Patriots fans have questioned when Drake Maye’s time to start should come since the Patriots took him with the third overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. 

Following the preseason, where Drake Maye shined, Patriots experts including Fred Kirsch and Evan Lazar pushed for Maye to start Week 1. NBC Sports Boston’s Phill Perry said, “It’s going to be really hard for them to just sit Drake Maye just because you’re looking at the offensive line and saying, ‘Well, they’re not ready.’” Maye has not started a game this season, so when should Drake Maye start?

The offensive line’s play through the first two weeks of the season has been lousy. Nearly every player on the line has given up multiple sacks, quarterback pressures, hurries and hits. Patriots starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett has been taking multiple hits per game which could be detrimental to his career. The amount of hits Brissett has been bearing this season could cause a serious injury, which would leave Maye as the starting quarterback.

When head coach Jerod Mayo announced Jacoby Brissett was going to be a starting quarterback, experts thought Week 5 for Maye was the most reasonable start date. They said this because they didn’t believe Mayo would start Brissett for only one game, so Week 2 was off the table. Week 3 against the Jets was a short week, which means Maye wouldn’t get the preparation that would be necessary for a rookie starting his first game. Usually, a 10-day week would be the perfect time to start a rookie for the first time, however with the opponent being raining NFC champion San Fransisco 49ers it wouldn’t make sense, with San Fransisco being a far superior team. 

If he starts Week 5, Maye would play 13 games which is the typical amount of games in a college season. When rookie quarterbacks start the entire season, they tend to “fall off” towards the end of the season. This is due to the fact that they do not play as many games in college, high school or Pop Warner. Starting him in Week 5 should prevent him from burning out. 

Going into the season, the argument was that the offensive line was going to be settled in the fifth week rather than in the first. This has proven false, as in Week 3’s blowout loss to the New York Jets, the line gave up seven sacks, which is the most sacks a Patriots team has given up this century. With all that being said the line should be getting two pivotal pieces back, going into week 5. Another reason Maye should start in Week 5 is because Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagoviloa is out with a concussion. This makes the Week 5 matchup against Miami a winnable game. 

There is not a set date circled on Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo’s calendar for Drake Maye’s first start; however, Week 5 is the best option for the third overall pick to make his NFL and Patriots debut.