Who Has a Stronger Arm – Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe?
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Posted Under: 2022 Patriots Season
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Many New England Patriots fans spent the bulk of the 2022 season asking “Who has the stronger arm, Mac Jones, or Bailey Zappe?”
After looking at the film, it appears that edge remains in Jones’ favor, at least for now.
Looking at two throws of 20 air-yards from the 2022 season, Jones surprisingly does hold the edge. You can see in the photo below that Jones fires a throw against Arizona needing to take very little of a stride as he fires the football to receiver DeVante Parker:
Zappe makes a similar 21yd throw to Jakobi Meyers, but Zappe needed to take a little more of a crow hop and make a bigger effort to make the completion.
When it comes to who has the stronger arm, Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe, looking at the two throws above, it’s interesting to see that Jones does have a stronger arm than people tend to give him credit for.
Still, give Zappe credit. He finished with a solid completion percentage of 70.7 over his four appearances, completing 65-of-92 attempts for 781-yards and 5 touchdowns, along with 3 interceptions. He also completed 16-of-25 (64%) on third down (10 first downs) for 155 yards along with two touchdowns.
One thing to note is that Jones is obviously in his second season having had a full offseason to get stronger, while Zappe is a rookie and will have his own offseason to improve his strength and mechanics.
So for now, when it comes to who has the stronger arm between Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe, Jones has the edge. Could things change in 2023? It’s certainly possible.
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