FOXBORO, Mass. — As a fourth-round pick, Bailey Zappe isn’t just another rookie quarterback for the New England Patriots.
He probably shouldn’t be compared to the likes of Matt Cassell, Danny Etling and Zac Robinson, all of whom Bill Belichick drafted in the seventh round. Nor should he be compared to someone like Jimmy Garoppolo, who was a 2014 second-round pick. No, as the 137th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Zappe is more like Jarrett Stidham (133rd in 2019), Jacoby Brisset (91st in 2016), Ryan Mallett (74th in 2011) and Kevin O’Connell (94th in 2008).
Zappe is neither a late-round flier nor someone who’s considered a potential franchise quarterback. He’s somewhere in the middle: A project from whom the Patriots hope to get real value down the road.
So, how did the Western Kentucky product look during his first NFL offseason? Well, it was a bit of an adventure for a super-smart, intangibles-first quarterback who earned the highest Wonderlic Test score of all draft-eligible QBs before the draft.
Zappe wasn’t good during spring practices. He showed some zip on the ball, but his poor decision-making and iffy accuracy were alarming. And it was more of the same early in training camp, with Zappe displaying a wild mix of impressive throws, hospital balls and passes that had fans ducking in the bleachers.
But Zappe eventually stabilized and even strung together some encouraging practices. The erraticness persisted all summer — he threw an interception in each preseason game — but Zappe at least looked like someone who could develop into a decent NFL backup — which there’s value in.
Zappe’s football IQ and high work ethic are evident, and his coaches have noticed.
“I think Bailey just continues to grow every day,” Patriots quarterbacks coach Joe Judge said Monday morning “You know, for any rookie, there’s always a drastic change for them no matter what system you come out of in college — it’s just very different in the league. Bailey’s no exception. He played in a very pass-heavy offense in college. I think that’s something that definitely lends itself to some of the things he’s shown in preseason. But, some of the things maybe we haven’t done in preseason games, or things you don’t always see, are the progress he’s made in a lot of his fundaments and progressions and understanding of the defenses he’s gonna see in the league.
“He’s done a really good job of that. A lot of this stuff is very new for him, it’s very new for every rookie. One thing we’ve been very pleased with Bailey is, you know, very, very, very seldom do you see a repeat mistake from him. I’m not saying never, but very seldom. He’s very competitive, he’s very hard on himself. I think the way he prepares, he’s a guy who’s in very early, stays very late. He’s always asking for extras. He’s definitely very serious about his craft.”
Perhaps more than most rookie quarterbacks, Zappe could experience a difficult transition to the NFL due to the competition he faced at Western Kentucky. Belichick went in-depth on those hurdles during a Tuesday morning Zoom call.
“Bailey, first of all, has been out there every day, which is a good thing,” Belichick said. “He’s been able to take reps. Learn from situations that he’s experienced, improve on those. Get a better understanding and familiarity with the offense and also what’s going on with the defensive side of the ball. He’s improved in a lot of areas. Still has a lot of things to work on and a lot of experience to gain, but certainly trending in the right direction. As every quarterback that comes into the National Football League finds out, it’s just a different game at this level. The pass rushers are better. The coverage players are faster. There’s more man coverage, generally, than what they’ve seen in college. There’s a lot more press coverage than what they would see in college. There’s a lot more different blitz packages and protection issues than what they’ve seen in college.
“Those things are all, I’d say, big adjustments or things that the quarterbacks have a high volume of issues to deal with, but those are really the big ones. The multiplicity of coverages, the tightness of the coverage and the pass rush slash blitz combinations. There’s no substitute for experience. There’s a lot of on-the-job learning there. You can x and o it, put it on the blackboard. This coverage and this route, all that stuff. But what you’re actually seeing on the field is a little bit different when the quarterback has to take everything into account. The protection, the pass rush, the type of coverage that’s being played, and then the actual route that is being called.”
In a perfect world, Patriots fans won’t hear from or see Zappe until next offseason. If Mac Jones plays well and stays healthy, Zappe never should see the field. Plus, veteran backup Brian Hoyer likely will get first crack at garbage-time work and kneel-downs.
But it’ll be interesting to see how Zappe looks this time next year with another Patriots training camp and preseason under his belt. He was drafted to be more than a complete afterthought.
