Patriots Mailbag: Exploring WR and OT solutions to help Drake Maye

Patriots Mailbag: Exploring WR and OT solutions to help Drake Maye originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Drake Maye mania has taken hold in New England after the rookie’s three-touchdown day against the Texans. But the reality is that the Patriots are 1-5 and have a long way to go before they’re a competitive football team.

How do they get there? We fielded plenty of personnel-related questions in this week’s Mailbag. Let’s get to answering them…

I can tell you the coaching staff still has plenty of belief in Javon Baker’s talent. But he was scratched last weekend against the Texans, and until his practice performance reaches a different level, those game-day absences may continue.

He’s down the depth chart at the moment, behind DeMario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, Kayshon Boutte — a trio Jerod Mayo said has stood out to him lately — and Ja’Lynn Polk. KJ Osborn was also in uniform ahead of Baker last week.

Here was Alex Van Pelt’s assessment of Baker earlier this month, in case you missed it:

“He’s an extremely talented guy. His ability to play the ball in the air and his ball skills are great. His ability to win and separate is there. For Javon, it’s really the details: lining up correctly, running the right routes, earning the trust of the coaching staff and the quarterback, as well. But there’s a bright future there. Just have to tighten down the details.”

When those details get tightened, he’ll have a chance to show something. They could use his down-the-field ability in the offensive huddle. Especially now that Drake Maye is starting and clearly willing to push the ball deep.

I would say there’s less than a one percent chance of that happening, Brady.

Robert Kraft understands this is all going to take time, including the head coach growing into his role. The organization has committed to Mayo, and I don’t foresee any scenario in which Kraft moves on from Mayo at season’s end.

That doesn’t mean Kraft won’t have his own critiques of how the operation has been handled. (For example, things like penalties and sporadic focus are likely areas Kraft would like to see Mayo help clean up in short order.) But moving on for another head coach after one year? Don’t see that happening.

Jaheim Bell played six snaps the other day — the first time he’s been seen offensively since getting one snap against Seattle — and I’m wondering if the Patriots might try to find more ways to use him moving forward.

A couple reasons for that:

He’s been in uniform for four games this year due in large part to his role on the kick and punt-return units. But this year is largely about trying to find cornerstone pieces for the franchise moving forward.

Bell is one of those young players the team will want to get out there to see what he can do. Can he be the Swiss Army Knife type he was considered to be entering the draft? Can he align in the backfield — something the Patriots have done quite a bit with Hunter Henry this year — and give the Patriots some level of unpredictability?

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If the Patriots are looking to make some changes with the top of their depth chart at different positions in order to encourage some level of urgency for a roster that needs it, perhaps getting Bell on the field in place of Austin Hooper will be considered in certain scenarios.

Hooper fumbled on Sunday, and he has eight catches on 16 targets this year. Hooper is the better run-blocker of the two at the moment, but if the Patriots feel they need more out of their passing game, maybe Bell becomes an option.

Kayshon Boutte is a little undersized to be considered a true No. 1, Geoffrey. He checks in at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds. He also ran a 4.50-second 40 at the combine, which is plenty fast to play in the league. Obviously. But his tools don’t necessarily scream “No. 1.”

And that’s OK. The Patriots know they need a legit top-end pass-catcher — thus their pursuit of Brandon Aiyuk and Calvin Ridley — but if they find out this season that Boutte is a dependable starting-caliber player, then that would have serious value for them.

It might allow them to bypass a receiver on Day 2 of the draft, for example, and allow them to try to fill a need at another position.

His first game with Maye was certainly encouraging. (Maye actually gave Boutte the ball from their first touchdown connection, which was the first NFL touchdown for both players.) If he can build from there — if he can ever make good on the promise he showed at LSU in 2021 — he’d be more than worthy of the sixth-round choice they spent on him in 2023.

Sidy Sow played Sunday when Michael Jordan left the game briefly injured. He’s available to them. And he was considered one of their top linemen headed into the season. But he’s given way to Jordan at the left guard spot to this point.

