DblBogey

What is the difference between the Aaron Brooks that stepped in for an injured Jeff Balke and the Aaron Brooks of today? What do we need to do to reincarnate the Aaron Brooks that played like there was no tomorrow?

progress

Oh, a riddle. Woo Hoo.
I\'ll guess the difference is about $30 million.

[Edited on 5/11/2003 by progress]

saintz08

I will go with , veteran backup leadership.

Same reason the Saints brought in Brian Cox and Jake Reed too play .

JudeThaddeus

Instinct vs. Intellect

Aaron Brook was (and still is) a great QB when he is reacting . He an average and very inconsistent QB when he is asked to think through his position. In that first year wherin AB replaced JB, we really had nothing to lose. We were beat up by injuries on an offense that was balky at best. Defenses had learned to play against us with an non-mobile QB, and they were having success. JB gets hurt and the brand new backup is asked to step in. He is not familiar with the system (heck, he only had six months to learn it with no practical experience in it). The OC knows this. He simplifies the system and lets AB react. A new sensation is born as AB has loads of athletic ability and a great instinct to get out of trouble.

In the following years, he has been asked to be the offensive field general. He is asked to think his way through things and try to predict what the defense will do. Based on this, he is supposed to adjust the plays and change his actions based on a system. These things do not play to his strengths, but they are required of a great QB. AB has always had trouble with this. I suspect he always will.

The best demonstration of this is during two minute drills when we are behind. Ever wonder why the Saints seem to be able to score late when we are behind, but not consistently through the game? In my opinion, this is it.

AB is still a great instinctive QB and when he is allowed to react rather than to try and think is way through things, he is the most dangerous QB in the NFL. Unfortunately, those situations present themselves when we are desperate and we are desperate when we have nothing to lose. When we get a lead, we are no longer desperate and we allow teams back in games because the offense stalls and the defense has to carry us.

Of course, this is just an opinion and many other factors play into it. Still, I believe this to be true about Aaron Brooks.

whowatches

Nail, meet hammer.

You got, JT. Allow me to elaborate on another point. I think Aaron is trying to hard (at the behest of coaches) to be a \'pocket qb.\' Did you notice how good he looked last week when, noticing everyone was covered, he RAN THE FRIGGIN FOOTBALL?!? I\'m not saying I want him to run the ball every down or even every possession, but I would like for opposing defenses to have to respect his ability to run.

canucksaint

AB is a great scrabbling QB, and he is able to get the job done when he is under pressure. He is however NOT a pocket passer. I don’t know why he or anyone else thinks that he should be. AB has some very redeeming qualities, and some very poor ones. He is not the leader that the team needs, but he also doesn’t need to be. Deuce and Horn (or whoever else) can fill that role. He has great movement and I like seeing him use his feet, rather than sit in the pocket and do nothing. I still don’t understand why they didn’t bring in a QB in the off season to mentor him to what his natural talents are.

ThePosterFormerlyKnownAs-

Do any of you think that you are judging Aaron Brooks differently than you do other QB\'s in the league? I\'m just wondering why some of you think he\'s not good as a pocket passer. All of these problems you say he has is not unique to Aaron. Last year some of you wanted to throw up stats and point out his completion percentage wasn\'t high enough. Yet, Brooks\' supporters bring up stats this year and they don\'t count.

Let\'s look at Brooks\' stats --

Aaron Brooks NO 9 277 30.8 164 59.2 1837 204.1 69 13 6 15 87 85.7

Brooks has been a pocket passer this year and his completion percentage is good. His TD to INT ratio is good. How can this be when you say he isn\'t a good pocket passer? His receivers surely can\'t get the credit this year? Could it be that some of you are judging him differently than other QB\'s?

What about these QB\'s??

Matt Hasselbeck SEA 8 248 31.0 145 58.5 1774 221.8 66 12 7 23 121 85.0
Tom Brady NE 9 289 32.1 173 59.9 2071 230.1 82 11 8 17 133 83.0
Tim Couch CLE 5 122 24.4 79 64.8 757 151.4 71 4 4 9 61 79.2
Jake Delhomme CAR 8 212 26.5 121 57.1 1394 174.2 67 8 6 11 65 77.8
Drew Bledsoe BUF 8 256 32.0 158 61.7 1748 218.5 54 6 8 23 181 76.8
Kerry Collins NYG 8 333 41.6 194 58.3 2185 273.1 77 11 10 13 69 76.5
David Carr HOU 7 204 29.1 122 59.8 1483 211.9 78 6 8 11 63 75.7
Rich Gannon OAK 7 225 32.1 125 55.6 1274 182.0 46 6 4 17 90 73.5

If competion percentage and TD to INT ratio don\'t count. Then what does? Surely you can\'t say wins and losses? Since this is a team game. Aaron has made mistakes to be sure, but what about all the other QB\'s that play?

Anwser me this. What about Matt Hasselbeck? How would you compare his play to Brooks this year?

whowatches

I never said that Aaron is not doing a good job this year.

Offensive scoring is down this year, and receivers are dropping balls. If Aaron has the ability to run when receivers are covered downfield, shouldn\'t he? During his first days as our qb, he gave headaches to opposing defenses because they had to respect his ability to scramble. This year, I notice him standing in the pocket too long waiting for receivers to break out of coverage.

Maybe the coaches are to blame. Believe me, I\'m not trying to put it all on Aaron, but you have to admit that the offensive is less productive this year.

ThePosterFormerlyKnownAs-

whowatches -- My arguement has nothing to do with Aaron running the ball. I want to see more of that myself. My question is to those that are saying Brooks isn\'t a good pocket passer. What is this based on? And, if you apply those same standards to the other QB\'s that I have listed, what does that say about them?

saintfan

I think if people are being fair (and honest) with themselves they\'ll admit Brooks is better when he\'s freelancing as opposed to sitting in the pocket. I would agree with that statement. I was against the Saints trying to \"Force\" Aaron to sit in the pocket causing his instincts to work against him. Brooks is, in my opinion, best when he\'s rolling out of the pocket. I don\'t think Brooks wants to have the \"scrambler\" lable, and I don\'t blame him for that, but I don\'t think that\'s why he hasn\'t run as much as he did when he took over for Blake. I think he\'s being instructed to stay in the pocket and I think that hurts his game. I also think that slowly the Saints coaching staff is beginning to realize that Aaron\'s real talent comes when he\'s allowed some freedom after the snap. In the immortal words of Dennis Miller, \"that\'s just my opinion. I could be wrong.\"

C'mon Man...