Rookie QB Drake Maye faces a tough test against the Texans in Week 6

• The Patriots are going to be a rookie Drake Maye: After a 1-4 start and problems on offense, New England is moving to the bench Jacoby Brissett in favor of the third overall selection in 2024 Drake Mayehoping for that much-needed spark.

• Before a tough debut test: Maye’s transition to the NFL will be a challenge behind a struggling offensive line and against a formidable Texans pass rush.

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

After a 1-4 start that saw them finish 26th in EPA per game and 31st in points scored, the New England Patriots traded quarterback Jacoby Brissett in favor of Drake Maye, the third overall pick in the draft 2024, benched in hopes he can provide the spark this team desperately needs.

Brissett’s bench move is somewhat surprising, but not in the usual sense. His performance in the first five games was poor enough to warrant a move. He completed just 57.2% of his passes for 734 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception – a pick-six by Fred Warner.

His passing mark so far this season is just 177, which saw him complete a season-high 21 completions last week against the Dolphins. He’s only recorded three big throws compared to six turnover-worthy plays, with most of those mistakes coming in the last two weeks. All three of his big throws came in the last two games, while five of his six turnover plays came in Week 4 against the 49ers.

This resulted in a passing grade of just 56.0, 25th out of 30 quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks this season.

Brissett being benched is particularly surprising because the Patriots had held off on playing Drake Mayewith the aim of not putting him in a difficult situation before the team could improve enough to create a better environment for his development.

The Patriots’ offense was razor-thin Hunter Heinrich He led the team with just 180 receiving yards (109 of which came in Week 2 against Seattle). Demario Douglas is next at 153 yards, but has yet to exceed 69 yards in a game. The highest receiving grade in the team belongs to Kayshon Boutte at 66.7 despite only scoring four goals all season. Kendrick Bournewho missed the start of the season, returned against the Dolphins and contributed just one catch for 6 yards.

And then there is the offensive line, arguably the weakest in the league.

With a team pass blocking rating of 47.7, the Patriots rank 30th in the NFL, ahead of the Saints and Rams. Their average pressure time of 2.39 seconds is the second-worst in the league, while only the Browns and Seahawks have allowed more total pressures than the Pats’ 84.

Through five weeks, New England’s quarterbacks have been knocked down on 26.4% of their dropbacks, the second-worst rate in the league, behind only the Browns. The offensive line has allowed 59 pressures in under 2.5 seconds, tied for third-worst with the Giants.

Surprisingly, opposing defenses haven’t blitzed often, with the Patriots only being exposed to a blitz on 30.8% of dropbacks, ranking 22nd in the league.

Injuries were a problem, e.g Cole Strange hasn’t played yet this season due to injury, and David Andrews was recently placed on season-ending IR with a shoulder injury. Sidy Sow also missed time due to injury, which forces him out Michael Onwenu moving on the line a lot more than expected.

As it stands, this is the offensive line the Patriots are expected to employ when they take on the Texans on Sunday.

While Lowe’s pass-blocking stat appears strong, it is heavily influenced by an outstanding game against the Dolphins last week in which he allowed no pressures in 41 pass-blocking snaps and posted a grade of 90.5 – his best performance his three-year career. Without this game, his pass blocking grade drops to 64.7. And meLike several others on the Patriots’ offense, he has missed time this season due to injury.

Other potential contributors include: Michael Jordan (75.9 pass blocking grade), Caedan Wallace (48.6) and Demontrey Jacobs (28.5). Given those struggles, it’s likely Maye will be under significant pressure early against a Texans defense that ranks eighth in pass-rush productivity over the past five weeks.

So how worried should Patriots fans be about Maye’s debut against a potent Texans pass rush? At North Carolina Last season, Maye achieved a passing grade of 91.7 when shooting clean. However, under pressure, this grade dropped to 61.3. While this may sound low, it actually ranked 19th out of 162 qualifying quarterbacks. Maye was pressured on 29.4% of his dropbacks, ranking him 52nd in the same group.

During five weeks in the NFL, Derek Carr leads all quarterbacks with a 79.1 passing grade when under pressure, with only three other qualified quarterbacks earning a passing grade of at least 70.0 in these situations. If Drake MayeSince his success grade of 61.3 under college pressure could be directly transferred to the NFL, he would be the seventh best passer in such scenarios.

However, expecting this level of performance is a tall order. The best college quarterback from last season is under pressure Bo Nixachieved a passing grade of 91.2 in these situations. Still, in five NFL games, Nix has a passing grade of just 31.3 when pressured, ranking him 27th out of 34 quarterbacks with at least 20 dropbacks under pressure. This goes to show that success under pressure in college doesn’t always translate seamlessly to the NFL.

Maye’s performance on the blitz was even better, with an 81.3 passing grade against five or more rushers, which ranked him 20th nationally last season. If that grade carried over to the NFL, he would be second best CJ Stroud through five games this season.

The ability of this stat to translate to the NFL is mixed for Maye’s fellow rookies. last season, Bo Nix And Jayden Daniels were the top quarterbacks in the country in blitz mode, with Nix earning a 90.6 passing grade and Daniels earning a 90.1. However, in five NFL games, Nix has only managed a 53.6 grade on blitzes (27th of 32 quarterbacks with at least 20 such dropbacks), while Daniels has had more success with a 65.6 (10th).

Caleb Williamswho scored a mark of 83.5 against blitz in college (13th), also struggled to maintain that performance in the pros, achieving a mark of 52.4 (28th). What’s notable is that each of these quarterbacks had better blitz grades in college than Maye, yet they still faced challenges adapting to NFL defenses.

Given the Patriots’ offensive woes, it’s understandable to wonder if it’s too early to start Drake Mayeespecially against a defense like the Texans. While Maye has shown success handling pressure in college, the performances of his fellow rookies suggest that transferring that success to the NFL is far from guaranteed.