Drake Maye & Alex Van Pelt: The Dynamic Duo Leading the Patriots Offense

Intro honestly when the Patriots took Drake May third overall in the 2024 NFL draft it immediately screamed bust to me May was considered the rawest quarterback in the draft his footwork could have been better at times he would miss routine throws and had a habit of holding on to the ball too long to make things worse he was drafted by a team that was severely lacking offensive Playmakers after doing some more research though I a changed man I could not be more excited to see how this ping works out and by the end of this video I promise you will too the biggest reason I changed my opinion on Drake May for this season stems from one man Alex Van Pelt for context on who Alex Van Pelt is he was the man that was at the center of this controversy he was also the browns offensive coordinator last year and helped them get to the playoffs despite starting four different quarterbacks velt runs a West Coast offense that relies heavily on play action passes set up primarily with outside Zone run Concepts but he will mix in some Gap Concepts as well to keep defenses honest he utilizes a lot of empty sets and 11 personnel and spread formations to stretch out defenses horizontally if you want want to know more information specifically on West Coast offices and how they operate we cover that in depth in this video right here so what is all that jargon specifically mean for Drake May well in this video we're going to break down how ABP and his offensive philosophy are a nearly perfect match for Drake May and his style of [Music] play I just want to take a quick second to thank you if you are a subscriber to this channel your support means the world to us and motivates us to make new videos every week we are trying to build a space for rational fans to discuss the game we all of we cannot do that without you so again from the bottom of our hearts thank you so much and if you aren't a subscriber yet I highly recommend calling an audible to a play action pass and hitting a deep post right into that subscribe button we are trying to build something special here and would love to have you on board Alex Van Pelt's Offensive System speaking of play action passes avp's whole offense is built around the play action 32. 1% of the Browns passing attempts last year were play action passes the highest percentage by any team in the NFL this is crucial for Drake May because to setad of play action team has to establish the run something the Browns did really well last season they called 489 design runs which was good for the second most attempts by any team in 2023 I bring this all up because this means the Patriots won't have to put a heavy burden Onre May early on in his career he can hand the ball off to Roman Dre Stevenson 30 times a game and let him do all the dirty work while Dre is getting established and with the Patriots still shaky oine this should also save May from having to take more hits than if he was being asked to drop back and throw 40 times a g of course there will be plenty of times that may will be asked to operate a traditional dropback game and here's how Alex Van Pelt is a great coach AVP sets up his Young quarterback for a success before the ball is even snapped by running empty formations with 11 personnel FR in the defense out like this has been a staple of Van Pelt since his days coaching Aaron Rogers to an MVP level last season in particular though the Browns finished fourth in empty formation and 11 personnel usage what this will do for Drake May is it will simplify the Defense Force by spreading out alignments defenses aren't able to the skuer coverages or blitzes super well they are forced to show their hand more because they risk being late for an an assignment or leaving a man unaccounted for by bluffing for example if a backer has man coverage on a running back and that back lines up on the hash to the field side then that backer can't flash like he's coming through the a gap or line up in the box at all because he risked blowing his assignments by not covering up the back free snap again this will help May easily identify man in zone coverages before the ball is even snapped this is obviously important but especially for avp's offense because he does run the West Coast offense which relies heavily on short accurate passes that get out in Rhythm anything that messes up that timing like taking an extra second too long to decipher a defense could make for a lot of ugly throws and picks here's where we get to our favorite part though as we mentioned before AVP loves utilizing play action but it's not just that he loves running those plays and hitting tight ends in the flats he loves using play action to take shots down down the field according to Evan laser from the New England Patriots with Flo the Browns generated 12 yard per play action pass attempt while producing 16 completions of 20 plus yards on play action attempts and five regular season start Flo also targeted vertical routes at the fourth highest rate in the NFL last season which is 13.8% so the ideal quarterback for Van pel system should have a big arm an aggressive mindset and be mobile enough to run the boot action off the play fakes and what are Drake May strengths Drake Maye Is A Match again well he is known for having a Justin Herbert or Josh Allen type of arm being aggressive and pushing the ball downfield and being a great multiport athlete who comes from a family full of athletes so that's a check another check and one last check so what we have here is a play caller who loves to dial up shots and a quarterback who was third and complacent percentage among quarterbacks with 60 attempts last season pair that up with two guys who finished in the top 10 in receptions over 20 yards last season Javon Baker and Jaylen pulk and this offense has the chance to be one of the most aggressive and explosive units in the league next year which should be a very nice change of pace from the hyper conservative M Jones era there is a Twist though if you Why It Might Not Work noticed at the beginning of this video we mentioned that he was a nearly perfect match that's because AP runs the West Coast offense which if you know anything about that offense should set off some alarms for you if it doesn't let me explain the passing attack for the West Coast offense is built on rhythmic passing that requires concise routes and highly accurate and consistent throws there's usually very specific footwork that was required of the quarterback that sets up the timing of the reads and allows a little room for any improv for all of Drake May's great physical talents consistency may be his biggest flaw he has a tendency to loosen up that lower half of his throne mechanics which can cause some errant throws according to NFL analyst Taylor Kyles among this year's first round quarterbacks only Michael pennick Jr exceeds May's 19.6% uncatchable throw rate and may was the only player in that group to complete fewer than 65% of quick passes at a rate of 59.6% if this group is going to be one of the most explosive units they need May to be more consistent with his throwing mechanic I am not going to hit Conclusion the panic button just yet though of all the things that young quarterbacks need to improve on footwork is probably one of the easiest things to fix the everyday drills that quarterbacks do as part of the individual portion of practice should have his footwork improved in no time also AP has a proven track record of being a great coach for quarterbacks we have already mentioned his success with Aaron roders but he also got one of the best seasons out of Baker Mayfield back in 2020 playing in a more structured offense like abps rather than one that allows more improv like unc's Air Raid Offense could help Drake may be more consistent with his quarterback mechanics and lastly according to Drake may he is a perfectionist he showed this during his pro day when he missed a throw and immediately redid the rep just to get it right that mentality alone should help him refine his mechanics into a more consistent motion but tell us what you Outro think what are your expectations for Drake May's rookie season also if you like this video I recommend you watch our video on how the Sun Monday ticket lawsuit could reshape the NFL as we know it as always thank you so much for watching we are the rfl show and we will see you in the next video [Music]