SaintNik

Excerpt from nfl.com national editor Vic Carucci collumn today about the Buccaneers and Brad Johnson in particular make point that the QB doesn't have to shine all of the time to be the leader on teams with a high number of victories.

"You want stats? How about this: Johnson's career winning percentage of .646 is second highest among active quarterbacks in the NFL. How about these: In the past seven seasons, he ranks among the league's top 10 in total victories (5th), interception percentage (5th), completion percentage (6th), touchdown passes (7th), and passer rating (9th). His career completion percentage of 61.7 ranks 5th all time.

"It seems like it's a highlight game for t.v. now" Johnson said. "But really, the game is won with your completion percentages, taking care of the ball, and giving your team a chance to win. I feel I've done that with my completion percentage, my winning percentage over my career and ,finally, the Super Bowl probably gives it a little bit of credibility."

"I'm still not going to get a lot of credibility because I'm not the highlight guy. What matters most is Gruden believes in me and the team believes in me, and I think that is why we have had pretty good success here."

O.K., I'll be the first to admit Johnson doesn't excite me but the numbers don't lie. Playing mistake free football from the quarterback position doesn't cost you games. Also, a high completion percentage keeps the offense moving the chains, the defense rested and off of the field, and helps run the clock, keeping the opponents offense on the sideline. Scoring a few points along the way of course, helps the cause. I wouldn't trade Brooks for Johnson given that chance, but I would like to see Aaron cut down on his turnovers and increase his completion percentage. This can be done simply by not forcing the throw or trying to make a play, and instead checking down to the secondary recievers or taking the running lanes when they open up to him. I think we will see improvements in his game.

BillyCarpenter1

Very,very, good point Gator. A more realistic comparsion would be to compare their first 3 years in the league.

I\'ve talked about this before but I will say this again. The Saints system to date, has not been friendly to the completion percentage of a QB. I think we all agree that the tight end position has be less than adequate, which is one postion that contributes to compeletion %. Another position that is friendly to completion % is throwing to the running back, which is not what it should be yet. I have just listed 2 area\'s that if the Saints improve on, should get Aaron\'s completion % where it needs to be, IMO.

The Saints offense relies on throwing to the receivers primarily, and these throws usually are not high completion percentage throws like Brad Johnson is asked to make. Johnson basically has all possession receivers, unlike the receivers that we have, that stretch the field vertically.

Because the Saints were weak at the tightend position and because we did not throw to Duece nearly enough last year, Aaron\'s completion percentage did suffer.

The Saints offense should have a whole new dimension to it this year. Opposing teams are going to have to respect our tightends and screen passes. Once that happens, Brooks should be able to play throw and catch with the receivers. Add in the threat of Brooks running the ball and this is going to be every defensive coordiantors worst nightmare.