Anyone who loves the Patriots can attest to the heartbreak and disappointment they’ve been subjected to over the past few years since Tom Brady left New England to join Tampa Bay. The main concern after Brady’s departure has been about finding a young quarterback that can lead the Patriots deep into the playoffs once again.
After drafting Mac Jones out of Alabama with the 15th pick in the first round of the NFL draft, there was much confusion amongst Patriots fans. Jones was a star quarterback in college, had won two national championships with Alabama, and had finished third in voting for the Heisman trophy in 2020.
However, despite all these accolades, there was the question of how he would perform in the NFL.
Enter Bailey Zappe, an interesting QB prospect out of Western Kentucky University. I know you may be wondering why the Patriots drafted another QB and one from a college that hadn’t even been heard about until now.
Apparently, Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia saw something Zappe, other than the fact that he looks like a slightly shorter and slimmer version of Jones. In his first game, although the Patriots lost, he had a passer rating of 107.4, so there was some promise in that performance.
In the second game, he improved, racking up 188 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and an 81% completion rate to achieve a passer rating of 100. The most important thing to consider though is that the Patriots trounced the Lions that week. I know, it doesn’t seem like beating the Lions is a big accomplishment, and it really shouldn’t be, but they’ve had a solid offense to start the season, and they shut the Lions down.
In the next game, Zappe had an incredible performance, racking up 309 yards, two touchdowns, zero interception, and a completion rate of 70.6% to get a passer rating of 118.4.
Although he’s only played in three full games as of the writing of this article, many people have already started questioning whether this is going to be another Drew Bledsoe and Brady situation, where the young QB rises to the occasion and takes the spot of the more experienced QB. Should Jones get benched in favor of Zappe?
I say yes, and definitively so.
Zappe is more nimble, reliable, and more willing to run a variety of plays with the offense. He is much more versatile than Jones is, and it isn’t even close. Zappe is that guy. He is getting more decisive and more confident with each play, and I would trust him to safely guide me through any crisis, at least more so than Jones. Maybe Jones should start looking into an alternate career path.
After all, his replacement model is looking refreshed, hungry, and ready to take his spot.
