Drake Maye start or sit: Week 1 fantasy football advice

Mike Vrabel and the New England Patriots will host Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, pitting two coaches who take over for struggling franchises. Both teams appear ready to improve due to upgrades in personnel and coaching, but only one will come out on top this week.

Patriots second-year quarterback Drake Maye is why New England fans are excited about their future. Maye proved to be up to the task last season despite poor skill players surrounding him. Adding help on the offensive line and two playmakers in wide receiver Stefon Diggs and rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson should go a long way in elevating the offense.

Below, we’ll go over Mayes’ outlook in fantasy football for Week 1.

Maye was adept as a rusher last season, which he needed to be due to the lack of playmakers on the team. He ended up rushing 54 times for 421 yards and two touchdowns in 11 games. Extrapolated to a full season, that’s 650 rushing yards and 3 scores. And now, with Diggs and Henderson added to Hunter Henry and Pop Douglas, the passing game should see a good boost under new (and old) OC Josh McDaniels.

Start. The good news this week, other than the upgrades this offseason, is the opponent. The Raiders have a poor defense, as they allowed the eighth-best EPA per pass play last season, while giving up the fifth-most passing touchdowns.

I currently have him ranked as QB12 for this week and would play him over the likes of Brock Purdy, Justin Herbert, Jared Goff, and Caleb Williams.