watch film of, Jerrod?

02:23He needs to watch film of this offensive line.

02:25He can't go out and admit it because I believe he will lose a locker room.

02:29He will lose the team because they will go, wait, wait, wait, hold on, hold on.

02:32We're showing up, putting our bodies on the line, getting our butts kicked to win football

02:36games.

02:37The best quarterback to give us the best chance is Drake May, but you won't put him in because

02:41you don't trust the offensive line.

02:42So again, you're not trying to win games.

02:44And honestly, that's the worst kept secret.

02:46We're saying the quiet thing out loud right now, because everything is all rotating around

02:51Drake May and his success, because if Drake May pans out, then the Patriots have their

02:56guy and their quarterback for the next eight to 10 years.

02:59But if they rush him behind a bad offensive line and all the progress he's made, because

03:03coming out of UNC, he was raw, awful footwork, bad mechanics, not good at processing.

03:09And this was a guy who said, we'll have to wait a year or two to really see paybacks

03:13and a return on that high draft pick.

03:15He's come so far.

03:16We talk about that commander's game.

03:18He was making plays with poise, moving around the pocket without a clean pocket ever because

03:22offensive line was makeshift due to injuries.

03:25But with anticipatory throws, making multiple reads, delivering the ball downfield, being

03:30accurate, his best throw of the night was negated because his left tackle couldn't

03:34line up properly on the left side of the line of scrimmage, rolling left, throwing across

03:39his body as a righty, finding a dart to KJ Osborne, who made a great play after the catch

03:44for a touchdown.

03:45But you cannot put Drake May behind this offensive line.

03:49It's not because they're bad.

03:50And I'm not afraid of him playing football.

03:52It's they don't give him a fighting chance at Bengals, home against Seattle, at the Jets,

03:59at San Francisco.

04:01Those are their first four games.

04:02Come home, Dolphins, Texans, two elite defensive lines and defenses.

04:06We'll see how healthy Miami is.

04:08On the road out London, I don't want his first start coming in a neutral site.

04:12Everything changes on London.

04:13I don't think he should play until week nine, but it's not because of Drake May.

04:16He is ready right now.

04:18He is their best quarterback.

04:19This offensive line isn't ready and this receiving group isn't ready.

04:22Jalen Polk, Taekwon Thornton, KJ Osborne, that's your top three.

04:26That's not good for any rookie quarterback.

04:29He's only 21 years old.

04:30He only had two full seasons of starting at UNC.

04:33He's very young.

04:34He's not a Jaden Daniels, a six-year player.

04:36That's 24.

04:37He's not a Trevor Lawrence.

04:38That was a three-year starter.

04:40You can't compare him to these guys.

04:41Even to Caleb Williams.

04:42Yeah, similar in age, but started a season at OU, then of course played two years at

04:46USC.

04:47You cannot compare him to these guys with his football experience.

04:50And the most important thing, guys, is you do not want him to digress back to UNC Drake

04:54May.

04:55You want him to keep progressing to be an NFL Drake May.

05:00It's such good points all the way around, George, because if you can take a look and

05:03say, okay, what are the Atlanta Falcons doing?

05:04Michael Penix comes in.

05:05He has had a lot of starts in college, but you have that Pro Bowl quarterback ahead of

05:09him so he can still learn about the NFL.

05:11Even if you go back to the Green Bay days 25 years ago, Brett Favre and you take a look

05:15at Aaron Rodgers, like, okay, well, he can sit behind him here, no pressure.

05:19And they did the same thing with Aaron Rodgers going right over to love.

05:22But now you're looking at a team that's saying, okay, we drafted a quarterback high.

05:26We're expected to be bad.

05:27You have to let that young quarterback out there spin.

05:29And sometimes you just date yourself right back to the Texans when they got David Carr.

05:33All right.

05:34We have high expectations.

05:35But the team was so bad around them.

05:36Number one, you're going to get him injured.

05:38But number two, all of those bad habits that you can gain because you don't have confidence

05:42that you can even make it, George, to your second, let alone third read here, you're

05:46just dumping the football off.

05:48That's the problem that you have.

05:49So let me ask you this question.

05:51The landing spot must be later in the season for Drake May.