Perhaps there’s some shuffling on the line that gets Sow back in the lineup soon. Mike Onwenu could end up back at tackle with Vederian Lowe injured, Jerod Mayo said Wednesday. That would leave a spot open at right guard, where Sow played last season.

Rookie Layden Robinson, who started the season at right guard, could also be called upon.

I thought there were certainly moments on Sunday when Onwenu played a little high, didn’t hold a double-team block, or potentially missed an assignment. Have to imagine the toggling back and forth hasn’t helped him this season, but he’s being paid as a star lineman, and the Patriots need him to get closer to that level to give themselves more consistent opportunities in both the run and passing games.

It’s a fair point, Murph. The problem is that most high-end tackles don’t actually get to free agency. Even though the list of potential free agents in the next couple of years looks good in spots — Ronnie Stanley (free agent in 2025), Garrett Bolles (2025), Cam Robinson (2025), Kolton Miller (2026), Charles Cross (2026), Zach Tom (2026) — there’s no guarantee those players actually become available.

Where the Patriots are expected to be at the top of the NFL Draft next spring, they should have a chance at finding a cost-controlled player with his prime ahead of him at a position where the best of the best are the rare size-and-quickness prospects who don’t last long into the first round.

The best route, in my opinion? Double (or triple dip) at tackle. Spend some money in free agency. Use a high-end pick in the draft. Show some urgency to solve the roster’s most glaring weakness.

I haven’t heard anything that would suggest the heat is being turned up on any of those names you mention, Patriots Pulse. But this is a huge next few months for Alex Van Pelt.

Though the team has made a real multi-year investment in Van Pelt, how Maye develops under his tutelage — and whether or not Van Pelt can push the right buttons for Maye on game day to get the most out of him and the team’s personnel — will be critical.

Acknowledging that his personnel is limited, especially on the line, I think it’d be fair to second-guess some of the play-calling from Maye’s first start. There were no designed quarterback runs. Some of the easy throws — receiver screens, for example — we saw later in the game weren’t there early when they might’ve helped Maye find a rhythm more quickly. There didn’t appear to be much in the way of RPO usage or at-the-snap motion.

It’s important to note that it was Maye’s first start, just as it was for center Ben Brown who had just joined the team. Van Pelt had to be handcuffed in some respects based on the personnel at his disposal.

But how he handles the franchise’s prized asset for the remainder of the season will be one of the key storylines for us to track.

It’s a fair point, FGF. Weapons like Boutte and Douglas certainly looked better than ever before with Maye behind center. That’s not a coincidence.

We’ll get a better sense of what they have the more Maye is out there. I think it’s clear, though, that their biggest issues are on the line and not in the receiver room.

I’d be looking to spend money at wideout and use the high-end draft pick to take a tackle.

If you can’t sign a top-end receiver, keep throwing assets at the spot — second- or third-round pick? — until the room is so well-rounded that the myriad options give Maye real confidence going into Year 2. Even without a legitimate No. 1.

Jeff, I thought Davon Godchaux made a strong point about this very topic after the Texans game. He noted the team lost Matthew Judon and Christian Gonzalez last season and they remained a strong unit on that side of the ball.

Losing Ja’Whaun Bentley and Christian Barmore hurt. No question. But they can be much better than they’ve been without those two.

Let’s come back to this as we get closer to the trade deadline. But they should, without question, consider selling pieces that aren’t a part of their long-term future.

There’s a reason Devin White is still available, North of Boston. Here are his ranks at the linebacker position, when it comes to Pro Football Focus grade, over the course of the last three years: No. 153, No. 155, No. 180. Don’t think he’s the answer.

I believe there’s a good chance of that, Tom. Cole Strange has been working on his understanding of the position while getting back into football shape, though, so whenever he becomes available, don’t be surprised if they try him at center.

He doesn’t have much experience there, but it’s where he spent his Senior Bowl experience (about half the teams interested in him in the draft were interested in him as a center), and he has a good mentor to lean on in David Andrews.