|
Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Man, we don't deserve Drew Brees. He is going to break the NFL's all-time passing record on Monday night, and nobody gives a (expletive). It's true. Sure, you like Drew Brees. You enjoy his games. Hell, you try to get him on your fantasy team every year. But you also take him for granted. He's so good, you just come to expect a great performance from him, like, every time he takes the field. It's like going to a movie starring Hugh Jackman. You know before you walk in the theater doors that his movie is going to be amazing. Well, not "The Wolverine," but most of those movies.
This is exactly why Brees is the most underrated player in NFL history. You heard me. In. NFL. History. Don't believe me? Take a moment and make a list of the best quarterbacks ever. Obviously, your list starts with some combination of Tom Brady and Joe Montana. Does Brees make your top three? (He should; he's better than Peyton Manning.) Does he make your top five? Does he even make your top 10? I'm talking about when you originally jotted it down, and not when you went back to redo your list because you felt guilty. Of course, you shouldn't feel guilty, not because you're right to omit Brees (you aren't!) but because you wouldn't be alone. Here are a couple of posts ranking the greatest QBs of all time that were compiled within the past year or two by some of the most prominent, well-respected football minds in the business. Brees doesn't crack either of these lists. And I have to point out again that these are great football minds. This isn't some kid on his Facebook page trying to garner attention by omitting him. It's crazy that he barely registers when you consider that he's an 11-time Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl champion and a Super Bowl MVP. Now, he's never been a league MVP. Not even when he received his lone first-team All-Pro nod in 2006, in his first season with the Saints. The MVP award went to his former Chargers teammate LaDainian Tomlinson that year. (Since we're here, it's fair to point out Brees was underrated by the Chargers brass who allowed him to walk away from San Diego after the 2005 season. If you ever want to get LT going, ask him how great the Chargers would have been had they kept Brees and drafted Larry Fitzgerald in 2004 instead of picking Eli Manning and then making the Philip Rivers swap.) But it's nuts. In addition to becoming the NFL's all-time leading passer, Brees has completed the most passes in NFL history (6,344). His 67.1 completion percentage is also tops. He's currently No. 4 on the all-time list with 496 passing touchdowns (43 away from the record, or like six more games against the Falcons). His current passer rating is 97.1 (fourth all time). He's had 30 fourth-quarter comebacks (13 away from the leader, Peyton Manning). Let's cut to the chase and explore why he's so underrated. I've identified some key potential reasons: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever - NFL.com |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
He is # 1 to me without a doubt.
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Idk, all I heard all week is how he’s going to break the record. From both local and national media. He’s getting his respect.
I do believe we have kind of wasted his talent. 12 years with a top 5 offense and only one ring to show for it. If it weren’t for our defense every year would be a Saints/Patriots Super Bowl. |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
I talk to fans of other teams all the time. In fact, I don’t know a single other person who I see in my daily life that’s a Saints fan. That being said, when I tell people I’m a Saints fan, every single person without fail LOVES Drew Brees. I don’t think there’s another QB out there as universally liked and respected as Brees. I don’t know where I’m going with this exactly... Maybe just trying to say that the people know, regardless of what the talking heads say.
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
He’s underrated. His statistics put him top 3 all time. A lot of people don’t even put him in the top 5. They take the likes of Marino, Young, or Elway over him. I don’t.
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Am also a Patriots fan since the days of Steve Grogran, John Hannah, Russ Francis, Mike Haynes, Stanley Morgan...
But I still argue with one of my best friends that Manning was better than Brady, though I've given Brady more respect since the come-from-behind-win vs the Falcons... This is how I finally got one in on my Brother in this debate... We both agreed that Barry Sanders was head and shoulders a superior running back to Emmitt Smith (wasn't hard as he hates the Cowboys)... So I brought up that Smith had three Superbowls and the rushing title and without thinking twice he responded "But that was a team effort to..." As he said it, he realized I had finally had him... It is much the same truth for Brees. For years, especially when it came to Brees' contracts, I'd argue that Brees is the beneficiary of Payton... But now reflecting on Payton's tenure since 2006 with Brees, I now admit I was wrong to criticize Brees to go along with his greed-is-good agent... I've become a more intense follower of the NFL Draft the last twelve years, and I realized it's Payton that's the failure for only winning one with Drew... Payton is a lot like Don Shula who basically go tenure for a SuperBowl win and really has coasted with Brees, and that's a shame to waste Brees talent... Now, like many here, I've high hopes for this squads' success this year, but I no longer extend any slack whatsoever to the Payton-Loomis front office... And when the books are done and it's time to account for Brees' career and success - I will be very unforgiving to Payton-Loomis and the chances they wasted... |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Packers fans have started down the same path JP when it comes to Rodgers-McCarthy.
