When the Patriots selected quarterbacks Drake Maye and Joe Milton in the draft last April, a few scouting philosophies were worth discussing with the two rookies.

The first takeaway was that personnel chief Eliot Wolf is moving away from the cerebral pocket passer archetype that New England typically targeted in favor of physical tools/upside. Maye stands at over 6-foot-4, 223 pounds, while Milton is a 6-5, 235-pound monster. Both first-year quarterbacks have great arm talent, size, mobility, and exceptional raw talent—certainly, a much different skill set than former first-rounder Mac Jones or fourth-round pick Bailey Zappe.

Although their physical tools are undeniably enticing, the potential downside was that Maye and Milton were raw talents who could have an extended developmental career arc. Maye's footwork, throwing mechanics, and timing in North Carolina's offense were picked apart during the draft process. His highlight throws were as good as any draft-eligible quarterback, but the 21-year-old's college tape was inconsistent.

Maye still had plenty of support in the draft. But there were constant debates about a potential redshirt season or even bringing him along slowly, like Packers QB Jordan Love. With Wolf's history in Green Bay, the Patriots top personnel exec might subscribe to sitting young quarterbacks, and that was further reinforced by the team signing veteran Jacoby Brissett.

Adding more fuel to the fire that Maye could sit for an extended period was that he only played six total snaps, one drive, in his preseason debut on Thursday night. Compared to other high draft picks in recent years, Maye's lack of playing time in the win over the Panthers was an anomaly. Then, Milton made waves on his eight drop-backs, uncorking a laser on a 38-yard touchdown pass and running for 25 yards on two scrambles in the second half.

Milton's impressive debut and Maye's limited workload have caused a mini-stir about how head coach Jerod Mayo and his staff handled the quarterbacks in the preseason opener. We'll leave it to the talking heads to argue over snaps in a preseason game. From this perspective, the coaching staff deserves kudos for their work with the two rookies.

As mentioned, Maye and Milton's talent is undeniable. But offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney deserve credit for how far the Pats rookie QBs have already come in the nuances of the position. Although there were only 11 combined drop-backs, Maye and Milton are showing early signs of improvement. Their footwork, particularly from under-center where they're inexperienced, was clean. They threw in rhythm and made good decisions. It was a solid, albeit brief, first taste of what they have to offer in an NFL game.

The Patriots will host the Eagles for a joint practice on Tuesday, then have two more preseason auditions, during which the rookies are expected to play more. As the future of the franchise, Maye has earned the opportunity to get more live reps with New England's starters, and Coach Mayo told reporters that Maye will likely play more next Thursday night.

Although it's premature to say Maye might not need to sit behind Brissett, the third-overall pick is making strides with his mechanics and decisiveness in the offense. Wolf gave Van Pelt's offensive staff two project quarterbacks to develop with a long-term view, and the early returns suggest that Maye and Milton are getting good coaching.

Here are other key takeaways and quick-hit film notes from the Patriots preseason win over the Panthers After Further Review:

1. Initial Reviews on the Patriots Zone-Blocking Run Scheme

Another element to the Patriots hiring Van Pelt as their offensive coordinator was a shift in approach to an outside zone-based run system in the running game.

Historically, the Patriots were a downhill, gap-heavy offense. However, Van Pelt comes from the wide zone system in a traditional West Coast offense. On Thursday night, New England ran 12 zone runs compared to 11 gap plays, a more balanced approach than expected. Still, we saw plenty of inside and outside zone from Van Pelt, who also mixed in power and trap schemes.

Although the outside zone system with play-action concepts built off the stretch actions has proven to work at this level, questions arose about the Patriots personnel executing these run-blocking concepts. With a roster mostly built for downhill running, does New England have the offensive linemen and running backs to execute a more athletic play than traditional power/gap schemes? Well, here's what the film from the top O-Line said.

Admittedly, it's a tiny sample size of one outside zone run and a split-flow zone scheme with the top group. However, those runs went for one yard and -1 yards against backups for the Panthers. To be fair, there was a cutback lane forming for RB Antonio Gibson on the negative play, but LT Vederian Lowe fell off his block, leading to a TFL for Eku Leota.

The other run stuff for the Panthers spoke to some concerns about the Patriots blocking these schemes. This play is not pure outside zone. Instead, it's called a split-flow zone, where the tight end works across the formation to account for the unblocked backside end. The back can still "bang" it through the front-side gap or cut back off the tight end's block.