05:54Sure.

05:55You're right about this.

05:56The locker room looks to you.

05:57And similar to what I talk about a lot with the Las Vegas Raiders is the reason why that

06:00head coach got the job is because he looks those players in the face and say, you're

06:03the best man right now for this job.

06:05You're going to go out there and play football.

06:07How do you sell that to the locker room?

06:08And also, is there a chance in your mind that Drake May, week number one, he is your starting

06:12quarterback?

06:14I don't think there's a chance.

06:15And again, what we've heard all offseason long, that's a great point, McDonough, is

06:18that they kept saying, hopefully this unit, this offensive line unit we see against the

06:22Commanders, that solidifies the five guys we'll have up front.

06:25Well, the Darien Lowe got hurt.

06:27So that moved your starting right tackle to the left side and moved your starting right

06:29guard to right tackle and inserted a rookie at right guard.

06:33But then during the Commanders game, they're starting left guard city.

06:36So left the locker room after the game in a walking boot because he was injured.

06:40They still don't know the five guys up front until they know the five guys up front.

06:45Drake May will not start.

06:46And guess what?

06:47They have less than two weeks until they're on the road, placing a facing a loo on a remote

06:51defense in Cincinnati, trying to keep up with a Joe Burrow offense.

06:56But to get to your point later, and that's my thing, too, I go back and forth.

07:00Isn't it on a head coach to go publicly?

07:03And I'm sure he's saying this behind closed doors.

07:05This offensive line is not ready to protect any quarterback that'll get them to wake up.

07:09That'll be some tough love.

07:11That'll have these guys who are paid professionals and adults to look within themselves and go,

07:15how do I be the best left tackle, right tackle, so on and so forth.

07:18But they don't know the best five guys up front.

07:21And until they get that, they can't be honest with either quarterback they put there.

07:25And here's the thing to admit to the tough thing as well, Donnie.

07:29If he says we're not playing Drake May because of this offensive line, what did you Kobe

07:32Brissett say?

07:33What am I?

07:34Just a piece of meat?

07:35Which he is.

07:36He's a bridge quarterback.

07:37You're on a one year deal, Jacoby.

07:38You don't turn the ball over.

07:39You're not that great.

07:40Drake May is a future.

07:41This is everything is a three, four year plan.

07:43Because also this is a four win team right now with Drake May.

07:48Maybe they win six.

07:49They won't actually be contenders or a serious team in the playoffs two and a half, three

07:53years from now.

07:56A four and 13 record in the 24th and final year under Bill Belichick in Foxborough.

08:02Four and a half is the win total for New England entering the first year of the Gerard Mayo

08:07era.

08:08It is the lowest win total in the National Football League.

08:11So Georgie, in the final minute of this segment, whether it's Jacoby, whether it's Drake, what

08:17is your expectation for the Pats in 2024?

08:21Four wins.

08:22They'll win week two at Seattle.

08:24Maybe they win neutral site and beat the Jaguars.

08:26But keep in mind, this is an offense with a really bad offensive line, inexperienced

08:29receivers.

08:30We don't know who will be the quarterback for 17 games, let alone for the next four

08:34weeks.

08:35They lost Christian Barr more indefinitely as he's dealing with blood clots.

08:37I hope he's OK, because that's more than football.

08:39That's life.

08:40And they traded away Matt Judon.

08:42They got they lost their two best defensive players.

08:45This was a top five defense coming in.

08:47That defense drops to top 10.

08:48Well, if you have an offense that can't support you, how does it help the defense?

08:52They can only do so much.

08:53There's so much at stake here.

08:55But then also just look at how their schedule lays out.

08:57Two West Coast trips facing a really great division in the AFC West.

09:01Even tough games when they go out after their really late bye week.

09:05A rookie head coach, a rookie offensive play caller, a rookie defensive coordinator.

09:10There's a lot here.

09:11This is four wins again.

09:13But you know what, Ben?

09:14You know what, Donnie?

09:15That gets you.

09:16Campbell, the left tackle from LSU and Patriots fans have to love that offense.

09:20It sucks, but they have to love it.

09:21Best tackle in college football.

09:24Georgie knows what's up.

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