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What a Drake Maye Run Game Could Look Like for Patriots

What a Drake Maye Run Game Could Look Like for Patriots

Update: 2025-06-05
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Drake Maye was one of the nation’s most dangerous dual-threats in college.


The 6’4″, 224-pounder led UNC with almost 900 rushing yards in 2022, and among quarterbacks, only Jayden Daniels totaled more explosive runs from 2022 to 2023. That dominance carried over to the NFL, where Maye led his position in scramble yards as a starter.



Per PFF, Drake Maye led the NFL with 395 rushing yards on scrambles since becoming a starter in Week 6


Jayden Daniels was 2nd with 360, and Justin Herbert was 3rd with 295 pic.twitter.com/XXPFhitqlZ


— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) January 14, 2025


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Former coordinator Alex Van Pelt avoided quarterback runs to protect Maye, who was already under constant fire, but the rookie flashed in limited opportunities. And, despite being less effective on designed carries, he can be a weapon in critical moments and brings experience running multiple concepts. 


Long-term, it would be a disservice not to capitalize on Maye’s athleticism. Forcing run defenses to account for the quarterback comes with several benefits, including but not limited to…



  1. Creating better numbers, angles, and matchups for blockers

  2. The potential for big plays if defenses aren’t properly prepared

  3. Protecting core concepts against aggressive defenses


Nothing points to a maximized Maye more than the return of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who’s compared the sophomore to current reigning MVP Josh Allen for their versatility.



Josh McDaniels discussing his thoughts on Drake Maye this preseason.


Come for the footwork talk, stay for the hint (maybe) at more designed runs.


(📹 | @gameswithnames@Edelman11) pic.twitter.com/NGiMAuf12i


— Boorish (@Boorish_Sports) January 12, 2025


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McDaniels has spent most of his career with pocket passers, leading some to believe he can’t scheme for a running quarterback. But when handed a rookie Jacoby Brissett and an aging Cam Newton, the OC showed a completely different side to his playbook.


Newton ranked 2nd in designed rushes, yards, and touchdowns under McDaniels at 31 years old. He also led the position in designed rushing conversions. Brissett turned one of his designed runs into the first touchdown of a 27-0 beatdown in his starting debut.


Now Newton was more of a glorified running back that season, so Maye shouldn’t come close to his carry count.  Still, those McDaniels’ game plans could offer a peek at New England’s revamped ground game.


Read Option


Most teams weaponize their dual-threats through the read option, which allows quarterbacks to hand off or keep the ball based on a designated “read” defender.


On its own, inside zone creates vertical displacement by blocking areas to open cutback lane. This contrasts with gap runs, which block defenders to open a specific lane.


When paired with read option principles, quarterbacks can steal the edge and gain yards before getting down to avoid contact. This comes with the added bonus of creating soft edges on handoffs to the back.


Newton ranked top-five among quarterbacks with 33 rushes, 197 yards, and 10 conversions on read option keepers. McDaniels called these runs on early downs and in the low Red Zone, typically with a downhill concept like zone or inverted veer, where the quarterback follows a pulling guard inside.


I’d expect more of the zone read for Maye, allowing him to get outside and away from box defenders.




The former Tar Heel totaled 26 read option carries in college. Maye turned his 18 zone read attempts into four touchdowns and five conversions. It’s also his only non-scramble or sneak carry to date and led to a 3rd down conversion in Buffalo. Maye also moved the chains on all outside zone read carries, including one score, and found the end zone on his only rep of counter read.



I couldn’t find any speed option from Maye’s UNC career, but McDaniels called it for both Brissett and Newton in his last stint with the Patriots. This read option variant has the quarterback run toward the read defender with the option to keep or pitch it to a trailing skill player.


Brissett kept the ball on both of his speed option snaps, which came from pistol looks with Julian Edelman motioning to the backfield.



The 2020 Patriots called this from multiple looks, usually with Newton creating space for his back on a pitch. His two keeps came from two-back sets against the Rams, which both included shifts out wide from James White.



Maye cutting inside for a first down might be tough for opponents to swallow. But in the open field, it beats a home run-hitter like TreVeyon Henderson outside with an angle on the defense.



The read option will likely be Maye’s bread-and-butter when it comes to non-scramble carries, but there’s more than one way to put defenses in conflict.


Run-Pass Option (RPO)


As the name suggests, run-pass options or “RPOs” give quarterbacks the option to hand off or throw based on the defense’s pre-snap presentation and/or a specific defender. 


This was a popular call for McDaniels in the Red Zone and near midfield, where he typically emptied the backfield to leave Newton as the sole run option. This created a numbers advantage against man coverage and caught dropping defenders on their heels against the run.


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What a Drake Maye Run Game Could Look Like for Patriots

What a Drake Maye Run Game Could Look Like for Patriots

Taylor Kyles