In the play, starting right guard Mike Onwenu has a defensive tackle over his outside shoulder. Along with right tackle Chuks Okorafor kicking out the play-side edge, Onwenu needs to overtake the B-Gap defender and turn him back inside to create a rushing lane. The other option is for Onwenu to create a cutback lane by blocking the three-technique into the sideline. As you can see, Onwenu doesn't fully open the B-Gap, while tight end Mitchell Wilcox whiffs on the sift block, so Gibson has no choice but to take what he can get through a small crease.

The question mark as the Pats feature more outside zone was always whether their bigger guards, Onwenu (6-3, 344) and Sidy Sow (6-4, 323), could execute the reach blocks on the line of scrimmage to get the run game going. Ultimately, it's two reps in their first preseason game, but it remains on my radar. The Pats should have a productive running game, but AVP might need to pivot to more downhill runs.

2. Patriots Flex Depth Along Defensive Front With 51.9% Pressure Rate

Although teams aren't game-planning in the preseason, the August auditions are a good way to study New England's base schemes on both sides of the ball.

In recent years, the Patriots defense has been a hybrid front system, with different early-down alignments and a pass-rush package featuring lighter personnel. For example, the Pats often based out of a 3-3-5 nickel defense where their base front was a 5-1 structure. On third down, they'd unleash their 5-0 rush package, which was highly regarded in the football community as one of the best rush packages in the NFL.

Speaking to players since the start of camp, the Patriots foundational schemes under defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington and head coach Jerod Mayo have remained largely unchanged. However, we saw more four-down front in Thursday night's preseason opener. Some players teased the possibility that the Pats would play more even fronts this season while moving away from pure two-gapping techniques for a more aggressive approach.

On Thursday night, we saw more even fronts from the Patriots defense. New England played some passing downs in a four-down over front. An over front can be identified by the nose tackle shading to the backside A-Gap (Watts) with a three-technique (Pharms), and bookend wide-nine rushers (Ximines, Morgan). This is a one-gap penetrating defense, while the wide-nine and three-tech alignments often present advantageous pass-rush opportunities.

Here, the Patriots defense has three one-on-one matchups in the pass rush out of this front. Using a stutter-swipe move and good stride length, Ximines turns the corner on the right tackle to apply pressure on first down, nearly sacking the QB in the end zone for a safety.

Earlier, starting defensive end Deatrich Wise registered a sack on his lone snap in the game on a third-and-7 play. The Pats are playing without a nose tackle in this front, allowing their interior rushers to align in the B-Gaps with the two wide-nine ends. Wise uses a nice inside-out rush with a long-arm finisher to shorten the corner for the sack.

It's interesting to see the Patriots use more four-down fronts in the preseason. But the jury is still out on whether or not they'll play out of even fronts on run downs. The Ximines clip came with 46 seconds left in the half, so even though it was first down, it wasn't a run situation. Same with Wise's third-down sack being an obvious pass.

If they decide to play more even fronts, you can expect a more penetrating defensive approach with opportunities for defenders to get upfield. Let's not jump to any conclusions about them phasing out two-gapping, but we may see less of that this season.

Quick-Hit Film Notes from Patriots-Panthers

- Rookie WRs Ja'Lynn Polk (20 routes, three catches, 14 yards) and Javon Baker (22 routes, two catches, 11 yards) ran a combined 42 routes on Thursday night. As one would expect in their preseason debuts, the film was so-so. There's refinement needed in their route running, where they struggled to get defenders off their leverage and get corners to commit upfield to open underneath pathways. They need to push vertically with more haste to get defenders opened up and be more efficient at the top of the route. The game will slow down for them eventually. They'll get better from here.

- Third-round OT Caedan Wallace was up and down. The early hip-opening on his college film looks improved. However, he was slow to anchor twice and whiffed on a run block by ducking his head into contact. His hand technique remains a work in progress. Wallace let rushers into his chest too often, with wide hand placement rather than a stiff inside punch. As a result, he was having difficulty controlling blocks and standing his ground. Wallace did look better on the right side than at left tackle, so he deserves some grace as he adjusts to the left side. His technique should improve with more reps at LT.

- WR Kayshon Boutte ran some nice routes in this one, even away from the ball. He has a knack for working off the vertical stem on comebacks, stop routes, and slants. His best route was the comebacker, where he got some separation on a 16-yard reception. Boutte is doing whatever he can to make an impression on the coaching staff.

- OT Vederian Lowe played 17 snaps with some extended work compared to the other starters on the line. Lowe allowed one quarterback pressure and got beat on a zone block that led to a TFL, but overall, it was better on film than watching live. Lowe's lowlights are rough, but it's not as bad as it seems when you look at the entire sample. He's not prime Joe Thomas, but you'll take this from Lowe if he can cut down on the quick losses.

