Jacoby Brissett over Drake Maye: What the Patriots' Starting QB Decision Means for Fantasy Players

Another big piece of NFL news dropped early Thursday morning when the New England Patriots named Jacoby Brissett the team’s starting quarterback over Drake Maye.

Let’s discuss what the move means for both quarterbacks and other members of the Patriots’ offense from a fantasy football perspective.

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Brissett Over Maye

The news was announced after coach Jerod Mayo told the team of his decision.

Brissett is an eight-year NFL veteran and has played for five teams. He’s 18-30 in his 48 career starts.

Brissett has a career 61.3% completion percentage, along with 51 touchdowns to just 23 interceptions. He has 915 rushing yards and 15 scores under his belt as well.

Brissett hasn’t started since 2022 with the Browns. The team went 4-7 in his starts.

Maye was the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, so it’s a bit disappointing that he didn’t win the starting job right away.

He threw for 192 yards and one touchdown in the preseason, while avoiding an interception. He completed 61.8% of his passes.

Maye starred for North Carolina in college. In his final two seasons, he threw for 7,723 yards, 62 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Maye added 1,102 yards and 16 scores on the ground.

You can expect Brissett’s Average Draft Position to rise as the season closes in, while Maye’s falls a bit. 

Fantasy Outlook for New England QBs

I believed Maye would win the starting job, but am also not shocked they went with Brissett. 

New England doesn’t look like it’s going to be a very good team to start the season, so letting Brissett start the first few games takes a bunch of pressure off Maye. The team will then also be able to bring fans excitement if the team indeed starts slow - the rookie QB could be looked to as the player who starts moving the team in the right direction.

Whoever was named the starter wasn’t going to be a weekly asset in standard fantasy leagues, at least to start the season. Both are waiver wire options who will get picked up when they are facing a weak defense, or after a big game the previous week. None of that changes with today’s news.

Brissett can be an average fantasy quarterback, but the Pats’ offense is also lacking a ton of talent, so his average fantasy showings will be spotty at best. 

Maye is going to be dealing with the same lackluster offense, but has more upside than Brissett. He’ll get his chance at some point this season, but again, he’s probably not going to be a real good fantasy option outside a few weeks.

You just never know how an NFL season is going to shake out though, and either one of these guys might change the narrative in a hurry. They are fantasy options to track in standard leagues, not roster and play every week.

Of course, they each hold more value in deeper leagues, and Maye is an even better option in dynasty leagues. If the matchup is right, Brissett or Maye could be considered as starters, but I’d try to avoid them as much as possible - you’ll see why in a second.

Other Patriots’ Fantasy Outlooks

New England’s top offensive player at running back, wide receiver or tight end is probably RB Rhamondre Stevenson, and he looks like he’s going to be splitting work with Antonio Gibson this season.

Demario Douglas, K.J. Osborn and Tyquan Thornton look like the starting wideout options to begin the season, while Kayshon Boutte and rookies Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker are other options.

Hunter Henry is the top tight end, with Austin Hooper and rookie Jaheim Bell providing depth. 

There’s simply not many good playmakers on this offense. Some could emerge as the season starts up, but this offense looks like one of the worst units in all of football at this point.

Stevenson has been the highest drafted Patriot in fantasy drafts, and he’s either a final starting option or depth piece for fantasy purposes. I do think New England will rely on Stevenson and Gibson this season, so I think both could be flex starting options in PPR leagues. Getting good quarterback play would obviously help these guys out a bunch.

Henry is a streaming option at tight end to begin the season. I think he’s a sneaky good option, especially considering the QBs on the roster. Brissett isn’t likely to be throwing deep pass after deep pass, and Maye is going to likely trust his checkdown options most, so either way Hunter is in line for several targets a game.

Polk is actually the top-drafted receiver, but I believe it will be Douglas who is the best streaming option at the start of the season. I wouldn’t trust any of the Patriots’ receivers with a starting spot in a standard league, but would consider Douglas and Polk in deeper formats.

Baker, Osborn, Thornton, Hooper and Bell are all deep, deep league options, but worth monitoring because there’s no proven playmakers to start the season.

Kendrick Bourne will be a decent fantasy option when he returns from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. 

So to sum things up: starting Brissett over Maye doesn’t change much for the rest of the New England fantasy options. There’s not many good options to begin with, and starting Brissett over Maye isn’t likely to be a season-long ordeal anyways. Maybe there will be a surprise player or two who become fantasy relevant, but I can’t imagine we’ll be starting the team’s players week in and week out. Here’s to hoping Maye can change the narrative when he’s given the starting job after a couple weeks.

The FantasySP team will continue to monitor the Patriots’ QB situation all season, so be sure to keep checking back for more!