Patriots Talk Podcast

Why Edelman is ‘excited' for Maye to work with McDaniels

Julian Edelman is confident that Josh McDaniels and Drake Maye will be a good match.

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Julian Edelman joins Tom Curran on the Patriots Talk podcast and shares his thoughts on the Tom Brady-Patrick Mahomes debate and why the former Patriots QB still holds the edge in the ‘GOAT’ QB debate.

There weren't many positives to come out of the New England Patriots' second straight 4-13 season, but the encouraging development of Drake Maye does give fans hope for a better future.

The rookie quarterback completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 13 games. He started the last 12 games of the 2024 season.

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Maye played pretty well considering New England's offense lacked a No. 1 wide receiver, struggled in pass protection, took too many penalties and turned the ball over too much.

Former Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman joined Tom E. Curran on the latest episode of NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Talk Podcast and gave his assessment of Maye's rookie campaign.

🔊 Patriots Talk Podcast: Edelman weighs in on Chiefs vs. Pats, Drake Maye, Brady-Mahomes | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

"He outperformed what I thought he was going to do last year," Edelman said. "He made some really great plays, tough plays. I love his attitude. I love his body language. I love his engagement. Those are leader qualities."

The Patriots are giving Maye a new offensive coordinator next season with Josh McDaniels replacing Alex Van Pelt. It will be McDaniels' third stint as Patriots OC. He also worked in that role from 2006 through 2008 and then again from 2012 through 2021. McDaniels did a great job helping develop quarterbacks including Tom Brady, Matt Cassel and Mac Jones during that time.

Now he must do the same with Maye.

"I think with Josh -- we know his resume," Edelman said. He helped develop Tom. He developed Mac Jones to a Pro Bowl quarterback. Say what you want about Mac Jones and where he's at in his career now, but he went to the Pro Bowl with Josh. I think there will be good communication (between Josh and Drake).

"Josh is really good at getting on those pages with the quarterback, those meetings before (games). Saturday meetings that usually the OC, the play-caller and the quarterback have to get on that same page, finishing each other's sentences, doing things that the quarterback's comfortable doing, but also challenging him with things that will make the unit better. I think he'll do that, and I think he's going to be working on his fundamentals better.

"The one thing that you can take away from Drake Maye this year was a lot of times he didn't have his feet set when he was throwing the ball. And I think with more time in the offense and then with Josh McDaniels, when you know where to go with the football, the quicker your feet are going to follow. Sometimes that could be a hesitation on knowing concepts and stuff.

"So I think he'll be a lot better at that as well. If he puts the work in, if he puts the time in. We all assume that it's going to happen because that's the guy he showed he was this year. So I'm excited for it. I'm excited for it."

One of Maye's best strengths is his athleticism, which gives him the ability to escape the pocket and pick up huge chunks of yards running the football. Maye tallied 421 rushing yards (7.8 per carry) with two rushing touchdowns in Year 1.

One criticism of Van Pelt this past season was he didn't call enough designed runs for Maye and take advantage of that part of his skill set. Will that change under McDaniels?

"Do I think Josh will utilize Drake's ability to move? Probably in some form or fashion," Edelman said. "It probably won't be Lamar Jackson's offense because we don't want to get him hurt. But a sprinkle in here or there. I'm sure Josh will do that, according to how the team shapes out, and what they do the best."

The Patriots offense ranked 30th in points scored, 31st in total yards and 29th in third down percentage last season. McDaniels has a lot of work to do to fix this group, and that starts with getting the best out of Maye in Year 2.

Also in this episode:

  • Edelman weighs in on the Brady-Mahomes debate, Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl matchup
  • What does Edelman think of decision to fire Mayo and hire Vrabel?
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