More than most teams in the NFL, the Patriots face a world of uncertainty.

How will Jerod Mayo perform as a head coach?

When will Drake Maye play?

How will all the other rookies integrate and fit under a new regime?

And despite being projected to win four or five games this season, might the Patriots actually surprise in 2024?

Yet none of those questions can be answered until the team addresses the seven biggest questions that will shape training camp, when the Patriots will lay the foundation for this season.

1. Who wins QB job?

Despite head coach Jerod Mayo’s insistence that there are no depth charts during the offseason workout program, Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt referred to veteran Jacoby Brissett as the team’s starting quarterback.

So, Brissett has the edge over rookie Drake Maye when training camp practices begin Wednesday. The big question is whether Brissett will maintain his lead over Maye as the summer turns to September and Week 1 lingers.

Maye passed third-year pro Bailey Zappe on the quarterback depth chart during OTAs and minicamp when he went from taking third-team reps to working directly behind Brissett. Now Maye can take aim at Brissett in a quarterback competition that will consume plenty of headlines in camp.

Brissett is a solid starter and bridge option if Maye isn’t ready for Week 1. But Maye was drafted third overall for a reason. And if he proves he can play as well or better than Brissett, then the Patriots might as well start developing him as a starter immediately.

2. Can the rookie wide receivers start?

As a second-round pick, Ja’Lynn Polk is not only a roster lock, but one of the favorites to start right away.

At 6-foot-1 and 203 pounds, Polk has a polished game and comes from a sophisticated offense in Washington. He capped minicamp with a disputed toe-tap touchdown pass he caught from Drake Maye during a red-zone team period. What comes next?

If Polk proves equal to KJ Osborn, Kendrick Bourne and the other veterans, he should get the Week 1 nod. Eliot Wolf’s “Packer Way” dictates young players’ playing time must be prioritized to expedite development. That favors Polk, and perhaps fourth-round rookie Javon Baker.

Patriots wide receiver Ja’ Lynn Polk makes a catch during rookie minicamp action in Foxboro on May 11. (Photo by Paul Connors/Media News Group/Boston Herald)

Like Polk, Baker is a downfield threat, though he boasts better open-field ability. He averaged 7.2 yards after the catch last season, as an Alabama transfer who broke out as a 1,000-yard receiver for UCF. Unfortunately for him, he missed most of OTAs and is a step behind other receivers like Polk, DeMario Douglas, KJ Osborn and others.

How quickly can he catch up?

3. How will the offense take shape under Alex Van Pelt?

The vision is clear.

An outside-zone focused running game. A passing attack built around deep play-action shots. A standard dropback passing game with movement throws on passing downs.

But how well the Patriots can execute what new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt wants to replicate after four years as the Browns’ offensive coordinator remains unclear. Much will be up to his offensive line, a hodgpodge group of recent draft picks and versatile veterans. If the O-line can fall into place, running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson are natural fits for the new run schemes, and Maye and Brissett are capable of triggering the bombs-away passing game.

Bombs away: How Patriots’ new deep passing game will flow through Drake Maye

4. How will offensive line shake out?

Or, perhaps the more direct question is: “Where will $57 million man Mike Onwenu start Week 1?”

Onwenu, who began last season at right guard before moving to right tackle midway through the year, was assumed to be the Patriots’ top right tackle when he signed a three-year contract this offseason. And that’s where he was playing to begin OTAs. But then the Patriots shifted their line and gave Onwenu reps at right guard to end the spring.

If Onwenu is at right tackle, then we’ll likely see Chukwuma Okorafor at left tackle, David Andrews at center, Sidy Sow at one guard spot and whomever wins a positional battle at guard to hold down the fort until Cole Strange returns from injury.

In Onwenu plays guard, then Okorafor and rookie Caedan Wallace would likely be the tackles with Sow at left guard and Andrews at center.

Regardless, Onwenu is worth the money whether he’s a starting right tackle or one of the NFL’s best guards.

5. Who will make a Year 2 leap?

Of the 12 players selected in Bill Belichick’s final draft last year, 11 remain on the Patriots’ current roster.

New England Patriots’ Christian Gonzalez against the Philadelphia Eagles during an NFL football game at Gillette Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023 in Foxborough, Mass. (Winslow Townson/AP Images for Panini)The top three picks were all spent on defensive players in cornerback Christian Gonzalez – 100% after a torn labrum ended his rookie campaign short in Week 4 – defensive end Keion White and safety/linebacker Marte Mapu. Gonzalez has a chance to be an All-Pro if he can improve on what he showed briefly last season. Mayo saw White as an improved player already in the spring.

Sow and slot receiver DeMario Douglas should take on big roles in 2024 that could come with improved play.

6. Is the kicker job solidified?

Incumbent Patriots kicker Chad Ryland drilled 64% of his field goals last year as a rookie.

If he hits that same number in training camp, he’ll be out of a job.

Ryland is now competing with veteran journeyman Joey Slye, who went 19-of-24 last year for Washington. Neither Ryland nor Slye separated himself during OTA or minicamp practices, leaving this summer as a true referendum for their position battle. Ideally, the Patriots would roll with the one-time fourth-round pick.

But after Ryland, who has since changed some of his preparation and mechanics, endured one of the worst seasons of any NFL kicker last year, it’s up to him and Slye to decide who kicks next.

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7. What does a Jerod Mayo team play like?

Bill Belichick-coached teams may have varied in style and success, but for the most part, fans knew what to expect.

Hard-nosed, sure-tackling, smart football teams that protected the football. What about Jerod Mayo-coached teams?

Some of the changes Mayo has already made indicate he will be a more player-friendly coach. He has become more relaxed publicly, and his front office has handed out several contract extensions Belichick may have been more reluctant to offer. How that translates on the field remains to be seen.

Mayo will likely maintain many of Belichick’s hallmarks, having played and coached under the future Hall of Famer. But the differences will define him, and this next era of Patriots football set to kick off Wednesday.