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

• Patriots turn to rookie Drake Maye: After a 1-4 start and struggles on offense, New England benches Jacoby Brissett in favor of 2024 third-overall pick Drake Maye, hoping for a much-needed spark.

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

• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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

Brissett’s benching is somewhat surprising but not in the usual sense. His performance through the first five games has been lackluster enough to warrant a change. He’s completed just 57.2% of his passes for 734 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception — a pick-six by Fred Warner.

His single-game-high in passing yardage this season is only 177, which came last week against the Dolphins on a season-high 21 completions. He has recorded just three big-time throws compared to six turnover-worthy plays, with most of these mistakes coming in the last two weeks. All three of his big-time throws have come in the last two games, while five of his six turnover-worthy plays occurred in Week 4 against the 49ers.

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

Brissett’s benching is surprising primarily because the Patriots had been holding off on playing Drake Maye, aiming to avoid throwing him into a tough situation before the team could improve enough to provide a better environment for his development.

The Patriots offense has been paper-thin, with Hunter Henry leading the team in receiving yards at just 180 (109 of which came in Week 2 against Seattle). Demario Douglas is next with 153 yards but has yet to surpass 69 yards in a game. The highest receiving grade on the team belongs to Kayshon Boutte at 66.7, though he has seen just four targets all season. Kendrick Bourne, who missed the start of the season, returned against the Dolphins, contributing just one catch for 6 yards.

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

The Patriots' 47.7 team pass-blocking grade ranks 30th in the NFL, ahead of the Saints and Rams. Their 2.39-second average time to pressure is 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 with the Giants for the third-worst mark.

Surprisingly, opposing defenses haven't blitzed often, with the Patriots facing a blitz on just 30.8% of dropbacks, ranking 22nd in the league.

Injuries have been an issue, as Cole Strange has yet to play this season due to injury, and David Andrews was recently placed on season-ending IR with a shoulder injury. Sidy Sow has also missed time due to injury, forcing Michael Onwenu to move around the line a lot more than expected. 

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

While Lowe’s pass-blocking grade appears strong, it's heavily influenced by one standout game against the Dolphins last week, where he allowed zero pressures on 41 pass-blocking snaps and earned a 90.5 grade — the best performance of his three-year career. Without that game, his pass-blocking grade drops to 64.7. And like several others on the Patriots' offensive line, he has missed time due to injury this season.

Other potential contributors include Michael Jordan (75.9 pass-blocking grade), Caedan Wallace (48.6) and Demontrey Jacobs (28.5). Given these struggles, it's likely that Maye will face significant pressure early on against a Texans defense that ranks eighth in pass-rush productivity through five weeks.

So, how concerned should Patriots fans be about Maye's debut against a strong Texans pass rush? At North Carolina last season, Maye earned a 91.7 passing grade when kept clean. However, that grade dropped to 61.3 when pressured. While this might sound low, it actually ranked 19th out of 162 qualifying quarterbacks. Maye was pressured on 29.4% of his dropbacks, which placed him 52nd in the same group.

Through five weeks in the NFL, Derek Carr leads all quarterbacks with a 79.1 grade when under pressure, with only three other qualifying quarterbacks earning a passing grade of at least 70.0 in those situations. If Drake Maye’s 61.3 passing grade under pressure from college translated directly to the NFL, he would rank as the seventh-best passer in such scenarios.

However, expecting that level of performance is a tall order. Last season's top college quarterback under pressure, Bo Nix, earned a 91.2 passing grade in those situations. Yet, through five NFL games, Nix has a passing grade of just 31.3 when pressured, ranking 27th out of 34 quarterbacks with at least 20 pressured dropbacks. This demonstrates that success under pressure in college does not always translate seamlessly to the NFL.

Maye’s performance when blitzed was even stronger, with an 81.3 passing grade when facing five or more rushers, placing him 20th in the nation last season. If this grade carried over to the NFL, he would be second only to C.J. Stroud through five games this season.

The ability of this stat to translate to the NFL has been mixed for Maye’s fellow rookies. Last season, Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels were the top quarterbacks in the country when blitzed, with Nix earning a 90.6 passing grade and Daniels a 90.1. However, through five NFL games, Nix has managed just a 53.6 grade when blitzed (27th out of 32 quarterbacks with at least 20 such dropbacks), while Daniels has seen more success at 65.6 (10th).

Caleb Williams, who earned an 83.5 grade against the blitz in college (13th), has also struggled to maintain that performance in the pros, posting a 52.4 grade (28th). Notably, each of these quarterbacks had higher blitz grades in college than Maye did, yet they’ve encountered challenges adjusting to NFL defenses.

Given the Patriots’ offensive struggles, it’s understandable to question if it’s too soon to start Drake Maye, especially against a defense like the Texans. While Maye has shown success in college when dealing with pressure, the performance of his fellow rookies indicates that translating that success to the NFL is far from guaranteed.