Indianapolis — Team interviews, scouts and coaches alike beg Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe the question: How will your production translate to a pro level?
Zappe sees the questions as stemming from a place of "curiosity." The Victoria, Texas, native is eager to explain what he believes is his FBS-record 5,987 yards and 62 touchdowns in a season. Not a mirage.
Sure, he understands how an air raid offense wouldn't exactly parallel the pro-style system to which an NFL team would ask him to get used to. The competition level would jump as Jape adjusted his first three seasons in Western Kentucky's more competitive Conference USA from FCS opponents of Houston Baptists.
But Zappe is up for questions. When asked his answer?
"I smile like I am now," Zappe told the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday. "It was a misconception about air raids and the air raid tree that we ran with (offensive coordinator Zach) Kitley. A lot of things that a lot of people knew about the NFL and other crimes in college. We did a lot of things." Read all the pure progress material, lots of opportunities to check in and out plays, pure progress of the defense.
"Some stuff that will take over the NFL."
Zappe's production made a splash. He was not merely prolific in a system emphasizing deep danger; His habit of moving chains didn't come at the cost of ball-safety red flags.
Zappe finished the 2021 season, completing 475 of a monstrous 686 pass attempts, bouncing just 11 interceptions in his 62-touchdown campaign. His 5,987 passing yards beat Texas Tech's B.J. surpasses the 18-year record previously held by Simmons; Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, in his LSU Championship campaign, collected 60 touchdowns in 15 games, while Zappe collected 62 in 14.
Western Kentucky QB Bailey Zappe on questions of whether Air Raid, WKU production will translate to NFL: “I just smile.” Says he’s worked through progressions, NFL-style concepts. pic.twitter.com/ibmvSEhwZD
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) March 2, 2022
Over the past three seasons under Kittle's co-ordination at Houston Baptist, Zappe steadily improved his completion percentage from 57.8 to 63.8 to 65.6. In the 2020 season cut short by COVID-19, Zappe threw 15 touchdowns for just one interception.
Next up: Planned development had already begun as Zappe absorbed NFL concepts under the Lions coaching staff at the Senior Bowl last month.
"I think the main thing, you look at the great guys, they had leadership - that's the No. 1 thing," Zappe said. “Decision making, ball placement, limiting turnover, knowledge of the game. There are about four or five things that are the most important things. I think I keep them in my game, but there is definitely a lot of room for improvement.”
Zappe considers ball placement on a world scale, alluding to in-game scenarios when a teammate ran a fade with a defensive back on his inside shoulder. He cites moments when he needed to throw the ball low or far, attempting to ensure that the defender would neither hit a pass in his season nor hit a touchdown 5.6 times as an interception. will be characteristic.
"Place your player between the ball and the defender so that your guy can only catch it—and throw a good enough ball where he can catch it," Jape said. "It doesn't necessarily always have to be in the chest. Not always in the chest or head. It can be a foot ahead of the numbers."
Zappe plans to continue to perform in front of teams in meetings. With pro-style verbage, talent evaluators are eager to determine the depth and breadth of their conceptual knowledge as well as their air raid experience under various disguised coverage. Against how would that translate to throwing in tight windows. They will aim to show on follow-up Zoom interviews how their full-field reading informs their competence; To illustrate how Western Kentucky coaches empowered him to read defenses and adjust pre-snaps.
"Coach Kitley gave me, as he said, the keys to the Lamborghini," said Zappe. “Everything I saw fit, everything I saw fit, it will continue to help me throughout my career in the NFL, recognizing just what the defense is doing against us.
“I think that’s how knowledge of the game translates to the NFL. … It will continue to help me throughout my career in the NFL, just recognizing what our defenses are doing against.”