Josh McDaniels
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Josh McDaniels will be expected to develop any QB the Patriots draft.
The New England Patriots will have a new backup quarterback to Drake Maye in 2026, and it may be one with zero NFL experience, according to insider Mike Reiss.
Reiss explained why the Pats may end up drafting a quarterback, and he and ESPN NFL Draft expert Jordan Reid spelled out the Pats’ potential options with a late-round selection.
Maye, of course, was the NFL MVP runner-up last season, and Dobbs backed him up in 2025. Dobbs made just 10 pass attempts in four games, but New England released him March 23. Tommy DeVito is currently the only other QB on the roster.
The Patriots May Draft a Quarterback to Back Up Drake Maye
Though it may seem odd to spend draft capital on a player that may never take a regular-season snap, teams routinely pluck the backup to their franchise QB in the draft.
Reiss explained why Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will be an important figure for whoever the Patriots choose.
“They now are more likely to draft a signal-caller — or sign one as a priority undrafted free agent — and rely on the proven expertise of McDaniels and quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant to develop him,” Reiss wrote.
Then Reid spelled out Clemson’s Cade Klubnik and Luke Altmyer of Illinois as potential options for the Pats. Klubnik, a 6-2, 210-pound QB, was a three-year starter for the Tigers.
“[Klubnik] didn’t reach that final level of development like a lot of people thought. I had him in the first round of my ‘way-too-early’ mock draft that I do a year in advance, just because of what he showed in that 2024 College Football Playoff game against Texas — he was absolutely phenomenal,” Reid wrote. “But it didn’t happen, and it wasn’t just him, it was Clemson as a whole.
“But Cade has been a three-year starter, routinely plays on time, is a very streaky thrower, he has experience from under center and shotgun, and is a very high character player … I would say about the fourth/fifth round is where he is going to end up going.”
Altmyer, a 6-2, 215-pound who had just 24 interceptions in his five collegiate seasons, guided Illinois to a 9-4 record in his senior year and a win over Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. Reid spelled out Altmyer’s prowess as well while projecting him as a fifth- or sixth-round selection.
The Patriots Met With Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson
The Patriots have already started doing their due diligence by getting to know draft-eligible quarterbacks. But their first meeting may surprise some people.
New England held a virtual meeting, not with Klubnik, Altmyer or any more well-know college starters, but with Sawyer Robertson of Baylor, according to Jack Aylmer of Musket Fire.
Unlike Klubnik and Altmyer, Robertson is more of a physically imposing quarterback. He is 6-4, 216 pounds and played three years at Baylor after transferring from Mississippi State after the 2022 season.
Robertson threw for 3,681 yards and 31 touchdowns for the Bears in his senior season and scored as the ninth-best draft-eligible quarterback at the NFL Combine last month in Indianapolis.
Still the Patriots surely have more quarterbacks to interview over the month or so until the football descends on Pittsburgh for the draft.