Drake Maye faces challenge with Patriots’ crop of young WRs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There hasn’t been much positivity in Foxboro over the first seven weeks of the 2024 NFL season. But if there’s been one bright spot for the New England Patriots, it’s their prized rookie quarterback Drake Maye.
Maye, the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft, has looked the part in his first two NFL starts. If he continues to trend upward, the Patriots could have a star signal-caller who can help them regain their reputation as perennial contenders.
The problem? Maye doesn’t have much help around him. Outside of DeMario “Pop” Douglas, who has become a reliable slot receiver, there still aren’t any real weapons in the passing game. Rookie second-round pick Ja’Lynn Polk has had a case of the drops and second-year receiver Kayshon Boutte is already complaining about his lack of targets.
On a new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast, Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry discussed the importance of fixing the wide receiver situation and setting Maye up for success.
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“Job one is developing Drake Maye,” Curran said. “We are now fixated on the travails of the defense. We’ve been fixated on the travails of the offensive line. And Drake Maye’s come in and he’s performed well.
“But when we talk about lasting impacts and issues caused to the most important position on the field and that priority situation with Drake Maye, the wide receiver room, the architecture of the offense and how well and how easily it moves along — like clockwork or like an hourglass — matters. They don’t have the next decade to develop Maye. That’s why it’s important to get these things on point.”
Perry pointed out that heading into the offseason, the Patriots’ wide receiver situation could be even more dire than it was after last year’s tumultuous campaign.
“You would like to think by the end of this year they can look at it and say, ‘OK, we know we still need a true No. 1, but we have three more players at that position that we believe are starting-caliber NFL receivers,’ and I’m not sure they can say that about this group right now,” he said.
“They have Pop Douglas; he’s a starter. I think he’s a true slot, he’s your three. Kayshon Boutte, is he there yet? Is he in the definite starter in the NFL category? I think he’s shown flashes, but if he’s not being consistent in some of the areas that they need to see him be more consistent, I don’t know how you put him there. And Ja’Lynn Polk to me is still TBD as well, even though I thought coming in that he would be starting-caliber.
“If you somehow leave this year with fewer receiver options than you came into it with, that to me is a disaster.”
Also in the episode