Will Drake Maye excel? From Plunkett to Zappe, how Patriots QBs fared in starting debuts

Sooner or later, Drake Maye was going to emerge as the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots. It’s just that sooner has arrived sooner than some fans might have expected, with Maye lined up to make his first NFL start Sunday afternoon against the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium.

A quarterback’s first start is always big news. And sometimes, these debuts are launching pads to long, storied careers. There’s Jim Plunkett, the Heisman Trophy winner whose very presence seemed to certify the Patriots as a for-real NFL franchise. There’s stoic Steve Grogan, as much known for his dazzling running abilities as for his passing. There’s Drew Bledsoe. There’s Tom Brady. But how many Patriots fans remember Tom Ramsey? How about Neil Graff? And by all means, pass Go and collect $200 if you remember … Bob Bleier.

For some historical perspective, what follows is a rundown of every quarterback whose first career start came as a member of the Patriots, beginning with the AFL/NFL merger and the arrival of Plunkett.

Jim Plunkett

Sept. 19, 1971, Schaefer Stadium: The top pick in the ’71 draft, the former Stanford star was named by coach John Mazur to start the season opener against the Oakland Raiders in the inaugural regular-season game at Schaefer Stadium. Plunkett didn’t throw the ball a lot (6-for-15, 127 yards) but he hit on second-half touchdown strikes to Ron Sellers and Roland Moss in the Pats’ shocking 20-6 victory. (At the time it was considered the biggest victory in Patriots history.)

Passer rating: 82.5.

The quote: “He showed a lot of poise,” Raiders coach John Madden said. “I was impressed with him before he ever played today, and I still am. For a youngster, he ran his team well.”

The aftermath: Plunkett would go on to play every down of every game for the ’71 Patriots, who went 6-8. Often the victim of not-up-to-snuff offensive lines, a battered Plunkett soldiered on through the 1975 season, after which he was dealt to the San Francisco 49ers. He would later claim career redemption in leading the Tom Flores-coached Raiders to two Super Bowl victories.

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Neil Graff

Sept. 21, 1975, Schaefer Stadium: A footnote in Patriots history, Graf made two starts near the end of Plunkett’s Patriots tenure and just before Steve Grogan would emerge as the team’s quarterback for most of the next 16 seasons. But in this ’75 season opener against the Houston Oilers, and with Plunkett still recovering from a (what else?) separated shoulder, Graff got the start and went 10-for-18 for 95 yards in a 7-0 loss, a rain-soaked affair in which neither team’s offense got the ball into the end zone. (Houston defensive back Willie Germany recovered a Mack Herron fumble and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown.)

Passer rating: 70.4.

The quote: “I’m sure people are looking to blame Graff. But it wasn’t just his fault. It was everybody’s,” Patriots rookie tight end Russ Francis said. “When it became obvious we couldn’t throw certain kind of passes because of the weather, they (Houston) moved up closer to stop our run. … I thought he called a real intelligent game.”

The aftermath: Graff started the next game, throwing two touchdown passes in New England’s 22-14 loss to Miami, but did not play in another game for the Patriots. He appeared in four games for the Steelers in 1977.

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Steve Grogan

Nov. 2, 1975, Busch Stadium: After seeing limited action in the first three games of his rookie season, Grogan was pressed into service on Oct. 26 against the 49ers when Plunkett went out in the first quarter with another shoulder injury. After going 12-for-20 with two touchdowns in the Pats’ 24-16 victory, and with Plunkett unavailable, Grogan made his first NFL start a week later against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was a 24-17 loss for the Pats, with Grogan going 14-for-34 for 173 yards, including one touchdown and two interceptions, but it was clear New England was easing into a post-Plunkett era that would exploit Grogan’s running skills.

Passer rating: 42.9.

The quote: On a day when the Pats complained bitterly about too many calls going against them, coach Chuck Fairbanks noted that “our kid (Grogan) didn’t have a chance in the second half. Every time we got the ball, (the officials) hit our offense with some kind of penalty. We always had 20 yards to go for a first down, and some of those calls wiped out good gains for us.”

