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00:00A new NFL season is on the horizon.
00:08It is cut day around the National Football League.
00:10How many quarterbacks are the New England Patriots going to keep?
00:14Or which quarterback is going to be named the starter for week number one for the Pats?
00:20If there is anybody that can decipher the madness this preseason has brought in the
00:24quarterback room for the Patriots in New England, it's George Palecci of Nessun joining
00:30us here on this Tuesday on the Early Line on Sports Grid.
00:34Georgie, as always, we thank you for your time.
00:37A ton of Patriots conversations come your way here in these next 10 minutes.
00:42Donnie, Benny, always great talking with you guys, especially talking the madness that's
00:47happening in New England.
00:48I'll give a little hint, though.
00:50Don't start Drake May because this offensive line sucks, but we'll get into it.
00:55Yeah, that's really where it seems to be, George.
00:58It was what the thought was entering camp and preseason when Jerrod Mayo said Jacoby
01:04Brissette is our most pro-ready quarterback.
01:06He is going to be number one.
01:08And both Donnie and I said, don't point the finger at Drake May when there's so many other
01:13issues to let the rookie QB take the hit and the onus from the very start.
01:19And then the preseason happened.
01:20In all three preseason games, Jerrod Mayo elected to play all four quarterbacks for
01:25the pass.
01:26It ended on Sunday night in Washington against the Commanders.
01:31Jacoby Brissette won possession, was injured.
01:34Drake May went out there and looked pretty good.
01:36But even after the game, Jerrod Mayo had this to say following the preseason finale for
01:41New England.
01:42So he was asked, you know, if Jacoby Brissette gets hurt, is Drake May the guy that'll come
02:09into the game?
02:10And Jerrod Mayo goes, 100%, Drake May is our second best quarterback.
02:13And then there was a follow-up from Phil Perry, who does a great job covering the team going,
02:18is that a yes?
02:19And Jerrod Mayo said, I don't know.
02:20I need to watch film.
02:21What do you need to watch film of, Jerrod?
02:23He needs to watch film of this offensive line.
02:25He can't go out and admit it because I believe he will lose a locker room.
02:29He will lose the team because they will go, wait, wait, wait, hold on, hold on.
02:32We're showing up, putting our bodies on the line, getting our butts kicked to win football
02:36games.
02:37The best quarterback to give us the best chance is Drake May, but you won't put him in because
02:41you don't trust the offensive line.
02:42So again, you're not trying to win games.
02:44And honestly, that's the worst kept secret.
02:46We're saying the quiet thing out loud right now, because everything is all rotating around
02:51Drake May and his success, because if Drake May pans out, then the Patriots have their
02:56guy and their quarterback for the next eight to 10 years.
02:59But if they rush him behind a bad offensive line and all the progress he's made, because
03:03coming out of UNC, he was raw, awful footwork, bad mechanics, not good at processing.
03:09And this was a guy who said, we'll have to wait a year or two to really see paybacks
03:13and a return on that high draft pick.
03:15He's come so far.
03:16We talk about that commander's game.
03:18He was making plays with poise, moving around the pocket without a clean pocket ever because
03:22offensive line was makeshift due to injuries.
03:25But with anticipatory throws, making multiple reads, delivering the ball downfield, being
03:30accurate, his best throw of the night was negated because his left tackle couldn't
03:34line up properly on the left side of the line of scrimmage, rolling left, throwing across
03:39his body as a righty, finding a dart to KJ Osborne, who made a great play after the catch
03:44for a touchdown.
03:45But you cannot put Drake May behind this offensive line.
03:49It's not because they're bad.
03:50And I'm not afraid of him playing football.
03:52It's they don't give him a fighting chance at Bengals, home against Seattle, at the Jets,
03:59at San Francisco.
04:01Those are their first four games.
04:02Come home, Dolphins, Texans, two elite defensive lines and defenses.
04:06We'll see how healthy Miami is.
04:08On the road out London, I don't want his first start coming in a neutral site.
04:12Everything changes on London.
04:13I don't think he should play until week nine, but it's not because of Drake May.
04:16He is ready right now.
04:18He is their best quarterback.
04:19This offensive line isn't ready and this receiving group isn't ready.
04:22Jalen Polk, Taekwon Thornton, KJ Osborne, that's your top three.
04:26That's not good for any rookie quarterback.
04:29He's only 21 years old.
04:30He only had two full seasons of starting at UNC.
04:33He's very young.
04:34He's not a Jaden Daniels, a six-year player.
04:36That's 24.
04:37He's not a Trevor Lawrence.
04:38That was a three-year starter.
04:40You can't compare him to these guys.
04:41Even to Caleb Williams.
04:42Yeah, similar in age, but started a season at OU, then of course played two years at
04:46USC.
04:47You cannot compare him to these guys with his football experience.
04:50And the most important thing, guys, is you do not want him to digress back to UNC Drake
04:54May.
04:55You want him to keep progressing to be an NFL Drake May.
05:00It's such good points all the way around, George, because if you can take a look and
05:03say, okay, what are the Atlanta Falcons doing?
05:04Michael Penix comes in.
