Ryan Clark lauds Drake Maye for "making lemonade out of tomatoes" during Patriots' abysmal 2024 NFL season

Ryan Clark had some words of encouragement for Drake Maye as the Patriots look to build around their quarterback and leave their miserable 2024 NFL season behind. New England missed out on the playoffs, was the worst team in the league for long stretches, and fired its head coach after one year. The one positive was that they seemed to have their signal-caller for the future, or that is what the ESPN analyst believes.

He began by saying that the Patriots lucked out with having Tom Brady and put Drake Maye in the same bracket of fortune, noting,

“The one thing the Patriots have done is they've identified the quarterback, and that's the hardest part about trying to win in this league. You lucked out with Tom Brady and now with Drake Maye."

Ryan Clark followed that up by saying that the New England quarterback sometimes made the best of bad situations and now it is up to the franchise to surround him with talent. Noting that adding Mack Holling and Stefon Diggs goes with that plan, he said,

“So now it's about how can we surround Drake Maye with the people who will make him his absolute best? We saw a ton of times last year this dude making lemonade out of tomatoes, so now that you add a Mack Hollins, you add a Stefon Diggs, get him another piece, get him some more protection, get him somebody explosive on the outside and I think the sky's the limit for this young man, especially the way the shored up some spots defensively as well.”

Drake Maye not the only Patriots QB to succeed Tom Brady that Ryan Clark has praised

While this was high praise from Ryan Clark, one must remember that he had similar words for Mac Jones, Drake Maye's predecessor, at one time. Back in 2021, he had said,

“Mac Jones has some stuff in him, some intangibles, that I think are maybe the greatest we’ve ever seen from a quarterback. Now, it doesn’t mean he has the strongest arm. It doesn’t mean he’s the fastest. But from the neck up, I’m not sure if we’ve ever seen a rookie that is better. And it’s showing every day that he takes snaps on the field.”

That prediction did not quite work out as Mac Jones left New England to join the Jacksonville Jaguars last year as Trevor Lawrence's backup, a role he is slated to fulfill again behind Brock Purdy in San Francisco in 2025.