Only in emergency situations. Punt returner and kickoff returner are vastly different jobs with little crossover, particularly at an elite level. Punt returning is more about short-area quickness and creating separation, while kickoff returning is more pure speed and angles. Not saying Jones couldn’t do both, but his burst and acceleration make him ideal for returning punts. Unless you lose a couple of kickoff returners during a game and need him in a pinch, I’d keep him as a punt returner only.
Is it likely that if we held on to the first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, Drake Maye would have been the pick?
— Sheila McVay, West Roxbury
Tough call. I’d lean toward yes, but you’ve got to keep in mind that a large part of the success or failure of a young quarterback depends on those around him, both personnel and coaching. To that point, it’s a safe bet that we know he would have been very good, but there’s no way of telling how things would have turned out for Maye in Chicago or Washington. (You could argue the growth of Maye and Caleb Williams was stunted in their first seasons because of coaching.) In New England, the coaching staff and personnel around Maye has allowed this season for an organic development that has proven beneficial for all involved.
Why do the Patriots ground and pound in the middle of the line at the goal line? This is far from one of their strengths. What are their strengths? Wheel routes? QB rollouts?
— Edward Hozubin, Northborough
Addressed some of this last week, but it’s worth reiterating that a lot depends on the opponent and defensive scheme, as well as your roster. I’m still a little puzzled as to why there aren’t more jump balls offered to pass catchers such as Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper, and Mack Hollins. Or leaning on Maye’s athleticism with designed rollouts or bootlegs.
In the end, it can come down to a question of efficiency and execution, particularly having all 11 guys on the same page. Over the last couple of weeks, Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels have addressed this topic, and I was struck by how they both stressed that execution and precision remain paramount. “Precision is critical — that space is limited,” Vrabel said Monday. “Things happen so much quicker down there.” Regardless of how you do it, it’s something that needs sharpening between now and the playoffs.
Maye’s knack for the long ball is the best I’ve seen in a while. This was one of the few areas Tom Brady did not excel in. How do their numbers compare on passes over 20 yards?
— Bob Granese, Chino Hills, Calif.
Tried to comb through some advanced stats, but there was little definitive information. So I turned to my favorite numbers guy, Aaron Schatz.
“I can tell you Maye, this year, is third with 16.3 yards per pass on passes of 20-plus air yards behind Sam Darnold and Jayden Daniels, and he has a 50 percent completion rate (not including defensive pass-interference calls), which is also second in the league behind Darnold,” said Schatz, who created Football Outsiders and is now the chief analytics officer at FTN Fantasy.
“For Brady, it’s tough to gauge over the breadth of his career, so I decided to look at his peak, which I defined as 2007-12. Obviously, he had plenty of other good seasons, but that’s right at his peak, plus you get two seasons (part of the third) with Randy Moss, who might be the greatest deep-ball receiver ever.
“Clearly, 2007 was Brady’s best season; he had 17.6 yards per pass on passes of 20-plus air yards, and had a completion rate of 44 percent. The numbers for Brady did fall off from 2009-12, eventually bottoming out at 31 percent in 2012. Ultimately, we’re only talking about Maye for one season, so the sample size needs to be taken into consideration.”
With the UNC football season now ended, do you foresee or have you heard rumors about any NFL teams going after Bill Belichick for an open head coaching role? I noted how carefully Belichick recently addressed this question when he said, “I am not pursuing any NFL positions,” which doesn’t preclude an NFL team going after him.
— Chip Huckins, Westmoreland, N.H.
Not at this time, although that’s a great catch by you reading between the lines. I did find it interesting that his longtime second-in-command Berj Najarian, who moved on to Boston College after Belichick left the Patriots, recently left his position at The Heights. If he joins Belichick in Chapel Hill, my guess is he’ll bring some stability to a situation that was anything but for much of the last year. Najarian’s presence would likely serve as an indicator Belichick could demonstrate a renewed commitment to UNC for an extended period.
Some questions have been edited for length and clarity.