Bailey Zappe

Former quarterback at Western Kentucky. 2021: 5,967 passing yards, 62 TD, 11 INT.

QB · Western Kentucky · Sr. · #4

6′2″ · 215 lb · Dallas, TX

CFB Index 94 · #3 of 126 QBsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamNew England — drafted 2022, Rd 4, Pick 32, #137 overall

Recruiting

PRO recruit

Signed with Houston Christian

Statement game470 yds · 6 TDvs Florida Atlantic (FBS) · W 52-17

Top 0.1% passing TDs game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former quarterback at Western Kentucky. 2021: 5,967 passing yards, 62 TD, 11 INT.

Signed with Houston Christian in 2017.
Transferred from Houston Christian to Western Kentucky in 2021.
Drafted round 4 by the New England in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

One season at Western Kentucky, 5,967 passing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2021) — drafted at #137 overall by New England.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2017

Signed with Houston Christianout of Victoria East

202113 games

The role got bigger.

Entered the portal
Conference USA Player of the Yearwinner
All-Conference USAfirst

2022

Drafted by New Englandround 4, pick 137

Career arc

Recruit

—

2017 class

CFB

College

Western Kentucky

2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R4 · #137

New England · 2022

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

7 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-CONFERENCE USA · 1ST TEAM

All-Conference USA 1st team (2021)

Where He Ended Up · NFL

New EnglandEntering 5th NFL season

#137Rd 4 · Pick 32

New EnglandEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Western Kentucky9-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-heavy, fast tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

94All-America level #3 of 126?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sack rate (97th percentile). Strength: epa / dropback (97th percentile). Concern: interceptions (11th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Sack rate#5 / 167 · 97th pct

2.2%

EPA / dropback#6 / 167 · 97th pct

0.49

Success rate#8 / 167 · 96th pct

54.3%

Explosive rate#17 / 167 · 90th pct

13.3%

Interception rate#49 / 167 · 71st pct

1.6%

Box-score rates (8)

Pass yards#1 / 169 · 100th pct

5967

Pass TDs#1 / 169 · 100th pct

Completion %#15 / 169 · 91st pct

69.2%

Yards / att#22 / 169 · 86th pct

8.7

Fumbles lost#23 / 159 · 68th pct

Rush TDs#57 / 169 · 61st pct

Rush yards#112 / 169 · 33rd pct

Interceptions#148 / 169 · 11th pct

Season trend

EPA / dropback— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Success rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Sack rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Interception rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Passing profile

Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

402/596 (67.4%) · 62 TD · 11 INT

596 of 686 attempts matched to play-by-play

Adjusted ANY/A

9.498 of 204 QBs

Sack rate

2.0%5 of 204 QBs

Rarely sacked (5 of 204 QBs) and still 8 of 204 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Short

0–9 yds

53%of completions

212 comp4.6 yds avg18 TD

Middle

10–19 yds

28%of completions

113 comp13.3 yds avg12 TD

Deep

20+ yds

19%of completions

77 comp33.3 yds avg23 TD

Overall 67.4% completion on 596 attempts · 77 deep completions averaging 33.3 yds.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home6g	409	4.8	8.8	1.0
Road7g	441	3.9	8.8	0.7

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-76g	439	4.3	9.2	0.7
Weeks 8+7g	416	4.3	8.5	1.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tyson Helton

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

our read the All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #3 of 126 FBS quarterbacks by CFB Index Score.2021 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

94 · #3 of 126 QBs

Unranked recruit. Now #3 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Western Kentucky	475	686	69.2%	5,967	8.7	62	11	168.9	84	--	--
Career		475	686	69.2%	5,967	8.7	62	11	168.9	84	--	--

Season	Team
2021	Western Kentucky	51	17	0.3	3	--
Career		51	17	0.3	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2021

W 59–21

vs UT Martin

424 yds · 7 TD · 1 INT · QBR 92.1 · 24 rush yds (2 car)

Dominant 38-point win at home against UT Martin.

With J. Sterns — 7 rec · 107 yds · 2 TD · C. Baker — 54 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 100.0

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 12 · Florida Atlantic · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA -9.13Bailey Zappe pass intercepted for a TD Teja Young return for 62 yds for a TD, (Morgan Suarez KICK)
Week 7 · Old Dominion · 3&9 · Q2 · EPA +7.07Bailey Zappe pass complete to Jerreth Sterns for 74 yds for a TD, (Brayden Narveson PAT MISSED)
Week 2 · Army · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +6.93Bailey Zappe pass complete to Jerreth Sterns for 72 yds for a TD (Brayden Narveson KICK)
Week 1 · UT Martin · 2&8 · Q1 · EPA +6.53Bailey Zappe pass complete to Daewood Davis for 73 yds for a TD (Brayden Narveson KICK)
Week 1 · App State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +6.08Bailey Zappe pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 75 yds for a TD, (Brayden Narveson KICK)
Week 14 · UTSA · 2&2 · Q1 · EPA +4.50Bailey Zappe pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 60 yds for a TD, (Brayden Narveson KICK)
Week 4 · Indiana · 4&7 · Q4 · EPA +4.26Bailey Zappe pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 38 yds to the Ind 34 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · UT Martin · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +4.20Bailey Zappe pass complete to Joshua Simon for 45 yds for a TD (Brayden Narveson KICK)
Week 2 · Army · 3&17 · Q2 · EPA +4.12Bailey Zappe pass complete to Craig Burt Jr. for 28 yds to the Army 30 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · UTSA · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +4.03Bailey Zappe pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 40 yds for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	Note
Wk 1	W 59-21vs UT Martin	28/35	424	7	1	12.1	92.1	7 TD passes
Wk 2	L 35-38@ Army	28/40	435	3	1	10.9	78.8	3 TD passes
Wk 4	L 31-33vs Indiana	31/44	365	3	0	8.3	84.6	3 TD passes
Wk 5	L 31-48@ Michigan State	46/64	488	3	0	7.6	66.6	3 TD passes
Wk 6	L 46-52vs UTSA	38/60	523	5	1	8.7	72.5	5 TD passes
Wk 7	W 43-20@ Old Dominion	36/54	397	5	1	7.4	78.5	5 TD passes
Wk 8	W 34-19@ Florida International	39/49	382	3	0	7.8	57.9	3 TD passes
Wk 9	W 45-13vs Charlotte	33/45	393	4	2	8.7	81.7	4 TD passes
Wk 10	W 48-21vs Middle Tennessee	29/50	281	4	0	5.6	64.6	4 TD passes
Wk 11	W 42-21@ Rice	34/42	482	5	1	11.5	88.9	5 TD passes
Wk 12	W 52-17vs Florida Atlantic	39/49	470	6	2	9.6	90.2	6 TD passes
Wk 13	W 53-21@ Marshall	25/48	328	4	0	6.8	50.6	4 TD passes
Wk 14	L 41-49@ UTSA	36/59	577	4	2	9.8	84.8	Season-high 577 yds
Total		442/639	5545	56	11	8.8	76.3

How he plays

Play style

High-percentage passer who protects the ball. Loses the matchup on improvisation.

CFB Index positional classification

Checkdown vs gunslinger · 3rd-and-long

Where the completions actually land

fact

64.1%Completion %

35.7%Conversion/dropback

40.0%Land short of sticks

1INTs

64.1% completion on 3rd-and-8+, but only 35.7% conversion-per-dropback — 40.0% of completions land short of the sticks.

Where completions land is fact — whether incompletions were aimed deep is intent, not recorded here, so this card counts completions only. ~ our read: checkdown by design