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
I really don't care if he breaks the record this week or next week
Win first and if the records falls it falls. |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
For years Thompson made the calls come draft day; at least they're smarter when it comes to delegation and division of authority within that organization... And that's really my pet peeve more than anything... |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
I dare someone to find a listing that has Brees in the top 10 best qbs of all time. It doesn't exist.
Is Brees better than Favre? Of course, Brees has a 2.4% interception rate, Favre a gaudy 3.3%. End of discussion. Is Brees better than Elway? Of course he is. While Elway was a clutch performer late in games, statistically he was not elite even in his generation of Young, Montana and Marino. Not even close in fact. Is Brees better than Marino? That one is actually a closer call, but the edge still clearly goes to Brees. There are only 2 qbs clearly ahead of Brees, Brady and Montana and it all has to do with rings. What Brees will need to do is play another 4 seasons and get to 90,000 yards and 600 TDs and leave no doubt that he belongs in that 3rd spot. Win another Super Bowl and he immediately moves into the top 5. Brees has suffered from a lack of support from his teammates, and that sub 60% win rate is weighing him down. Half the seasons not making the playoffs, heavily weighing on his legacy as well. No fault of his own, but it counts against him in the pundits eyes. It's sad, but it's the way it is. I personally have him 3rd already. Destroy all the records and win a second SB and I'd personally have him #1. |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
It will be criminal if Drew hangs up his cleats with only one Lombardi! I love Payton, but his yes man Loomis has let him run the program with free reign. Payton is a brilliant offensive strategist but he tinkers with all of our defenses and screws them up.
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
Loomis is just a yes man Payton meddles with the defense And all good draft picks are made by Ireland and all bad draft picks are made by Payton. Where does all that come from? I don't see anything like that on the national sports reports so I'm assuming it must be something local. |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
Half of Drew's time here is non winning seasons, and that is totally unacceptable. Plus the playoff debacles vs the 49ers and Vikings (and Seahawks for that matter). What could have been had we invested in defense, special teams, kicking game, etc. But alas, Payton has been overly consumed with having his high flying offense on display and has largely paid the cost with heart wrenching losses due to terrible support for Brees. |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndica...-time.amp.html |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
Payton has the 5th highest winning percentage of active coaches in the league @ .600. That's good for 35th in the 98 year history of the NFL. And 7 of the coaches ahead of him only coached for 5 years or less. Of the 4 active coaches with better overall records, only Belichick has a higher playoff winning percentage. *Min 50 games coached |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Ask who the Falcons thinks is the best and it has to be Brees.
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
to me the GOAT!
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
He’s alright. No Aaron Brooks but who is?
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
https://i.makeagif.com/media/5-15-2015/A2VEbF.gif |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
See this is non-sequitur because you have many unique factors to consider here... First, the Saints franchise history only had a five year run of league respect during the Dome Patrol years and even then that team hadn't won a playoff game... Second, Tom Benson's age made the old man less volatile than previously and he had his ring unlike other comparable owners (i.e. Bud Adams, Bill Bidwill)... Third, the Payton-era team, despite only six winning seasons in eleven years, has an electric offense and subsequent television and stadium draw... But what ensured Payton's tenure here was when the league tried to tell Benson how to run his franchise (i.e. fire Payton) - that ensured Payton's tenure... That is why the only comparison I can see that you could find in NFL history was Don Shula, his '72 Dolphins, and riding out another twenty years with mediocre football... ...and that included an unlikely one year tease appearance in the Superbowl with Marino vs a dominant 49ers team and consuming Marino's career with mediocre team effort... |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
If I'm doing a Top Ten List of GOAT Quarterbacks, these are some of the things that I give weight to in my mind when you factor where Brees places on such a list...
