Just one year after the Patriots selected quarterback Mac Jones in the first round, New England picked up Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft on Saturday — and his girlfriend is thrilled.
On Sunday, Zappe’s longtime girlfriend Hannah Lewis shared a sweet Instagram tribute to the quarterback, who she called an inspiration since they first met.
“PATRIOTS!!!! ❤️💙,” Lewis wrote in her caption. “Bailey Michael Zappe, watching you work so hard to achieve your dreams has been nothing short of amazing! When we first met and I asked you what you wanted to do when you got out of college you answered with no hesitation, NFL. Through all the many odds you persevered and made your dreams come true. You inspire me everyday and you should be so proud of yourself. I love you!”
The couple will celebrate five years of dating in September, according to Lewis’ Instagram.
The Patriots used one of their 10 draft picks to select Zappe at No. 137. He joins 14-year veteran Brian Hoyer and 2019 fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham on the depth chart backing up Jones.
The move came as a surprise to some as Jones is entrenched as the team’s starting quarterback in the post-Tom Brady era.
But Matt Groh, the Patriots’ first-year director of player personnel, is a believer in Zappe.
“There’s always value in having good players on your team and Bailey is a good player. This guy is a winner … he has a lot of great traits that you want in a quarterback,” Groh said Saturday after Zappe was selected. “He’s going to add value to our team. It’s going to be up to him to kind of carve out what that role is here initially and then going forward.”
Zappe, who turned 23 years old last week, is excited to work with Jones.
“He’s a phenomenal quarterback, as are the rest of the QB’s in that room,” he said of Jones, the Patriots’ No. 15 pick in last year’s draft. “I am really look forward to learning from all three of those guys, meeting them, and doing as much as I can to help the team. I am really excited about this opportunity.”
Zappe transferred to Western Kentucky last season after attending Houston Baptist and led the Hilltoppers to a nine-win season last year. He also threw for 5,967 yards and 62 touchdowns, breaking the single-season Football Bowl Subdivision records, the lattter of which was set by former LSU quarterback and current Bengals star Joe Burrow.