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Re: ESPN’s Colin Cowherd says Russell Wilson is a Top 5 QB–Better than Drew Brees

Quote:

Originally Posted by burningmetal (Post 472798)

But his overall efficiency is what put him over Brees. I don't think any Rookie QB could have survived this season with the Saints, however. Russell Wilson had a good year, I'm not taking that away from him, but you can't possibly make a valid comparison between he and Brees, at this point.

... the other 500lb elephant in the room. Wilson had a great season and is a great talent, but could he have done it without his H/C? Would Drew have had such a tough season with Payton on the sidelines? Level the playing field, give Brees his H/C back, then make the comparison.

Re: ESPN’s Colin Cowherd says Russell Wilson is a Top 5 QB–Better than Drew Brees

Quote:

Originally Posted by burningmetal (Post 472798)

QB ratings don't take into account degree of difficulty. I believe Drew had a down year, but he had a much more difficult task than Wilson.

Are you sure of that? If you rank team defenses played by Seattle and New Orleans based on average yards per game that the opposing defense surrenders (rank 1 gives up the fewest yards/game) and then sum the team ranks over the course of the year, opposing team ranks for the Seahawks was 212. For the Saints, opposing team ranks were 282.

Let's break it down by how many games each team played against defenses ranked 1-8, 9-16, 17-24, and 25-32. We find:

Seattle:
1st 1/4: 4
2nd 1/4: 8
3rd 1/4: 3
4th 1/4: 1

New Orleans:
1st 1/4: 2
2nd 1/4: 5
3rd 1/4: 5
4th 1/4: 4

Seattle played 12 games against teams whose defenses were ranked in the top half of the league. New Orleans played against 7 teams whose defenses were ranked in the top half. So, if you look at opposing defenses, Wilson had the more difficult task.

Re: ESPN’s Colin Cowherd says Russell Wilson is a Top 5 QB–Better than Drew Brees

Quote:

Originally Posted by SloMotion (Post 473167)

Granted, the Saints were a team in turmoil this year. I'm sure that Wilson would not have done as well as he did with a team that did not have it's coaching staff well established.

But Brees is a veteran QB and should be a team leader by now. Seahawks veterans credit Wilson as another coach out on the field because of all the preparation that he does even before the first practice of the week. It is a very special player who is regarded by the veterans as another coach, especially as a rookie.

Re: ESPN’s Colin Cowherd says Russell Wilson is a Top 5 QB–Better than Drew Brees

I'm struggling to find anything more idiotic to compare this to. Dozens of all time NFL records at the position, SB champ and MVP is eclipsed by a solid rookie season operating in the protective umbrella of the league's best defense and one of the most productive and efficient RB's in the game and truthfully only being a playoff team because a replacement ref blew the worst call in history making it possible. Wow. What is next? Alfred Morris better than Walter Payton?