There is no single position more important to a football team than quarterback.

That's especially true for teams like the New England Patriots – who went from decades with future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady, to several recent seasons of mediocrity.

In hopes of solving that recent mediocrity, New England chose Drake Maye third overall in this year's NFL Draft. After two seasons at North Carolina, in which Maye was named 2022 ACC Player of the Year and found himself in Heisman Trophy consideration.

The Patriots brought in NFL veteran Jacoby Brissett for Maye to learn behind, but if their preseason is any indicator of who will start Week One, the scale could be tipping in Maye's favor.

In New England's latest preseason action on Sunday, Aug. 25 in a 20-10 loss at the Washington Commanders, Maye completed 13-of-20 passes for 126 yards and one touchdown.

This finished a successful preseason for Maye, who totaled 192 passing yards and two total touchdowns, across three games.

Compare Maye's preseason to that of Brissett's, who completed just 5-of-14 passes for 36 yards and an interception. Giving Brissett the benefit of the doubt, he last was a longtime starter for the Cleveland Browns in 2022, while Maye played all but the Duke's Mayo Bowl last year.

Since the Patriots need a productive quarterback in the worst way, Maye seems like the obvious choice at starter.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire : Drake Maye ends Patriots' Preseason with first NFL 100-yard passing performance