Jerod Mayo let two big considerations dictate the Patriots' QB battle. Drake Maye's starting shows that won

Jerod Mayo had a plan.

His principles were clear, even if the timetable was not clear.

The New England Patriots' first-year head coach would allow veteran journeyman Jacoby Brissett and rookie Drake Maye to compete for the starting quarterback position through 2024.

As long as Brissett was ahead, he would start. When that was no longer apparent, Maye was the guy.

“If he beats Jacoby, there’s really nothing left to say — and hopefully he continues to get better,” Mayo told Yahoo Sports during a training camp visit in August. “When I talk about competitions, it’s not just in training camp. It takes place every day throughout the season, in the meeting room, during viewing and on the pitch. So you always have to have a sense of urgency about someone taking your job away.

“We talk about competition all the time.”

As frustration mounted and the oft-discussed bumps in the road became steeper, the Patriots decided to promote Maye to the starter role this week against the Houston Texans. A person with knowledge of the decision confirmed to Yahoo Sports on Tuesday afternoon.

The decision makes sense considering the Patriots are about to win and want to win. But it raises several questions when it comes to how to best prepare the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft for a long, successful career.

Mayo acknowledged that tension Monday on the eve of the transition. The coach no longer confirmed that Brissett was his surefire starter. Instead, he proceeded to explain his dilemma.

“It's natural for fans and media to say, 'Well, we have a good quarterback waiting, too,'” Mayo said. “At the same time, our mentality is, 'How do we develop him?' How do we get the guys on the field around him to develop and move forward from there?'”

The sentiment echoed Mayo's preseason announcement, when he announced Brissett as the starter and highlighted the difficulty between building a future foundation and impending victories.

“The hard part is thinking short-term and long-term at the same time,” Mayo said Aug. 29. “However, as an organization, we feel like Jacoby gives us our best chance to win right now.”

Five games later, the Patriots no longer believe Brissett now gives them their best chance to win. It is not the best option in the short or long term.

But as Maye starts, fans have to ask themselves: Is this defensible short-term decision also the Patriots' best long-term move?

How has Jacoby Brissett performed so far as the Patriots' quarterback?

The performance metrics do not reflect Brissett well.

The Patriots' 2016 third-round pick took the job with 79 games of experience, including 48 starts. He knew the offense that coordinator Alex Van Pelt ran and had a mental foundation of pro defenses to draw from.

According to the Patriots coaches, talent can only come into play at the beginning of the season when an offensive structure is established.

“Jacoby is better suited right now with his skill set and toolbox to handle a lot of the issues that arise,” Van Pelt told Yahoo Sports during training camp. “Drake is still learning.”

But Brissett's experience wasn't enough to overcome the combination of his own skills and a tight supply of offensive talent.

Through five games, he has completed 58.5% of passes for two touchdowns and one interception, putting his 74.2 passer rating 29th in the league.

The Patriots' offense therefore ranked 31st in points scored (12.4) and total yardage (250.8 per game).

Only the Miami Dolphins, whose quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is on injured reserve after a concussion, have scored fewer points than New England.

“We are in a solutions-oriented business and we don’t play good football,” Mayo said. “We have to look at every single unit and every single player and figure out how we can use that squad to go out and win games.”

Mayo added that Brissett's performance in this week's loss to the Dolphins “just wasn't good enough… I think he would echo the same sentiment that it wasn't good enough.”

Few defend Brissett's findings.

The problem with the Patriots' logic is whether changing the quarterback position is enough to overcome the myriad other problems on the roster.

Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson? Don't expect a soft landing for Maye

According to Next Gen Stats, only two quarterbacks were sacked more times than Brissett's 17 times, and no quarterback faced more pressure than Brissett's 50.0%, with the metric defined as “the percentage of dropbacks on which at least one pass rusher had influence.” has.” quarterback before the pass is thrown, resulting in a rush, hit or sack.”

Brissett's average throwing time of 2.9 seconds is the ninth slowest in the league. But throwing quickly often requires open targets, and Brissett's targets have generated less separation (3.2 yards per throw) than those of 27 quarterbacks in the league. As a result, despite the increased pocket time, Brissett has thrown tight windows on 16.3% of his throws, ninth-most in the league.

Expect Maye to face similar pressure.

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With veteran center David Andrews on injured reserve, veteran left tackle Chukwuma Okora leaving the team in the first month of the season, and other injuries, a rotating cast of offensive linemen has not only the highest, but also the highest quarterback pressure rate (48.3%) allows unblocked pressure rate (13.5%) this season, according to Next Gen Stats.

The Patriots allowed the most pressure from left tackle, center and right guard. Not surprisingly, the Patriots rank last in pass block win rate according to ESPN's metric, which measures the protection a quarterback receives.

Maye's first start will come against the Texans, who rank fourth-best in pass-rush win percentage, with Danielle Hunter leading the league in pressures and Will Anderson ranking seventh.

The Patriots are hoping Mayes' arm talent can lead the defense to play more honestly downfield while his athleticism helps overcome some of the defense's deficiencies. Imagine a preseason play where an edge rusher didn't bite into a bootleg and instead pressured Maye as quickly as possible. The rookie changed his arm angle to make the pass to tight end Mitchell Wilcox to avoid a negative play.

Could he do that again?

“Everyone says, 'Whoa, this guy has a gun,' or 'This guy is so smart,'” Mayo told Yahoo Sports. “But what can he do when things don’t go right? And how do you turn your nose up on a plane? Drake certainly has the ability to do that.”

With the Patriots plane trying to avoid 1-5 tailspin, Maye will need that.