NFL Preseason Week 3 Winners and Losers: Drake Maye and Zach Wilson impress | CBS Sports

Patriots taking on the commanders in their final preseason game. And Drake Maye may end up being pretty good first half. The rookie out of USC throws a laser to Kevin Harris. Harris breaks a tackle and soars for the end zone for the TD. Look at that ball. Great zip on it on the night. May win 13 of 20 for 126 yards. And that score. Time now to welcome in CBS sports NFL writer John Breech for our NFL preseason recap. And John, we know that the Pats offensive line gave everybody a lot of headaches in this one. But Drake Maye played pretty good football despite that, especially showing that zip on that first TD pass like I mentioned. What was your biggest takeaway from the rookie? I was actually impressed with how Drake Maye played. He made smar, mostly accurate throws. We saw the touchdown pass there. He showed off his mobility, which is what you want to see when you have a quarterback who will likely be playing behind a bad offensive line. We saw that offensive line struggle against the commanders backups. But despite that Drake Maye still impressive. The best throw he made on the night was one that got called back. It was the 48 yard touchdown pass just before halftime. It was just exactly what you want to see your quarterback rolling left, throwing an absolute dime. But of course it didn't count. But to the Patriots coaching staff, it doesn't matter that it didn't count because you saw exactly what you wanted to see. I think Drake Maye played played well enough that it's going to be interesting to see what the Patriots coaching staff does as far as the winner of this battle goes. It's not going to be an easy decision for them. Okay, so with all that being said, I'm going to put you on the hot seat. Hot seat. Who does Jerod Mayo make the starting QB for week one of the NFL season? Oh, that's a tough one Chris. Look, usually I think you play the rookie. Look, Caleb Caleb Williams, obvious choice in Chicago. Jayden Daniels, obvious choice in Washington. Then you get to the third overall pick. And we look at what happened against the commanders. That offensive line. The Patriots got wrecked. Jacoby Brissett got smashed. And I don't know that you want to put your rookie quarterback back there through the first four weeks of the season. I mean the Patriots have a brutal schedule coming out of the gate. And so if you put Drake Maye back there and he gets destroyed he's getting hit all the time. That could stunt his growth. That could destroy his confidence. And I don't know that you want to do that. So I would start the season with Jacoby Brissett assuming he's healthy enough because we don't know. He did get his shoulder banged up banged up against the commanders. And then once the wheels kind of start to fall off with Brissett I would turn to Drake Maye. So I think week one you go with Brissett. I'm with you. There's no rush. The Patriots are not going to be competing for the Lombardi Trophy right. They have some years to go before they get to that. So yeah I do think Jacoby Brissett. And then also the fact that the offensive line you don't want Drake Maye to get injured out there week one or week two. Now how about Broncos QB Zach Wilson throwing for over 250 yards. Accounted for three total TDs. Two in the air, one on the ground against the Cardinals. What stood out to yo, man, about his last preseason game? Look, I was absolutely impressed with Zach Wilson. This was unexpected after just three disastrous years in New York. You had no idea what you were going to get in Denver. He shows up and he lights up the Cardinals. And sure, it wasn't the Arizona starters, but it's still 250 yards and two touchdowns. And the one impressive throw he made was the 46 yarder to Brandon Johnson. Kind of down the sideline that was an absolute dime. And so I think right now for Zach Wilson Denver is the best spot for him. You have Sean Payton as your head coach. One of the smartest offensive minds in the game. And you get to learn from him for at least a year with no pressure because you're not the starting quarterback. So I think this is the perfect spot for Zach Wilson to kind of develop and figure out what's next in his career. Absolutely. And like you said, he doesn't have any pressure. So he's just going to be able to sit back ready for his moment, but able to learn and soak up everything from Sean Payton and also Bo Nix, who is a rookie. Now, what about your biggest winner from preseason week three man. Hey, my biggest winner was Bryce Young. For some bizarre reason, it didn't seem like the Panthers were going to play him. He sat out week one, sat out week two, and then someone talk some sense into Dave Canals and they threw Bryce Young out there this past week on Saturday. And he did great. He did exactly what you want to see. If you're the Panthers, because you want to know how well he's adjusted to this new offense. How well has he learned it so far? Six of 870 yards. Leads them straight down the field on a scoring drive. And if you're a Panthers fan you didn't get to see a lot of that last year. And yes this is the preseason. But it is a new offense. And Bryce Young looks like he has it mastered so far. So will that translate to success in week one? I don't know about that. But hey look you have some optimism if you're a Panthers fan heading into the opener. Yeah, it's a positive sign you saw the recognition. If one player, one Reed broke down, he was able to transition to another one and find the ball or find the receiver who was open. But when it comes to because we got to talk about the Biggest Loser from week three of the preseason, who was that in your eyes? It was Trey Lance. But I almost feel bad saying it because, look, Trey Lance has raw talent. It's just who's going to refine it. He was out there, threw for more than 300 yards, totaled more than 400 yards against the Chargers. But five interceptions, a fumble. It was just brutal. For every five good passes he threw, he threw an interception. And so he's not going to get a chance to really develop in Dallas because obviously you have Dak Prescott there. So it's kind of he's in a tough situation where hey look he might be talented enough to be a starter in this league. But how are we ever going to find that out. Because right now he looks like a backup. So Trey Lance five interceptions rough rough outing against the Chargers. But the good news is it sounds like his roster spot is safe because Jerry Jones says Trey Lance is staying in Dallas. Come cut down day. Hey, that's good news for Trey Lance. I don't know how Cowboys fans feel about it, but Trey Lance is staying in Dallas ain't going anywhere. John Breech we appreciate the time man. And remember the NFL season begins September 8th right here on CBS and also streaming on Paramount Plus. We know you've been waiting for it. It's so close. We're almost into September. And once September 8th hits, you've got NFL footba