Originally posted on 12/26/2013:

Everybody says that Brady, Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees are the 4 elite QB's. My point is that Drew Brees isn't nearly as good as the other 3. If you had to rank them everybody with a brain would rank him 4th. You can make an argument for Brady #1, Manning #1, Rodgers #1 but Brees is clearly not as good as any of them.

Brees is a solid player no doubt, but he is clearly in the 4 to 9 range with Roethlisburger, Rivers, Romo, Eli Manning. He might or might not be better than the other guys in his class but he is NOT on par with Brady, Manning or Rodgers.



1. Perfect conditions. He plays 9 out of 16 games in a dome every single year. He also gets 1 game in warm Tampa and 1 game in very modest Carolina. These are the best weather conditions out of any QB in the league. If he has out of conference games in warm places he has even better weather conditions but he gets at least 11/16 games in a dome or in the South. Minnesota's and Detroit's QBs will also get 9 dome games per year but they also have to play in GB and Chicago. Brees has the best field conditions in the league by far.

Everybody sees that Matt Stafford plays in a dome and he isn't as good as his stats. I mean Matt Stafford is currently 3rd in the NFL in passing yards and nobody in their right mind would argue that he is even the 10th best QB in the league. Everybody knows Stafford isn't as good as his stats but Brees gets a free pass. If Brees were the QB of say the Steelers or the Bears or any other outdoor in the cold team his stats would be much lower and he probably wouldn't even look like the same player.

Home vs Road win %
Brees home win % is 64%
Brees road win % is 53.7%

This goes back to the point about conditions. Yes every QB is going to win more at home than on the road but the Saints have been very good at home, and then they can be atrocious on the road.

2. Coaching. Bill Bellicheck is unanimously the best defensive coach in the NFL and I'd say it is pretty close to unanimous that Sean Payton is the best offensive coach in the NFL. This matters big time. Brees had a huge down year without Payton and his game planning and adjustments. Payton is also a huge fan of the screen game which further pads Brees stats. It is a lot easier throwing a sideways screen pass to Darren Sproles who runs for 25 yards than throwing a 25 yard pass into real NFL coverage with D-Lineman chasing you.

3. Talent. Drew Brees has the lowest % of passes to WRs in the league at around 33%. Other QB's are about 40% or higher. He has over 1,000 passing yards throwing to his running backs as Payton loves the screen game. Again, it is a lot easier picking up RAC yards than passing yards through the air. Sproles has been a huge boost to his passing numbers with all the dink and dunk screens.

Can't overstate having Antonio Gates a HOF TE in his prime and Jimmy Graham, a huge freak of nature at TE. How much thinking does it really take to throw passes to a Jimmy Graham or a Megatron? Even when these guys are covered they are open. Only a couple QB's in the league have these extreme freaks of nature to throw passes to.

Brees #1 receiver is his freak TE
His #2 receiver is his RB (Colston is now tied with him)

So this supposed elite QB makes his living throwing to the Megatron of tight ends and his 3rd down RB. That doesn't look like an elite QB to me. The Screen game doesn't require you to see the blitz, stand in the pocket, see the coverage and deliver accurate throws, not at all. Many other QB's could do what Brees does and he can't do what they do.

Brees has also had a top notch offensive line while in New Orleans. Top 5 with dominant guards on the inside. That has given him a run game and allowed Payton's play calling to move the chains. People think of the Saints and they don't think of a run game because they cycle through running backs. The Saints do have a solid run game though.

If I am sitting there at 3rd and 10, there are a lot of QB's I'd rather have than Brees, Rodgers, Manning, Brady easily being 3 of them. He isn't as good on 3rd and long as the other guys.

4. Interceptions. Brees led the NFL in interceptions last year. No it wasn't a rookie or Cutler or Eli Manning, it was Mr. Elite QB Drew Brees. Bet you didn't know that. His 22 interceptions 3 years ago was the 2nd most picks in the league. So how many times have Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers led the NFL in picks? Does Drew Brees get another free pass?


He started his career off real slow in San Diego. He had more picks than TDs in his first three years and only realy turned it on in 2004 and 2005 in San Diego. Those were two of the most talented teams in the NFL of the last 10 years and they had a great head coach. Even then, who was he throwing to? He had a dominant O-Line, he had a Hall of Fame Tight end, he had a Hall of fame running back who could catch passes. His #1 receiver was his freak TE and his #2 WR was his RB. By 2005 you got to throw Keenan McCardell in the mix who was a very good NFL receiver.


Brees is a solid player but I would not put him in the same class as Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers. Tom Brady is proving more this year in a down statistical year then he did in other better years. Peyton Manning took a joke team to the playoffs in his 2nd to last year with the Colts, he gets hurt his last year and the team wins 2 games. I don't think Brees is transferable anywhere. I don't think Brees could have won 4 road playoff games like Eli did twice. If he was the Steelers QB I don't think he would have 2 rings like Big Ben does. If he was the QB of the SD Chargers last year they would have sucked just like they did under Rivers only maybe worse. Even the year the Saints won the super bowl, they got bailed out by the defense. The marquee play of that super bowl wasn't a fantastic Brees TD, it was the CB running back a pick 6 when everybody assumed Manning was going to surgecially destroy that defense for his 2nd ring.

His dome, coaching, offensive line, elite TE, elite pass catching RB, play calling and all that other stuff give him a great chance for statistical success. This fantasty football centric culture has overrated this guy. Maybe he is the 4th best QB, maybe he is the 6th or 7th best QB. He is a good player but he is overrated.