What Patriots' Josh McDaniels could learn from Kliff Kingsbury to help Drake Maye improve

Shortly after New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel re-hired Josh McDaniels as the club's offensive coordinator, numerous analysts and reporters discussed how McDaniels would adapt his system to get the most out of second-year quarterback Drake Maye. 

For a mailbag published on Thursday, Patriots beat writer Chris Mason of MassLive suggested that McDaniels give Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury a call before springtime workouts get underway. 

"I think some will be tailoring things to Drake Maye and some will be adapting to the offensive changes around the game," Mason said in response to a question about how McDaniels will "evolve" as a coordinator. "McDaniels was visiting colleges last fall and I’d imagine his playbook has some newer wrinkles. When Kliff Kingsbury was designing Washington’s offense, he asked (quarterback) Jayden Daniels what a few of his favorite plays from college were, then put them in the playbook. It set him up to succeed right away. McDaniels would be wise to take a similar approach with Maye."

NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger told Dan Duggan of The Athletic back in December that Washington often had "a check-down some place where [Daniels could] just get the ball out of his hands and get the ball to a receiver" to "build confidence" in the 2024 first-round draft pick. Under Kingsbury's guidance, Daniels became the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winner as he guided the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game. 

Unlike Daniels, Maye wasn't given a legitimate opportunity to win his team's starting job last summer. Maye is now cemented atop the depth chart but is somewhat starting from scratch due to having to learn a new offense for the second time in two years. 

History shows regimes often have short leashes for quarterbacks they didn't draft or sign. This past October, many assumed Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales was done with 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young after just two games before Canales had to return to Young that same month. 

Of course, Vrabel hopes that Maye will thrive under McDaniels this coming September. At the same time, McDaniels likely needs Maye to improve after the former flopped as a head coach for the second time in his career.