The New England Patriots have concluded their offseason programs and mandatory minicamp sessions at Gillette Stadium this week, meaning players won't return to work on the field together until training camp in late July.
One player that everyone has their eyes on in New England is their third overall pick, quarterback Drake Maye. The former Tar Heel is still repping behind veteran Jacoby Brissett, but he's begun getting opportunities in front of Bailey Zappe, which was a change at minicamp.
NFL insider Albert Breer recently broke down the biggest aspect of Maye's game that the quarterback has improved on since he walked through the doors with the Patriots - his footwork.
"Where they see his progress most is when Maye is able to tie his feet to his throwing motion to the play call, so he’s playing in rhythm. It’s not consistent, which is to be expected, due to the ex-North Carolina signal-caller really having almost no footwork training prior to being drafted. But in those moments, he looks like a guy worthy of being taken with the [third] pick in the draft.
How consistent his fundamentals become will likely determine how willing the team is to put him on the field, plus making sure the changes they’re making with a pretty raw prospect really take is paramount. And regression can happen fast, especially with a player who is out there before he’s ready."
Maye still has a lot of work to do, and for now, he'll just need to keep working on the techniques during this downtime so that it becomes second nature to him when training camp starts. If he's more comfortable in late July and into August, the better his chances are of beating out Brissett to be the Patriots starting quarterback in Week 1.
