Dan Orlovsky makes scathing case against Patriots starting Drake Maye

Training camp got off to a bit of a rough start for No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye.

Early reports indicated the rookie quarterback was getting outplayed by both Jacoby Brissett and fellow rookie Joe Milton, but after weeks of additional practice and three preseason games, a case could be made that Maye actually won the starting QB job outright.

Maye’s drastic improvement down the stretch in camp isn’t enough for ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky to start him this season, and he made a case against doing so on Monday’s episode of “Get Up.”

“You couldn’t pay me enough to start Drake Maye,” Orlovsky said. “I wouldn’t do it, and I wouldn’t let anybody convince me otherwise. ...Someone give me a good reason why to play Drake Maye. Are you serving yourself or are you serving what people may want, or what you think the organization wants or the fans want? There’s three things that rookie quarterbacks need to have success in the NFL, let alone to make sure they don’t get ruined: good scheme and play caller, plus offensive line, plus skill. …They don’t have plus offensive line or plus skill. There’s no reason to play Drake Maye unless you have those three things.”

Maye showed marked progress with each preseason game.

He drastically improved his footwork and his ability to read defenses and pick up blitzes, he changed protections at the line of scrimmage and looked much more comfortable operating an NFL offense, but the argument for keeping him on the bench has more to do with what’s around him than Maye himself.