Who is Bailey Zappe you ask? Well, the answer is below, but let’s first
talk about his fellow quarterbacks who were drafted over the past 3
days during the NFL draft in Las Vegas.
Suffice it to say, the draft didn’t go exactly as planned for the
quarterback position. Most draft experts had 2-3 QBs going in the 1 st
round with another 2-3 in the 2 nd round. They couldn’t have been more
wrong.
There was only quarterback selected in round 1 and that was
Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett getting chosen with the 20 th pick by the
Steelers. Pickett was a 4-year starter with the Pitt Panthers and will
battle Mitch Trubisky for the starting position. Pickett has an NFL arm
and comes with good mobility and passing accuracy. He could very well
be a day 1 starter.
Then 54 picks went by until the next QB, Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder,
was selected in the 3 rd round by Atlanta. The Falcons signed Marcus
Mariota in the offseason to be their starter, but if he struggles you
could see Ridder take the field in midseason.
The next QB to go off the board was Liberty’s Malik Willis who went 12
picks later to Tennessee. Almost all of the draft experts had Willis as a
1 st round pick with many expecting him to be the 1 st QB selected. He has
tremendous arm strength and mobility, but apparently many NFL teams
felt he was too raw to be drafted earlier.
Landing with the Titans could be a perfect fit for Willis as Ryan Tannehill
is entrenched as the starting QB, which will allow Willis to develop
behind him for a year or two. It was a shock to see Willis slide to the
86 th overall pick when many had him going in the top 10 in the draft.
Matt Corral from Ole Miss was the 3 rd quarterback to go in the 3 rd round
with the 94 th overall pick to Carolina. Some people expected the
Panthers to select a QB with the 6 th overall pick in the draft, so it was
excellent value to get Corral in the 3 rd round. He will likely start the
season on the bench behind Sam Darnold, but if/when Darnold
struggles you could see Corral lining up behind center.
The next quarterback to be selected would be 43 picks later in the 4 th
round when the infamous Bailey Zappe was drafted by the New
England Patriots. If you haven’t heard of Zappe, it is likely because he
played for Western Kentucky this past season after playing 3 years at
Houston Baptist. In 2021 he threw for 5,967 yards and 62 touchdowns,
both NCAA records.
Granted, playing in Conference USA isn’t the same as playing in the SEC,
but it’s still division one football and he did throw for 488 yards and 4
TDs vs. Michigan St. The scouting report on Zappe is that he possesses a
good touch on his passes, is accurate, has a strong pocket awareness,
stays calm and is a good leader. The downside is that he is only 6’1” tall
with average arm strength & mobility.
That sounds a lot like Drew Brees to me. Will Zappe be as good as
Brees? Probably not, but he has upside and is great value in the 4 th
round.
The final highly touted quarterback to be selected was North Carolina’s
Sam Howell with the 1 st pick of the 5 th round by Washington where he
will backup Carson Wentz. Howell has a strong arm and is mobile and
could be a solid starter down the road with a little development. He
represents terrific value as most had him as a 2 nd round pick.
15 years from now will this draft be remembered as the Bailey Zappe
draft? Who knows, but New England has a history with drafting under
the radar QBs late in the draft. You may remember that back in 2000
they used a 6 th round pick on some quarterback named Brady.
