Did Mac Jones just get Drew Bledsoe’d? We have a looooooong way to go until we can credibly compare rookie Bailey Zappe to GOAT Tom Brady. But New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has proven he’ll go with the hot hand at quarterback, regardless of pedigree.
After lighting up the Cleveland Browns for 309 yards and two touchdowns on 24 of 34 passing attempts in a 38-15 romp, Zappe is most certainly the hot hand. And he’s a very deserving PFN Breakthrough Player of the Week for Week 6.
Bailey Zappe Is PFN’s Breakthrough Player of Week 6
Zappe led the Patriots on four touchdown drives Sunday, including a nine-play, 87-yard masterpiece late in the first half that gave New England a lead they would never relinquish. He had completions to eight different receivers Sunday — including himself. (He caught a batted pass.)
Zappe had six completions of 20 or more yards, including a 53-yard hookup with Jonnu Smith. Zappe’s two-yard hookup with Tyquan Thornton was the Patriots’ first rookie-to-rookie touchdown connection in nearly 30 years (Bledsoe to Vincent Brisby).
After a 1-3 start to the season, the Patriots are 2-0 in the games Zappe has started. Jones suffered a significant high ankle sprain in Week 4 and hasn’t played since.
Zappe has taken the opportunity and run with it. He leads all rookies who have had at least 20 attempts in passing yards (596), completion percentage (72.9%), yards per pass (8.5), touchdown passes (4), and passer rating (111.4). Zappe through Sunday’s action ranks 10th in QBR among all NFL quarterbacks in Week 6 (56.4).
“He learns everyday, whether it’s practice, or meetings, or game experiences,” Belichick said Sunday. “He has pretty good instincts, but there is a lot for him to learn. There are things today that he learned from and he was able to take advantage of and make a couple plays. He had the opportunity. Again, it’s all performance. It’s not turning the ball over or a strip sack. It’s a good thing.”
Who Is Bailey Zappe?
Unless you’re a big Southland Conference football fan, you probably never heard of Zappe before last fall.
The Victoria, Texas, native was basically unrecruited out of high school despite throwing for over 7,000 yards and 79 touchdowns in his final two seasons. Just two years ago, Zappe was completing passes in Houston Baptist’s 5,000-seat stadium.
But the talent was there. In 2019, he threw for 35 touchdowns and 3,811 yards for Houston Baptist (now known as Houston Christian).
Following a COVID-19-shortened senior season, Zappe used his extra eligibility to transfer to Western Kentucky, following HBU offensive coordinator Zach Kittley to Conference USA.
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He won the starting job and then went absolutely nuclear. The conference player of the year set FBS single-season records for passing yards (5,967) and passing touchdowns (62).
Zappe’s massive year earned him an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine, where he didn’t exactly set any records. (Zappe ran a 4.88 and jumped 30 inches.)
Despite arm-strength questions, Zappe was drafted by the Patriots in Round 4 (137th overall), becoming the fifth quarterback taken. He made the team despite an uninspiring preseason (63.4%, 1-3, 69.1), serving as the No. 3 quarterback. The expectation was he would hold a clipboard for his rookie season. But then Jones (ankle) and Brian Hoyer (concussion) got hurt, and opportunity knocked.
Zappe’s Outlook for Rest of 2022 Season
So could Zappe really supplant Jones permanently? It’s not out of the realm of possibility. He’s certainly been the more productive player in 2022.
“We’ll see how that process is,” Belichick said Monday. “Mac wasn’t able to play yesterday. We’ll continue to evaluate him.”
There’s a reason why Belichick is hedging. Zappe leads Jones in basically every significant passing category:
Completion percentage (72.9 to 66), yards per attempt (8.5 to 8.1), touchdown rate (5.7 to 2.1), interception rate (1.4 to 5.2), and passer rating (111.4 to 76.2).
Zappe on Sunday credited his success to “definitely my teammates and my coaches. They have definitely supported me. I ask a lot of questions on the sidelines, and they keep me calm on the field. When you have guys like we have on the offensive side, it is very easy.”