The aftermath: Grogan started at quarterback in six of the last seven games of the season, with Plunkett making his final start on Nov. 16 against Dallas. With Plunkett traded to the 49ers after the season, Grogan did practically all of New England’s quarterbacking for the next eight years. He played another seven seasons after that, alternating between starter and reserve, and memorably took over at quarterback in the second quarter of New England’s 46-10 loss to the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX after starter Tony Eason went 0-for-6 and was sacked three times.

Matt Cavanaugh

Nov. 23, 1980, Schaefer Stadium: Grogan had started 78 consecutive games (regular season and playoffs), but for this late-season showdown against the Baltimore Colts, coach Ron Erhardt rested his “battered and bruised” veteran in favor of Cavanaugh. It was a surprise choice that included one more surprise: The Pats had Cavanaugh working out of the shotgun. A second-round pick out of Pitt in 1978, Cavanaugh had seen little time on the field until he started against the Colts and completed 10 of 21 passes for 150 yards in the Pats’ 47-21 victory. His first career touchdown was a 9-yard connection with Carlos Pennywell.

Passer rating: 67.6.

The quote: “The truth is out. I’m not indestructible.” — Grogan.

The aftermath: Cavanaugh made three other starts in 1980 and remained with the Pats through 1982. He later played for the 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants before embarking on a long career as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.

Tony Eason

Nov. 27, 1983, Shea Stadium: The 15th pick in the 1983 draft out of Illinois, Eason was viewed as the Patriots’ quarterback of the future. He started the last four games of the season, beginning with a 26-3 loss to the New York Jets in which he completed 13 of 27 passes for 159 yards and was sacked five times.

Passer rating: 51.3

The quote: “What would I tell Tony Eason after a game like this? I’d tell him to forget it. That it’s all part of the learning experience. There will be plenty more games for him in the future, and all of them will be a little different.” — Grogan.

The aftermath: Eason was the Pats’ main quarterback for most of the next three seasons. That includes the ’86 season, one year after his disastrous outing against the Bears in Super Bowl XX. He was still with the Pats for three starts in 1989 but was waived and picked up by the Jets as a backup.

Bob Bleier

Oct. 4, 1987, Sullivan Stadium: With NFL players on strike and the league vowing to forge ahead with replacement parts, a fellow named Bob Bleier served as the Patriots quarterback in a 20-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns that was watched by an announced gathering of 14,830.

Passer rating: 69.1.

The quote: “All this proved was that a loss hurts, no matter what the situation. That’s the bottom line.” — Patriots coach Raymond Berry.

The aftermath: Bleier, a former University of Richmond quarterback, started one more game during the strike and saw time in another. The strike ended, as did Bleier’s NFL career.

Tom Ramsey

Nov. 22, 1987, Sullivan Stadium: A backup quarterback for a team that was beginning a slow fade after its dramatic run to the Super Bowl just two years earlier, Ramsey got his first NFL start in place of the injured Grogan and went 12-for-26 for 183 yards and a touchdown in New England’s 24-0 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Passer rating: 82.7.

The quote:  “I know my role here. I’m Steve’s backup and I know that. But it was nice to get a chance to start.” — Ramsey.

The aftermath: Ramsey made two more starts that season, including three touchdowns plus a rushing touchdown in New England’s 34-31 loss to the Eagles a week later, but the Pats failed to make the playoffs. Ramsey remained with the Pats in 1988 and closed his career with the Colts in 1989.

Tom Hodson

Nov. 25, 1990, Sun Devil Stadium: A third-round pick in 1990 out of LSU, Hodson provided hope he’d be the solution to an aging Grogan, or, at least a bridge quarterback to the Next Big Thing. As it was, he didn’t get a start until the Pats lugged a 1-10 record into Sun Devil Stadium. Before that, he had appeared in just one game all season, some garbage time in a 41-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in September. Hodson completed 17 of 29 passes for 182 yards, including touchdown strikes to John Stephens and Marv Cook in the Pats’ 34-14 loss to the Phoenix Cardinals.

Passer rating: 100.1.

The quote: “He just waited for his time. We didn’t know he was going to start until just before the game. He’s been anxious to get in there. I think he gave us a chance today.” — Patriots receiver Cedric Jones.

The aftermath: Hodson remained New England’s starting quarterback for the last five games of the season, all of them losses as the Patriots finished with a 1-15 record, the worst in franchise history. He started six games over the next two seasons, including the Pats’ 31-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 8, 1992, but he came out in the first quarter after breaking his right thumb and would not appear in a game again for New England. He resurfaced with the Saints in 1995 and appeared in four games.

