As Drake Maye starts, here’s a look at former Patriots QB debuts

On Sunday, Drake Maye will make one of the most anticipated debuts in New England Patriots history at 1 p.m. against Houston at Gillette. The franchise is hoping he’ll be the guy to turn things around and lead the Patriots to a new wave of success.

Debut performances aren’t necessarily predictive of the quarterback’s future, but here’s a look at how some other New England passers fared in their first career NFL starts.

• BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.

Jim Plunkett

Date and Place: Sept. 19, 1971, Schaefer Stadium

Result: Patriots 20, Raiders 6

Stats: Plunkett completed 6 of 15 passes for 127 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Notes: The No. 1 overall pick in the 1971 draft started Week 1. Playing against his future coach John Madden and future team, Plunkett threw touchdown passes to Ron Sellers (33 yards) and Roland More (20 yards) to open the year on a high note.

Steve Grogan

Date and Place: Oct. 26, 1975, Schaefer Stadium

Result: Patriots 24, 49ers 16

Stats: Grogan was 12-for-20 for 128 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Notes: The fifth-round pick out of Kansas State had seen some action in games backing up Jim Plunkett earlier in the year, but this was the first one that he began the game under center. The Patriots opened a 17-0 lead and held on. Grogan threw TD passes to Randy Vataha and Andy Johnson.

Tony Eason

Date and Place: Nov. 27 1983, at Shea Stadium

Result: Jets 26, Patriots 3

Stats: Eason was 13-for-27 for 159 yards with an interception and was sacked once.

Notes: Eason, like Jones, was picked 15th overall in a draft famous for its quarterbacks. He was taken one pick behind Jim Kelly and 22 spots ahead of Dan Marino.

It took Eason almost three months to make his first start under coach Ron Meyer. The Patriots couldn’t contain Jets QB Richard Todd, who threw for 305 yards, a huge number in those days, and never really threatened.

Tommy Hodson

Date and Place: Nov. 25, 1990, at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona

Result: Phoenix Cardinals 34, New England Patriots 14

Stats: Hodson was 17 for 29 for 182 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Notes: Hodson, a third-round pick in the 1990 draft, played on some bad Patriots teams including this one, which was 1-9 when he took the reins. Hodson didn’t have much of a career, but his first game, especially the first half, wasn’t bad as the Patriots were tied 14-14 at intermission. He threw touchdown passes to John Stephens and Marv Cook.

Scott Zolak

Date and Place: Nov. 15, 1992, Hoosier Dome

Result: Patriots 37, Colts 34

Stats: The future radio personality was 20 for 29 for 261 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Notes: The Patriots were winless when Zolak got his first start. The fourth-round pick led the Patriots on a field goal drive to force overtime in the fourth quarter and another to win the game in overtime.

Drew Bledsoe

Date and Place: Sept. 5, 1993, Rich Stadium, Buffalo

Result: Bills 38, Patriots 14

Stats: Bledsoe completed 14 of 30 passes for 148 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Notes: The No. 1 pick in the entire draft started Day 1 in New England, but had some growing pains early. He lost his first four games but finished 5-4 in his last nine games that year springboarding him to the better days that were ahead. He led the NFL in passing yards a year later. In his debut, he threw touchdown passes to Ben Coates and Greg McMurtry.

Tom Brady

Date and Place: Sept. 30, 2001, Foxboro Stadium

Result: Patriots 44, Colts 13

Stats: Brady was 13 for 23 for 168 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

Notes: This is not the Mo Lewis game, which Bledsoe started. This is a week later. Brady was very much in the role of game-manager and did it effectively. The Patriots intercepted Peyton Manning three times and crushed the Colts at home.

Matt Cassel

Date and Place: Sept. 14, 2005, Giants Stadium

Result: Patriots 19, Jets 10

Stats: Cassel rewarded Bill Belichick’s faith in him by completing 16-of-23 passes for 165 yards and no interceptions or touchdowns

Notes: With Brady knocked out for the season a week before, Cassel, a backup in college at USC, became the Patriots’ unlikely starter three years after he was selected in the seventh round. He was traded to Kansas City a year later and had a solid career.

Jimmy Garoppolo

Date and Place: Sept. 11, 2016, University of Phoenix Stadium

Result: Patriots 23, Cardinals 21

Stats: Garoppolo was 24-for-33 for 264 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.

Notes: Wearing the same No. 10 that Maye will wear Sunday, Garoppolo got his turn with Brady serving the first game of his Deflategate suspension. Garoppolo, who’d been the backup for the previous two years, was good enough that there were fans who wondered whether Brady should be traded to let Jimmy G take over.

Trailing 21-20 with 9:46 left, he led a six-minute drive that included three third-down conversions to set up Stephen Gostkowski’s game-winning 32-yard field goal.

Jacoby Brissett

Date and Place: Sept 22, 2016, Gillette Stadium

Result: Patriots 27, Texans 0

Stats: Brissett was 11 for 19 for 103 yards and rushed eight times for 48 yards and a touchdown.

Notes: In his first stint in New England, with Brady suspended and Garoppolo hurt, Brissett took his turn and led the Patriots to an easy win over Houston with a solid running and passing performance. Coincidentally he started against Houston, the team he won’t face today with Maye taking over.

Mac Jones

Date and Place: Sept. 12, 2021 – Gillette Stadium

Result: Miami 17, Patriots 16

Stats: Jones completed 29 of 39 passes for 281 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

Notes: Because of how badly it ended, it’s easy to forget how well the Jones era started. He was good as a rookie after winning the job against Cam Newton. He threw his first touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor.

Bailey Zappe

Date and Place: Oct. 9, 2022

Result: Patriots 29, Lions 0

Stats: Zappe was 17-for-21 for 188 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Notes: This isn’t the Green Bay game where Zappe nearly led the Patriots to an overtime win vs. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. This was a week later when he led the Patriots to a win at hope launching Zappe Fever. He threw a touchdown pass to Jakobi Meyers.

This post was originally published on this site