The Patriots’ voluntary offseason workout program ramps up this week under new head coach Jerod Mayo with organized team activities set to begin.

The Patriots will hold OTAs for the next three weeks. Then mandatory minicamp will run from June 10-12.

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Here are the top positional battles we’ll be watching this spring.

QUARTERBACK

This is the main attraction for media set to attend OTAs and minicamp. And it will surely carry on through training camp the preseason.

Free-agent addition Jacoby Brissett and 2024 third overall pick Drake Maye are the primary contenders for the starting job. Brissett spoke last week and made sure no one has forgotten that Bailey Zappe has started and won games in the NFL, as well. Ultimately, however, it would be a major surprise if Zappe won the Week 1 job. He’s competing with 2024 sixth-round pick Joe Milton for a spot on the 53-man roster or practice squad as a third QB.

The Patriots know what they have in Brissett. They drafted him in 2016 and have been monitoring him since as he’s played for the Colts, Dolphins, Browns and Commanders. The NC State product is a fringe starter and a perfect mentor and/or bridge to Maye.

Maye will eventually start, but NFL evaluators are torn on whether that will happen immediately. There is a belief held by some around the league that he could do it despite being just 21 years old and coming off just two years as a starter at UNC.

LEFT TACKLE

The Patriots are relying on some projection as they search for their starting left tackle this season. Trent Brown is one, and the top options are currently free-agent signing Chukwuma Okorafor and 2024 third-round pick Caedan Wallace. Okorafor was drafted by the Steelers as a left tackle but has only started on the right side. Wallace was recruited as a left tackle but only played right tackle at Penn State.

The other tackles on the roster are starting right tackle Mike Onwenu, Calvin Anderson, undrafted free agent Zuri Henry, Vederian Lowe, Andrew Stueber and Tyrone Wheatley Jr.

Anderson and Lowe both struggled for the Patriots in 2023, and Stueber and Wheatley couldn’t find the field. There is at least some hope that any of those four players could perform better under new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and offensive line coach Scott Peters. Okorafor should be viewed as the favorite to start in 2024, but Wallace could also see opportunities if he impresses in practice.

WIDE RECEIVER

Like at quarterback, there’s a position battle at wide receiver to start and to make the team.

The prime contenders to start are Kendrick Bourne, DeMario Douglas, free-agent signing K.J. Osborn and rookies Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker. It would be a surprise if any of those five players were left off of the Patriots’ eventual 53-man roster, barring injury.

Then there’s probably only one more roster spot for Kawaan Baker, Kayshon Boutte, T.J. Luther, Jalen Reagor, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton to battle it out.

Smith-Schuster was a major disappointment in his first season with the Patriots last year, but he could play better under Van Pelt. This spring and summer is Thornton’s last chance to prove there’s something in the 2022 second-round pick to work with.

GUARD

Both left and right guard spots could be up for grabs this spring and summer. Cole Strange, the Patriots’ 2022 first-round pick who ended the season as the team’s top left guard, is coming off of a late-season knee injury. Sidy Sow held down the right guard role after Onwenu moved to tackle.

Strange and Sow were far from perfect last season, and Van Pelt and Peters could have different thoughts on what they value in guards. That leaves the door open for 2024 fourth-round pick Layden Robinson, free-agent signing Nick Leverett, 2023 fourth-round pick Jake Andrews, 2023 fifth-round pick Atonio Mafi, veteran Michael Jordan or undrafted free agents Ryan Johnson or Charles Turner III to compete for a starting spot.

Robinson comes with the highest upside.

CORNERBACK

Unless the Patriots make another signing, then Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones look primed to start in 2024, barring injuries.

Alex Austin, Isaiah Bolden, Shaun Wade, Marco Wilson, Azizi Hearn and rookies Marcellas Dial, Kalen Ford-Dement and Mikey Victor are left to compete for fourth, fifth and potentially sixth cornerback spots on the roster.

Austin impressed last season as a rookie, and Dial was a sixth-round pick, so he has an inside track for a roster spot. Wade and Wilson have the most experience out of that group.

KICKER

The Patriots brought in competition for Chad Ryland, the Patriots’ 2023 fourth-round pick who struggled as a rookie, in veteran Joey Slye.

Ex-Patriots head coach Bill Belichick drafted Ryland, and the young kicker worked under special teams coaches Joe Judge, Cam Achord and Joe Houston in 2023. They’ve been replaced by Jeremy Springer and Tom Quinn.

So, without any direct ties to Ryland’s rookie season, there might not be much hesitance to move on from the former Maryland kicker.