- Despite not practicing all week, OT Chuks Okorafor played 10 snaps, allowing one quarterback hurry in six pass-blocking snaps. Okorafor was slow to diagnose a T/E stunt that led to pressure on Brissett, and got called for a false start. We'll need a larger sample size from Okorafor to gauge his effectiveness.

- OT Calvin Anderson allowed two pressures in pass protection and was called for a hold. Anderson's comeback is a great story, and his kick out of his stance gives him a chance to square up rushers at the initial point of attack. Maybe there's another gear for him once he's more comfortable after a long layoff.

- Rookie G Layden Robinson led all Patriots offensive players with 45 snaps, allowing two hurries on 30 pass-blocking snaps. This was really solid film from Robinson at both guard spots. He generates movement with his combos and pulls, while he had a nifty snatch-trap to end a rep instantly in pass pro. Robinson continues to look the part. You wonder if he sees time with the top unit at RG, with Onwenu kicking out to RT.

- RB JaMycal Hasty has some wiggle when he gets into open space. He has a nice slithering style as a ball carrier that could add a scat-back element and core special teams contributor.

- WR Tyquan Thornton's release on his lone target was sudden/bursty. Thanks to his quickness off the line, he reached top speed without much resistance. That was a legit go route.

- The Patriots search for a serviceable TE3 might take them through the entire summer. Mitchell Wilcox had a drop, a blown block on a split-zone scheme (see above), a holding penalty, and struggled to win his run blocks. La'Michael Pettway gave up a hurry on a play-action pass set, and rookie Jaheim Bell is still getting up to speed. Bell is still my favorite amongst this group. He looked quick on his 11-yard reception and held his own for the most part in the run game.

- It's night and day for Atonio Mafi at right guard compared to center. He allowed one hurry on Thursday night but was effective in the run game at his natural position. Also thought undrafted rookie OT Zuri Henry had some good moments in the run game.

- DT Jeremiah Pharms was outstanding: sack, four hurries, two run stuffs, and two drawn holds on consecutive plays. He played more from a three-technique than a true nose, like Christian Barmore likely would in the Pats defense. He's an energetic rusher with good play strength, pad level, and enough lateral agility to test the corners on the interior – trending up.

- The lone minus play for Oshane Ximines came when he jumped inside the left tackle on a run play, opening the door for the back to bounce outside off his edge. Ximines said it was a mental miscue as he was expecting S Brenden Schooler to replace him as the force defender to allow Ximines to penetrate the line of scrimmage. Overall, Ximines was excellent vs. the Panthers (strip-sack, three pressures, run stuff).

- One snap, one sack for DL Deatrich Wise. Nice little inside-out rush with a long arm finisher to shorten the corner. Looked to be in mid-season form. However, the Pats only had 10 players on the field for a third-and-7. Something to clean up for Mayo's crew.

- Ranking the CB4 competitors by effectiveness: 1. Alex Austin 2. Marco Wilson 3. Shaun Wade 4. Isaiah Bolden. Austin brought it in this one. Almost like he has heard the noise about him having a disappointing camp.

- Rookie CB Marcellas Dial was a willing tackler, recording five total tackles, including two on special teams. Those are the things Dial needs to do to make the roster as a sixth-round pick.

- LB Christian Elliss had a sack, QB hit, and three stops. Elliss plays with good energy, physicality, and was an effective interior blitzer. There was one poor coverage exchange in a match zone, but Elliss could make a roster push as a core special-teamer and depth linebacker – like Calvin Munson in past years.

- LB Joe Giles-Harris flashed good instincts to clog passing lanes with two batted passes. In both instances, Giles-Harris added into the rush as a blitzer, and got into the passing lane when he recognized that the ball was coming out before he could apply pressure on the QB. Savvy.

- QB pressures allowed: Wallace (2), Robinson (2), Henry (1), Okorafor (1), Diesch (1), Lowe (1), Mafi (1), Pettway (1), Hasty (1). QB pressures: Pharms (sack, four hurries), Ximines (sack, QB hit, hurry), Morgan (sack, QB hit), Elliss (sack, QB hit), Wise (sack), Hill (two hurries), Bradley-King (two QB hits), Roberts (hurry), Ekuale (hurry), Watts (hurry).

- Coverage: Pettus (two rec, 28 yards), Giles-Harris (four rec, 26 yards), Chambers (three rec, 20 yards), Elliss (two rec, 14 yards), Dial (two rec, 13 yards), Hearn (two rec, 13 yards), Thomas (two rec, five yards), Wade (one rec, five yards), Victor (three targets, zero recs), Gonzalez (one target, zero recs).

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer