Drafting Drake Maye with the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft was just the beginning.
They now had a quarterback on their roster with immense talent, but developing him was going to be the true test.
And New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo thought that Alex Van Pelt was the right man for the job.
Now through ten games this season, with Maye having started five of them, the quarterback has shown a lot of improvement in key areas.
And because of that, Mayo gave Van Pelt very high praise on Wednesday.
"Yeah, he's been huge. I say, look, there's no one in this organization that deserves more credit as far as what Drake has been able to do on the football field than Alex Van Pelt," the head coach said. "When we interviewed Alex, I would say when we interviewed all of the coaches that are here, one of the prerequisites or requirements was a guy who was level-headed, a guy who believes in working together, and a guy who doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low. That's Alex, and I appreciate that."
The room really loves playing for Van Pelt, and that includes Maye.
"I think he’s just a confidence booster for a quarterback," the rookie explained. "You love playing for an offensive coordinator like AVP [Alex Van Pelt]. He’s positive, and also at the same time, he’ll coach you hard. He’s done it; he’s played quarterback in this league and at a high level, so he knows what needs to be done and the tasks. He knows it’s a tall task as well."
However, Maye took a moment to also mention two other important people that have helped him.
"Him and T.C. [McCartney] both kind of have the quarterback minds, and Coach [Ben] McAdoo," he added. "So, those three all know what it’s like, how hard it is to play quarterback in this league and give a lot of leeway, but at the same time, know what needs to be done.
There are still rookie mistakes that Maye has made, but it's clear that he has grown a lot. And he wants to make it clear that it's thanks to Van Pelt.
