Athird stint as offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots beckons for Josh McDaniels, after his return was confirmed by several sources on Tuesday, January 21.
Those sources included NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who reported McDaniels, “The favorite all along, he interviewed today and solidified his standing. Now, he’ll join Mike Vrabel’s staff and work with Drake Maye.”
Throwback: The #Patriots are expected to hire Josh McDaniels to be their offensive coordinator, sources say, his third stint in this role.
The favorite all along, he interviewed today and solidified his standing. Now, he’ll join Mike Vrabel’s staff and work with Drake Maye.
The chance to work with Drake Maye, the third-overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, was likely part of the lure for McDaniels to complete his widely expected return to Gillette Stadium. He made his career there by aiding the development of Tom Brady, who won six of his seven Super Bowls in New England.
Doing something similar for Maye will be a delicate balancing act for McDaniels. Namely tweaking his pro-style system to incorporate Maye’s dual-threat talents.
Fortunately, Albert Breer of The MMQB believes is “the right pick” for new head coach Mike Vrabel. That belief is based upon how McDaniels “used his year off—spending time with NFL and college programs to evolve his offense. In particular, I think McDaniels’s study of the college game will make what has been a pretty complex offense more user-friendly with the adaptations he’s got coming. So maybe that’ll be with the Patriots.”
The Patriots’ decision to go back to Josh McDaniels, and hire him as Mike Vrabel’s offensive coordinator, is going into their past, of course. But McDaniels spent a lot of time over the last year refining his system.
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Simplifying his playbook can solve a tricky problem for the Pats. Specifically, how to develop Maye’s off-script talents into something more coherent without restricting the 22-year-old’s natural big-play potential.
Josh McDaniels Can Give Patriots QB Structure, Responsibility
McDaniels has previously pinpointed the conflict in the system he calls. A system with roots to former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss, who called plays for Brady when the Patriots won Super Bowls following the 2001, 2003 and ’04 seasons, while McDaniels was on the staff.
The scheme has his roots with a couple of former Patriots coaches, Ray Perkins and Ron Erhardt. McDaniels explained to ex-Pats wide receiver Julian Edelman on the Games with Names podcast last preseason, how his system differs from the West Coast offense in how it develops a quarterback.
As McDaniels put it, “If the goal is just to restrict the volume of responsibility that you place on him right away, then it certainly could be. If, at the end of the day, your goal is to have him understand how to handle all the problems and take care of those things that come up in the big games in order for him to help you win ’em, then maybe it’s worth it.”
To clarify, McDaniels made clear “what we’re talking about here is who is going to do the stuff prior to the ball being snapped?”
“Initially I did the white visor and the white long sleeves.” 😂
The visors are back in New England! Welcome back Josh McDaniels! 🧢
This explanation reveals the extra levels of complexity Maye might have to deal with in McDaniels’ system. More responsibility risks overloading an inexperienced signal-caller, but it can also refine a raw talent into a complete QB, if handled right.
Handling the process right will mean still leaving room for Maye to ad-lib and beat defenses with his legs.
Drake Maye Still Needs Freedom to Run
It would be a great mistake to limit Maye’s freedom to run. Especially after he “led the NFL with 395 rushing yards on scrambles since becoming a starter in Week 6,” per Taylor Kyles of Patriots on CLNS, citing numbers from Pro Football Focus.
Per PFF, Drake Maye led the NFL with 395 rushing yards on scrambles since becoming a starter in Week 6
Jayden Daniels was 2nd with 360, and Justin Herbert was 3rd with 295
Maye’s ability to move the pocket doesn’t mimic the traditional template Brady fit in McDaniels’ offense. Yet, McDaniels still knows the value of packaging plays around a mobile QB.
He did it to help Mac Jones reach the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2021. Jones had thrived in the RPO game at Alabama during his collegiate days, and he ran a career-high 32 RPOs and attempted 104 play-action passes on McDaniels’ watch, according to Pro Football Reference.
McDaniels has previously questioned what style of play will eventually define Maye. He told Edelman (h/t Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston): “Like, is he gonna be a little bit of a runner like Josh Allen was in Buffalo? I don’t think he’s quite as big as Josh is, but guys like that that have those kinds of attributes, you can use them to run the football too. I don’t think we’ve seen all that yet in the preseason, but I’m interested to see when he plays if he becomes a little bit more of a dual-threat guy or if he’s just a pocket passer and a big, tall, strong guy in the pocket.”
Now McDaniels has had a full season to watch Maye perform in games that matter. That experience, along with the refinements Breer hinted McDaniels has been making to his tried and tested formula, will determine the fortunes of New England’s franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future.
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Josh McDaniels’ Return Solves ‘Pretty Complex’ Problem for Patriots, Drake Maye