For over 25 years, the New England Patriots had two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL leading their offenses in Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady.
However, since Brady left after the 2019 season, New England has struggled to find consistently competent play at the position with Cam Newton, Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe struggling during their tenures as starters.
This offseason, the Patriots added three quarterbacks to the roster by signing veteran Jacoby Brissett and drafting both North Carolina’s Drake Maye and Tennessee’s Joe Milton III.
Recently, ESPN’s Mike Clay ranked position groups of all 32 NFL teams, and New England’s quarterback room was placed 27th in the league.
The rating is probably a fair one, considering no one knows what Maye will look like in the NFL. He could come in and dominate like C.J. Stroud has, he could be an immediate bust or he might even sit to start the year.
On top of that, Brissett has years of experience, and he’s proven to be an NFL quarterback, but he’s not one of the best in the league.
Clay seems to keep all of the teams that will likely start their rookie at some point in 2024 around the same area, as the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders are just two and one spots ahead of New England, respectively. The Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos are just behind the Patriots.
It may take just a few games for these rankings to change, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see New England’s room deserving to move up or down with how many questions there are about their offense.