Scott Zolak

Nov. 15, 1992, Hoosier Dome: Zolak did not get into a game in 1991 after the Patriots selected the former Maryland star in the fourth round of the draft. Nor did he appear in the first eight games of the ’92 season. But then came Hodson’s thumb injury, and Zolak completed 5 of 9 passes in his NFL debut. A week later, he made his first career start, completing 20 of 29 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns as the Pats beat the Colts 37-34 in overtime. It was the first victory of the season for the Pats after nine straight losses.

Passer rating: 105.7.

The quote: “Scott was amazing out there. He made some great plays out there and he’s fun to watch. He’s enthusiastic and energetic, and I hope you’re seeing a guy who can perform at that level for a long time.” — Assistant coach Dante Scarnecchia, filling in for head coach Dick MacPherson, who missed the game because of illness.

The aftermath: Zolak made three more starts in 1992, but a sprained right ankle landed him on injured reserve for the last two weeks of the season. With the arrival of Drew Bledsoe in 1993, Zolak forged a distinguished five-year run as a backup quarterback, including a start in a 1998 playoff loss to Jacksonville. He remains on the scene as an analyst on Patriots broadcasts on 98.5 The Sports Hub, as well as co-hosting a daily talk show with Marc Bertrand.

Drew Bledsoe

Sept. 5, 1993, Rich Stadium: The Patriots’ 2-14 record in 1992 earned them the first pick in the ’93 draft, and the team invested in Bledsoe, a 21-year-old from Washington State. Coach Bill Parcells made a draft-day promise: “I will not throw him to the wolves. He will not play until he is ready to play.” Come the season opener in Buffalo, Bledsoe was deemed ready. He was 14-for-30 for 148 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-14 New England loss.

Passer rating: 69.9.

The quote: “We were playing with them until the fourth quarter. We looked inexperienced and we played inexperienced.” — Bledsoe.

The aftermath: Bledsoe remains one of the most important players in Patriots history, as it was his stellar quarterbacking throughout the ’90s, coupled with Parcells’ leadership skills, that created the interest that made it possible for owner Robert Kraft to build Gillette Stadium. Yes, Bledsoe landed in the hospital as a result of a hit by Jets linebacker Mo Lewis early in the 2001 season, which is when the Tom Brady era began, but he got the 1996 Pats to the Super Bowl and provided steady backup play in the 2001 AFC Championship game when Brady went out with an ankle injury.

Tom Brady

Sept. 30, 2001, Foxboro Stadium: Brady was a sixth-round pick in the 2000 draft, which merited little more than a dot-dot-dot item in the beat writers’ notebooks. But after Bledsoe went down from the Lewis hit, Brady made his NFL debut a week later and was an unremarkable 13-for-23 for 168 yards in New England’s 44-13 victory over the Colts. Little did anyone know what was to come.

Passer rating: 79.6.

The quote: “I wouldn’t have known by one second in there that it was Brady’s first start. He ran the show.” — Patriots left guard Mike Compton.

The aftermath: No need to spend a lot of time on this one, as it’s a subject that New England schoolchildren learn in the first grade. Brady went on to quarterback the Patriots to nine Super Bowls, with victories in six of them. He won another Super Bowl during his career-ending tour with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Matt Cassel

Sept. 14, 2008, Giants Stadium: A stunning turn of events upended the Pats in the season opener, with Brady coming out of the game with a knee injury after taking a hit from the Kansas City Chiefs’ Bernard Pollard. Cassel was in his fourth season with the Patriots, always as a backup. He was also a backup in college, forever lost in the depth chart at USC. And so when the Pats announced Brady would be out for the year, it meant Cassel would be making his first start as a quarterback since high school. He completed 16 of 23 passes for 165 yards in the Pats’ 19-10 victory over the Jets.

Passer rating: 89.9.

The quote: “I didn’t have too many butterflies. It’s never about the doubters. It’s about having belief in yourself. I’ve been in the system for four years, and I’m confident I can run it.” — Cassel.