05:05He has had a lot of starts in college, but you have that Pro Bowl quarterback ahead of
05:09him so he can still learn about the NFL.
05:11Even if you go back to the Green Bay days 25 years ago, Brett Favre and you take a look
05:15at Aaron Rodgers, like, okay, well, he can sit behind him here, no pressure.
05:19And they did the same thing with Aaron Rodgers going right over to love.
05:22But now you're looking at a team that's saying, okay, we drafted a quarterback high.
05:26We're expected to be bad.
05:27You have to let that young quarterback out there spin.
05:29And sometimes you just date yourself right back to the Texans when they got David Carr.
05:33All right.
05:34We have high expectations.
05:35But the team was so bad around them.
05:36Number one, you're going to get him injured.
05:38But number two, all of those bad habits that you can gain because you don't have confidence
05:42that you can even make it, George, to your second, let alone third read here, you're
05:46just dumping the football off.
05:48That's the problem that you have.
05:49So let me ask you this question.
05:51The landing spot must be later in the season for Drake May.
05:54Sure.
05:55You're right about this.
05:56The locker room looks to you.
05:57And similar to what I talk about a lot with the Las Vegas Raiders is the reason why that
06:00head coach got the job is because he looks those players in the face and say, you're
06:03the best man right now for this job.
06:05You're going to go out there and play football.
06:07How do you sell that to the locker room?
06:08And also, is there a chance in your mind that Drake May, week number one, he is your starting
06:12quarterback?
06:14I don't think there's a chance.
06:15And again, what we've heard all offseason long, that's a great point, McDonough, is
06:18that they kept saying, hopefully this unit, this offensive line unit we see against the
06:22Commanders, that solidifies the five guys we'll have up front.
06:25Well, the Darien Lowe got hurt.
06:27So that moved your starting right tackle to the left side and moved your starting right
06:29guard to right tackle and inserted a rookie at right guard.
06:33But then during the Commanders game, they're starting left guard city.
06:36So left the locker room after the game in a walking boot because he was injured.
06:40They still don't know the five guys up front until they know the five guys up front.
06:45Drake May will not start.
06:46And guess what?
06:47They have less than two weeks until they're on the road, placing a facing a loo on a remote
06:51defense in Cincinnati, trying to keep up with a Joe Burrow offense.
06:56But to get to your point later, and that's my thing, too, I go back and forth.
07:00Isn't it on a head coach to go publicly?
07:03And I'm sure he's saying this behind closed doors.
07:05This offensive line is not ready to protect any quarterback that'll get them to wake up.
07:09That'll be some tough love.
07:11That'll have these guys who are paid professionals and adults to look within themselves and go,
07:15how do I be the best left tackle, right tackle, so on and so forth.
07:18But they don't know the best five guys up front.
07:21And until they get that, they can't be honest with either quarterback they put there.
07:25And here's the thing to admit to the tough thing as well, Donnie.
07:29If he says we're not playing Drake May because of this offensive line, what did you Kobe
07:32Brissett say?
07:33What am I?
07:34Just a piece of meat?
07:35Which he is.
07:36He's a bridge quarterback.
07:37You're on a one year deal, Jacoby.
07:38You don't turn the ball over.
07:39You're not that great.
07:40Drake May is a future.
07:41This is everything is a three, four year plan.
07:43Because also this is a four win team right now with Drake May.
07:48Maybe they win six.
07:49They won't actually be contenders or a serious team in the playoffs two and a half, three
07:53years from now.
07:56A four and 13 record in the 24th and final year under Bill Belichick in Foxborough.
08:02Four and a half is the win total for New England entering the first year of the Gerard Mayo
08:07era.
08:08It is the lowest win total in the National Football League.
08:11So Georgie, in the final minute of this segment, whether it's Jacoby, whether it's Drake, what
08:17is your expectation for the Pats in 2024?
08:21Four wins.
08:22They'll win week two at Seattle.
08:24Maybe they win neutral site and beat the Jaguars.
08:26But keep in mind, this is an offense with a really bad offensive line, inexperienced
08:29receivers.
08:30We don't know who will be the quarterback for 17 games, let alone for the next four
08:34weeks.
08:35They lost Christian Barr more indefinitely as he's dealing with blood clots.
08:37I hope he's OK, because that's more than football.
08:39That's life.
08:40And they traded away Matt Judon.
08:42They got they lost their two best defensive players.
08:45This was a top five defense coming in.
08:47That defense drops to top 10.
08:48Well, if you have an offense that can't support you, how does it help the defense?
08:52They can only do so much.
08:53There's so much at stake here.
08:55But then also just look at how their schedule lays out.
08:57Two West Coast trips facing a really great division in the AFC West.
09:01Even tough games when they go out after their really late bye week.
09:05A rookie head coach, a rookie offensive play caller, a rookie defensive coordinator.
09:10There's a lot here.
09:11This is four wins again.
09:13But you know what, Ben?
09:14You know what, Donnie?
09:15That gets you.
09:16Campbell, the left tackle from LSU and Patriots fans have to love that offense.
09:20It sucks, but they have to love it.
09:21Best tackle in college football.
09:24Georgie knows what's up.