Ready Or Not: Patriots Inserting Drake Maye In Tough Spot Against Texans

Drake Maye will feel the rush.

The third overall pick reportedly will replace veteran Jacoby Brissett behind center when the New England Patriots host the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

There are softer landing spots on New England’s schedule, no doubt. Following their Week 6 contest against Texans, the Patriots will face the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears. Any of those teams would have been like sticking pillows under the second story window.

Instead, the Patriots sent Maye up to the roof.

Houston is one of three NFL teams which has multiple players with 20 or more quarterback pressures. Defensive ends Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr, among others, have wrecked signal-callers. No defense in the NFL has a lower completion percentage rate. That type of pressure and coverage has helped the Texans allow the fourth-fewest total yards and third-fewest passing yards per game.

They’ve done it to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Chicago Bears rookie Caleb Williams, among others. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 181 yards and was sacks four times in Houston’s lone loss.

Allen, who Maye drew comparisons to during the pre-draft process, served as the most recent victim. He was swarmed all game and completed just nine of his 30 passes in a Week 5 loss. Anderson Jr., the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, finished with a team-high 16 pressures. Fellow defensive linemen Tim Settle, Hunter and Mario Edwards Jr. weren’t far behind with 15 pressures each, per Pro Football Focus.

Williams was pressured on 48% of his dropbacks and sacked seven times against the Texans in Week 2.

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Oh yeah, and Houston now will have the benefit of going against New England’s offensive line, which has allowed the highest pressure rate in the NFL (48.3%), per Next Gen Stats. PFF ranked the Patriots as the second-worst team in pass blocking metrics. The offensive line gave up 17 sacks in its first four games.

Buckle up, rook.