It was good business for the Patriots to select Bailey Zappe in the fourth round of the draft, despite already having Mac Jones on their roster, according to a former NFL GM.
Randy Mueller, who worked for the Seahawks, Saints and Dolphins and won executive of the year, told ESPN’s Mike Reiss he understands why the Patriots went for the quarterback from Western Kentucky.
“I wasn't surprised. At that point in the draft, you're trying to identify traits with players that maybe not everybody sees. And I think Bill [Belichick] and his crew have done as good a job at that as any, across the board at all positions,” said Mueller. "I see a lot of positives in Bailey Zappe. When you get to the third day of the draft, I think it's too much to turn your back on, regardless of position. Everybody seems to want to fill needs throughout [the draft], but I'm more about getting the best group of players and not bypassing good players to fill needs. And I think Bailey was one of those guys, although I don't think everyone sees that.”
That’s high praise, though in fairness, Mueller evaluated Zappe more highly than most. He was the second quarterback on Mueller’s board behind Kenny Pickett, whom the Steelers took with the No. 20 overall pick.
Zappe was prolific last season at Western Kentucky, completing 69.2 percent of his throws for 5,967 yards and 62 touchdowns. The Hilltoppers’ head coach, Tyson Helton, recently compared some aspects of his game to Drew Brees.
“Bailey reminds me a lot of Drew,” Helton told USA Today’s Patriots Wire. “Bailey is — coming out of college — kind of Drew Brees-ish. Bailey has great anticipation. He sees it before it happens. And he has great accuracy, specifically deep ball accuracy. And those two things, you can’t teach.”
Bill Belichick has regularly drafted quarterbacks in the middle rounds, even when Tom Brady was under center. Rohan Davey, Kevin O’Connell, Ryan Mallett, Jacoby Brissett, Jarrett Stidham were all taken between rounds three and five. (That’s not even counting late-round choices Matt Cassel and Kliff Kingsbury or second-rounder Jimmy Garoppolo, who many believe was pegged to replace Brady.)
With mid-round rookies signed to four-year deals, the Patriots will have plenty of time to see Zappe develop, either to play for them or eventually for someone else. If the latter occurs, the Patriots could receive some nice draft capital in return.
It’s all about value at the end of the day.
