Even before the week three injury to Mac Jones, the Patriots were off to an unimpressive start. Well, at least on the offensive side of the ball. This isn’t an article calling to replace Mac Jones as the franchise guy already, but to make the BEST replacement in wake of his injury. Through three games, the Patriots have had a seven-point performance, a 17-point performance, and a 26-point performance ruined by four turnovers. Off to a 1-2 start in an absolutely loaded AFC, the playoffs were a SERIOUS question mark even with Mac at the helm. So why not develop your talented rookie QB in Jones’ absence? Brian Hoyer isn’t taking New England to the promised land, so it’s time to let Bailey Zappe shine.
What Does Bailey Zappe Provide?
We obviously haven’t seen Zappe in any regular-season NFL environment yet, but watching his college film and looking at the stats, he’s VERY talented. In his senior season at Western Kentucky, he threw for almost 6,000 yards, 62 TD’s, and only 11 INT’s. He doesn’t have the strongest arm, but he’s insanely accurate, completing 69.2 percent of his passes last season at WKU. Even coming out of the draft, his scouting report on nflprospects.com spoke very highly of the 4th round pick . Obviously the NFL game is on a whole other level, but why not start the development of your rookie QB early? Let him get his reps and who knows, maybe you find out he’s even better than Mac or at worst a viable backup.
Why Bailey Zappe and Not Brian Hoyer?
Let me preface this by saying I do not dislike Brian Hoyer, he’s a great guy and loyal Patriots backup. That being said, of course the staff has spoke highly of Hoyer as a backup all week. Citing his experience and the way he sees the game as reasons for their trust.
https://twitter.com/MarkDanielsPJ/status/1574785929159606277
However, don’t we already know exactly what he is? It was proven when he had to make a start in 2020 against the Chiefs. With Hoyer, the playbook has to get WAY oversimplified and the Patriots struggle to find the endzone… something they haven’t been great at this year with a much better QB in Mac Jones. At 1-2 down a starting QB, the Pats are already on the outside looking in, is Hoyer really going to fix that? The simple answer is no, not at all. This is why rolling the dice on Bailey Zappe is the right thing to do. Hoyer doesn’t increase your chance to win a football game and maybe Zappe won’t either, but i’d rather find out the hard way.
The Patriots Have Nothing to Lose.
https://twitter.com/DakRandallNESN/status/1574817000014188566
If this were a situation where the Patriots were off to a 3-0 start, maybe we’d be having a different conversation. Let Hoyer come in, check down and game manage, and maybe you win enough games to stay in the hunt until Mac returns. Personally, i’d still prefer Zappe even if that were the case, but that’s just my opinion. However, that isn’t the case and the Patriots are off to a 1-2 start and losing Jones for “multiple weeks.” On top of that, he is getting a second opinion, so it may even end up being longer than the “multiple games” in the initial report. So why not take a chance? The Patriots are going to struggle to make the playoffs and aren’t better than the Chiefs, Bills, Dolphins, Ravens, Chargers, Broncos, Jaguars, or the Colts with Hoyer under center.
Play Bailey Zappe. He can’t be much worse than Hoyer, maybe more prone to mistakes as a rookie, but not in terms of moving the football. Who knows, maybe he’ll end up being a pleasant surprise and turn this offense around. Pats fans know they’ve had a young backup come in as an injury replacement before… and i’d say he turned out to be PRETTY good.