Dan Orlovsky has slammed the New England Patriots’ decision to start Drake Maye at quarterback against the Houston Texans this weekend.
The Patriots made the call to turn to the third overall pick in the 2024 draft after slipping to 1-4 on the season with veteran QB Jacoby Brissett struggling behind a weak offensive line.
But Orlovsky, who played in the NFL for the Detroit Lions, Houston, Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and now works for ESPN as an analyst, believes the call to turn to Maye could do more harm than good.
Report: Rookie QB Drake Maye to start for Patriots vs. Texans: https://t.co/1qgFirfJw7 pic.twitter.com/zqhKHZrToF
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 8, 2024
He told ESPN’s NFL Live: “This is a bad decision in New England. One, their offensive line is the worst pass-blocking offensive line in the NFL. Right now, it is the worst. Jacoby Brissett, who has been their starting quarterback, he has been pressured on 47 per cent of his dropback passes. That 47 percent is the highest number for a quarterback since 2006.
“You want to take a rookie quarterback and set him up to struggle? Put him behind this New England offensive line.
“On top of that, it’s a bottom probably five or six group wide-receiver-wise when it comes to getting open. There’s a couple things I always say young quarterbacks need to go play well and survive. They need to have a really good scheme and play-caller. Alex Van Pelt, I like his scheme, there’s been moments when he’s shown to be a good play-caller, still unknown. Really good offensive line, really good skill players. Again, New England has at least two of those three missing. This is not the right choice.”
Brissett was 79-of-135 for 696 yards across the first five weeks of the season but his performance in Sunday’s 15-10 defeat to the Miami Dolphins was criticised by new Patriots head coach Jarod Mayo.
He said: “It just wasn’t good enough. I thought we played well enough defensively and on special teams to win. As the quarterback, he understands this, he touches the ball on every single play, and we didn’t score enough points to win the game.”