The aftermath: Cassel remained the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season and the Pats finished 11-5, but it wasn’t enough to make the playoffs. Brady returned in 2009 and Cassel moved on, beginning with three seasons with the Chiefs, for whom he made 48 starts. He later played for the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions. The man who never started in college or during his first three seasons with the Patriots wound up making 82 career NFL starts.

Sept. 11, 2016, University of Phoenix Stadium: With Brady sitting out the first game of his four-game Deflategate suspension, Garoppolo, considered by many to be the team’s quarterback of the future, became the quarterback of the present when he got the nod for the season opener against the Arizona Cardinals. He went 24-for-33 for 264 yards and a touchdown in New England’s 23-21 victory.

Passer rating: 106.1.

The quote: “If you have confidence in your teammates and they have confidence in you, it’s easy to stay positive, I guess.” — Garoppolo.

The aftermath: Garoppolo also started the second game of the season and had already thrown three first-half touchdown passes before being forced out with a shoulder injury. Rookie Jacoby Brissett finished out that game. Brady’s return sent Garoppolo back to the bench, and then, a season later, to the 49ers in a trade that’s still debated by Pats fans. He was the Niners’ quarterback in Super Bowl LIV, a 31-20 loss to the Chiefs.

Jacoby Brissett

Sept. 22, 2016, Gillette Stadium: Brady’s ongoing suspension, followed by Garoppolo’s injury, catapulted Brissett into a starting role in the Week 3 matchup against the Houston Texans. The Pats came out of it with a 27-0 victory, with Brissett making only 19 pass attempts and completing 11. He also had eight rushes for 48 yards, including a 27-yard run.

Passer rating: 72.9.

The quote: “Jacoby handled himself great. Last week, this week, all week, every day, he has done nothing but come in here and work as hard as he possibly can. He’s really dedicated to doing what’s right for the team. He just wants to do what the coach wants.” — The coach, Bill Belichick.

The aftermath: Brissett went on to play four seasons with the Colts, followed by stints with the Miami Dolphins, Browns and Washington Commanders. He rejoined the Patriots for the 2024 season and started the first five games before being benched in favor of rookie Drake Maye.

Sept. 12, 2021, Gillette Stadium: Considering few people knew what the future held when Brady made his first NFL start, it’s safe to say the arrival of Jones made for the most eagerly anticipated quarterback debut since Drew Bledsoe in 1993. Selected with the 15th pick in the 2021 draft, Jones got the start in the season opener against the Dolphins and was 29-for-39 for 281 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots’ 17-16 loss. An 11-yard pass to Jonnu Smith with 4:16 remaining got the Pats to the Miami 11, but Damien Harris’ fumble on the next play spoiled Jones’ debut.

Passer rating: 102.6.

The quote: “Definitely wasn’t good enough, starting with me. We lost, so it’s not good enough.” — Jones.

The aftermath: The Jones era was, of course, a failure. But while he made plenty of mistakes during his three seasons with the Patriots, mainly with playmaking but also occasional acts of on-field immaturity, there’s plenty of blame to go around. Belichick’s decision to place the offense in the hands of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, two men with limited experience on that side of the ball, stands out as one of the biggest blunders of The Hoodie’s career. Jones is presently the backup quarterback for his hometown Jacksonville Jaguars.

Oct. 9, 2022, Gillette Stadium: During a season in which so much was going wrong, Zappe brought some unexpected joy to the Patriots. A fourth-round pick out of Western Kentucky, Zappe was an afterthought during training camp and wasn’t expected to see any regular-season game action. But then Jones went out with an ankle injury, and journeyman Brian Hoyer got the start against Green Bay. Hoyer promptly suffered a concussion, and, just like that, it was Zappe Time. After finishing up the Green Bay game, the pride of Victoria East High School in Texas got his first start a week later and completed 17 of 21 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown in New England’s 29-0 victory over the Detroit Lions.

Passer rating: 100.0.

The quote: “Zap-pee! Zap-pee! Zap-pee!” — Patriots fans as the clock was winding down.

The aftermath: Zappe appeared in 10 games in 2023, six as the starter, but part of that was being in the right place at the right time as Jones moved deeper and deeper into Belichick’s doghouse. Zappe’s tenure with the Patriots ended this past summer. He’s currently on the Chiefs’ practice squad.

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(Photo of Jim Plunkett: Focus on Sport / Getty Images)



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