Patriots Mailbag: Finding a No. 1 wide receiver for Drake Maye – Yahoo

Patriots Mailbag: Finding a No. 1 wide receiver for Drake Maye within the muse looked on NBC Sports actions Boston

The New England Patriots contain some momentum entering their Week 9 showdown with the Tennessee Titans. After taking down the New York Jets at dwelling, they’ll head to Nashville trying to search out his or her third salvage of the campaign.

Prior to we shift our focal point to Sunday’s game, we now contain received some mailbag inquiries to respond to. Let’s jump in. . .

Feels as although Drake Maye has a exact likelihood to play on Sunday, John. We had been educated on Wednesday that Maye could be limited to 30 minutes at note, which appeared to display cloak he used to be in Part 3 of the NFL’s concussion protocol.

Maye could conceivably fetch through that phase and pass the splendid two phases sooner than Sunday’s game in Nashville. Jerod Mayo indicated in his Wednesday presser that the team hoped to know late within the week whether or now now not they’d contain Maye accessible to them.

That, to me, is essential. Within the event that they feel there’s a tight likelihood Maye could play against the Titans, they ought to be working on the offensive game belief below the presumption he’ll be wholesome. If it turns out that he’s now now not cleared, then you simply tackle the initiate up of the game the means they handled the splendid three quarters of their salvage over the Jets: Adjust a game belief constructed for Maye to handiest fit Brissett.

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There are adversarial performs and tips that every and each gamers know well from working on them the total means attend to training camp so it be now now not as although the team could be running a severely varied belief depending on the signal-caller within the attend of heart. But they ought to be in a neighborhood to tweak things — and rapidly — if it turns out Maye cannot play. That is allotment of the finest thing about having a former with as significant backup trip as Brissett has. Nothing he hasn’t had to make before.

Extremely doubt that, even at 3-5, the Bengals ought to deal Higgins. Lot of season left. They most frequently’re firmly in their championship competition window. As a free agent, although? He ought to be near the head of their listing. Even when he’s now now not a appropriate “No. 1” by some requirements, he would give them an exterior-the-numbers presence and contested-derive winner that they make now now not contain at the second. They’re going to contain money to utilize and a young quarterback who will contain, by the quit of the season, confirmed passable promise to support free agents with alternatives to settle Foxboro.

Could well well possibly be gripping if the Patriots would favor to pass that route within the offseason, or within the event that they’d moderately alternate a haul and hand over essential amounts of cash for a receiver in a Tyreek Hill-model alternate.

The free-agent reduce of wideouts for 2026 is extra spectacular than subsequent one year’s class. The names encompass Ja’Marr Go, Terry McLaurin, Garrett Wilson, Drake London, DK Metcalf, Chris Olave and Deebo Samuel. If there’s a team accessible that is now now not willing to pay its significant person receiver before stated receiver will get into the splendid one year of his deal, could the Patriots alternate away picks to land the participant and then prolong him on a mountainous-money deal? Could well well possibly be rate a stare later this coming offseason, possibly after the draft.

Fill it has to end attend appropriate down to what form of participant is equipped to the Patriots, wherever they take a seat within the draft. If there’s a significant person-caliber tackle accessible, as spectacular as Lowe has been at events this one year, it might possibly most likely even be now now not easy to pass.

It’s gripping to me, SoxNation, that receivers taken within the head 10 of the draft in latest years contain in actual fact looked take care of better investments than tackles taken in that identical range. That is within the splendid decade or so, as a minimum. We did a in actual fact floor-level peep on that very topic during Zolak and Bertrand nowadays, and it makes sense. Given where the college game has long past — fewer streak-heavy programs, fewer appropriate pass-blocking units given the upward thrust of the RPO, extra passing — it will near as shrimp surprise that the fellows catching passes could be extra polished than the fellows blocking for the passers.

Not doable to bid. They’d take care of him to be on the discipline. They clearly made an effort to work him into the game splendid week by getting him on the discipline for kick returns a week within the past. And I know they aloof imagine in his means. But he aloof has to work his means into being a reliable participant offensively before he starts taking snaps away from gamers take care of Kendrick Bourne, DeMario “Pop” Douglas and Kayshon Boutte. Every time Ja’Lynn Polk is out of the NFL’s concussion protocol, that is one other receiver he’d be contending with for work.

I like it be safe to bid a pair of things are at play with Douglas’ workload, Brad.

It did seem as although the Jets had been paying end attention to him on Sunday — a pair of gamers jumped his path to inspire initiating up the deep allotment of the discipline for Kayshon Boutte’s 34-yard hold late within the fourth quarter. Whereas he had a tranquil day against the Jaguars in Week 7, he aloof appears to generate extra within the process of defensive difficulty than every other Patriots wideout.

But Douglas also appears to be extra productive with Drake Maye on the discipline. He seen nine targets against the Texans when Maye made his first initiate up. And he matched that focal point on total against the Jets in Week 3 when Maye entered late and threw Douglas’ means three events on eight attempts. If Maye is in a neighborhood to play on Sunday in Tennessee, possibly that’ll mean extra within the process of appears to be like for the shiftiest of Patriots receivers.

