Rookie quarterback Drake Maye is in for a lot of change as he enters his second season with the New England Patriots.
The team made a lot of changes, starting with the coaching staff. They brought in Mike Vrabel to take over as head coach, and he decided to bring back Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator.
The main concern with these moves is Maye, who had a strong rookie season. Nobody wanted to see him regress with all the changes.
However, former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien explained why that's not a concern for him when speaking with MassLive.
“I think Drake being a young player, I think it’s okay to have a change of system. Plus, you got Josh coming in there who’s a great teacher,” O’Brien told MassLive. “The problem occurs when it keeps changing.
“Now if we were talking 4 or 5 years in, and he’s going on his fourth coordinator, it would be a different answer for me. I would tell you that’s a problem. That’s what you have to avoid. But I think he’ll be fine. I don’t think that’s as big of a deal.”
O'Brien had experience working under McDaniels, serving as an offensive assistant before taking over as offensive coordinator. So, he knows exactly the type of system he is going to bring.
“The offense is complex for a younger guy, because it’s a word offense. Words were associated with the routes,” O’Brien explained. “It is complex for quarterbacks and receivers if you come from a system in college that’s all numbers and not as precise.”
And one of the best examples of McDaniels' ability to develop young quarterbacks is Mac Jones' rookie season.
Jones, under the direction of McDaniels, earned a spot in the 2021 Pro Bowl Games his first year. While the argument can be made that Jones took a serious decline in his following years, it all happened after McDaniels left to take the head coaching job with the Las Vegas Raiders.
O'Brien has faith that Maye will only continue to grow with McDaniels leading the way, and Patriots fans are hoping he is right.
