Bailey Zappe might be the latest great example of how an NFL team can make a quarterback look better than he actually is via great game-planning and playcalling.
Zappe deserves his due share of praise for what he’s done for the Patriots in their last two-plus games. But let’s be honest about the Western Kentucky product: His ceiling probably is a middle-of-the-pack starting quarterback. It’s highly unlikely we’ll ever hear Zappe’s name mentioned in MVP conversations and there’s a good chance his NFL résumé never will feature a Pro Bowl selection.
That doesn’t mean the undersized signal-caller is incapable of winning games at a consistent clip, though. An anonymous AFC personnel executive suggested as much as they assessed Zappe’s game.
“I think he’s as advertised,” the exec told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “Very smart, has picked up their offense pretty quickly. He takes very good care of the ball, makes good decisions. His arm is not great, but he sort of has just enough for most throws. He gets exposed if there is tight coverage, but they do a good job scheming solid situations for him.”
Perhaps Mac Jones, who’s watched from afar as “Zappe Fever” has overwhelmed the New England area, can learn something from his understudy. Zappe didn’t try to do too much in his first two NFL starts, and the end result in both games was a Patriots win (albeit against inferior competition). Jones wasn’t regularly staying within himself prior to going down with an ankle injury, which resulted in troubling turnovers. And should Jones veer on the side of reckless play if he’s given his job back, Bill Belichick and company might not hesitate to put Zappe back behind center.
It remains to be seen who will lead the Patriots offense when New England hosts the Chicago Bears next Monday night. Belichick, as anyone could have guessed, was noncommittal about his team’s QB situation one day after the Patriots blew out the Cleveland Browns.