Per chance it used to be Invoice Belichick’s response to the alternate, but it no doubt surprises me that people are stunned by that return for Joshua Uche. Here’s a world in which gorgeous reliable gamers in contract years are going for conditional Day 3 picks or late-round pick swaps (DeAndre Hopkins, Diontae Johnson).

The return for Uche, who has five sacks in 22 video games the splendid two years and will likely be a free agent within the offseason, wasn’t sudden. He could play well for the Chiefs in a environment where he’ll peep extra evident pass-speeding scenarios. But this is now now not a deal that has ruffled feathers within the locker room on tale of the return.

Good-attempting passable! I make now now not imagine the Patriots peep him because the particular No. 1 they in actual fact want. In my thought, he’s a powerful No. 2 or a terribly reliable No. 3. Alternate for him — and it didn’t tag Baltimore significant so that you would fetch no argument for me if the Patriots did the same — and he’d potentially be a condo for a team that likely is now now not going to salvage many video games within the second half of the one year. I notice now now not doing it.

The Patriots need any individual who is an explosive risk, who can salvage in one-on-one scenarios, who they’ll lock up for a pair of years. Johnson in actual fact is now now not that. But at that tag, as soon as more, I don’t contain faulted them for giving him a strive.

Smartly, Celtics Pride, Uche’s defensive playing time had dipped. And he wasn’t a component on special groups. He carried out 13 special-groups snaps within the first two weeks of the season. He’s carried out six since. He’s a free agent after the season and the Patriots — because they ought to be full of life in free company this coming offseason — likely weren’t getting a compensatory pick for him.

I like within the event that they wished to raise Mathis, they’d’ve found out a mode to fetch him on the roster with or with out the Uche deal. This used to be about getting one thing for a participant who wasn’t in actual fact contributing and used to be about to pass away for nothing.

No timeframe left on those deals, Enny. In actuality all are leases, which limits their tag on the initiating market. Sounds take care of the competition to land those gamers wasn’t smoldering hot, both. Assign those things together and likewise you contain some low, low costs for gamers who’ve confirmed to contain treasured skill units.

I believed calling the offensive line a “strength” used to be moderately significant, SVN. Whereas they’ve improved, in my peep, in pass safety… their running backs aloof averaged about 2.0 yards per carry. And there had been two missed blocks on the splendid play that Rhamondre Stevenson used to be in a neighborhood to erase by plowing into the quit zone with the inspire of pulling guard Michael Jordan and motioning tight quit Hunter Henry. They’re making improvements to.

One participant who I like has in actual fact outplayed expectations could be Vederian Lowe. On the 34-yarder to Boutte at the quit of the Jets game, he laid heavy hands on All-Pro defensive lineman Quinnen Williams and stopped him in his tracks. If Mayo used to be referencing the left tackle location particularly, you can possibly argue Lowe has been, when wholesome, a “strength” relative to the comfort of the offensive line.

A success matters to me, Trygve. Gamers ought to stare outcomes. Typically those are viewed despite losses. But when the losses pile up, while you happen to search out ways now now not to salvage, as this team has been doing, it will likely be now now not easy to undergo in mind uncomplicated how one can salvage. They’ll’t let that pick into their DNA. Whereas I notice draft space is treasured — severely within the event that they’ll parlay their first-round draft space exact into a pair of treasured picks — to me, for this team, getting a handful of wins matters. Almost lawful so they know what it feels take care of. Gamers and coaches alike.

That you can prefer it to change into routine within the kill. Why now now not make every little thing to your vitality to initiate up that now? And within the event that they make now now not contain the No. 1 or 2 or 3 total pick? Good locations extra tension on Eliot Wolf and Co. to make their jobs at a high level and create essentially the most of the picks they make contain.

I’ve stated recurrently I like Drake Maye used to be the handiest quarterback prospect on this draft. Within the event that they’d ended up with Bo Nix, in my peep, they’d’ve been worse off. Greatly so.

If it be a stud tight quit, possibly. These discussions in actual fact hinge on the abilities accessible. Let’s peep if we can fetch one of our one year-round draft experts on Subsequent Pats rapidly to crumple where things take a seat at some of these positions now that we’re lawful about into November.

That could surprise me a shrimp. Josh McDaniels is well larger than succesful. Not handiest as a play-designer and play-caller but quarterback-developer, too. But I like Mayo will ought to plug in his contain course as he tries to forge a route that is varied from his predecessor’s.

Let’s peep how things plug with Alex Van Pelt, although. He deserves lots of credit, in my peep, for helping make Drake Maye. Changing offenses, concepts, play-calls, and loads others. for a young passer most frequently is now now not a reliable thought. If he continues to play well this season, you can possibly argue it might possibly most likely even be a immoral thought to mess with what’s working. At that time the variable they’d likely ought to adjust frequently is the means around him, now now not which coach is in his ear.