First, Brees had an advantage of the Irsay/Colts post-AFC loss meltdown in 2004/2005 of pass defense rules tweaks; while Brees' numbers jumped here, they went stratospheric post-rules changes... By comparison, somebody like Marino had passing numbers that no one came closed to until the changes in pass defense brought on by the malcontent Irsay... Second, you gotta consider game winning drives to really be one of the more defining statistics as no other stat shows a better impact by a player; these are both 4Q Comebacks and Kill-shot drives... Now here you will find that Brees is tied with Favre for third on the list at 43, behind only Peyton Manning (54) and Dan Marino (47)... Source: Pro Football Reference - Game Winning Drives Third, one sabremetric I really like that Baseball has and Football needs it WAR(P) Wins Above Replacement (Player)... Brees has been notably durable in his career, including early years of less QB protective rules, his teams have never had to go more than a game without him... Whereas, Brady's 2008 Patriots still went 11-5 when he missed 15 games that season; but when Manning missed the 2011 season, the Colts collapsed... So while, hopefully, we won't get to look at this value till Brees retires, when you look at other franchises without their GOAT candidates, many still did well... Montana, as awesome as he was, was easily replaced by Young who also won a Superbowl with the Bill Walsh juggernaut 49ers... A 38yo Marino in '99 was 5-6, the team finished 9-7; the Dolphins however went 11-5 in the following two years... While many lauded John Elway, the comeback kid, Mr. Clutch his Superbowl collapses were as epic and didn't win a Superbowl until a run-heavy (Terrell Davis) offense... Then there are the passing numbers, actual documented production, and this is where Brees stands out... Career Passing Yards - Manning (71,940), Favre (71,838), Brees (71,740), Brady (67,418), Marino (61,361), the next is Eli Manning (52,737)... Career Passes Completed - Brees (6,344), Favre (6,300), Manning (6,125), Brady (5,750), Marino (4,967), the next is Eli Manning (4,536)... Career Passing Touchdowns - Manning (539), Favre (508), Brady (500), Brees (496), Marino (420), the next is Rivers (353)... Career Passing Interceptions - Brady (48th -166), Brees (16th - 228), Manning (9th, 251), Marino (8th, 252), Favre (1st, 336)... Career Sacked - Favre (1st -525), Elway (2nd - 516), Roethlisberger (4th - 484), Brady (8th -458), Brees (16th - 384), Manning (47th, 303), Marino (58th, 270)... So, as you can start to see, before you bring on the Superbowl Rings argument, Brees stacks up favorably statistically in career numbers... |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
I've watched football intensely, following statistics, collecting cards, since I was a very young boy, this would be my Top 10 list based on what I've seen and what I know...
JP's Top 10 All-Time NFL Passers, Quarterbacks 1 - Dan Marino He put up the the obscene numbers in a not-so-friendly era of passing; passing records are falling ever couple of years the past decade, no one touched Marino's records for over twenty years! Marino's release from snap-to-pass was the quickest ever in the NFL; a read/pass QB competition was even created at the ProBowl to better show how much better he was than his peers; with better talent, he'd easily won five Superbowls; and the only quarteback to shred, shred the '85 Bears defense, most dominant defense ever - and the first bet I ever lost... 2 - Peyton Manning In the modern era of play-calling coordinators, this throw-back was still calling plays at the line and his defensive reads rarely failed him with the exception of Bill Belichick defenses and a bad read vs Tracy Porter; the Colts don't even have winning records without him; only one on this list to win Superbowls with two different teams; had four (4) of the top 10 QBR seasons era, only one of two QBs with multiple best QBR seasons... 3 - Drew Brees The most prolific passer on this list, he'd be ranked higher if he'd thown more total career PaTD (even though he also owns record for most-consecutive-games-with-PaTD) and less interceptions; two more Superbowls wouldn't have hurt his cause; and, other than Manning, he's the only other QB on this list with Best QBR Top 10 seasons ever with two (2); will own Career Passing Yards, Career Passing Completions by mid-2018 season; despite five (5) 5000 PaYd seasons, no one else on list close, he's never been a League MVP... 4 - Brett Favre Favre was the ultimate riverboat gambler who's decision-making was less than impressive; but no one played with more heart (except maybe Brees), grit, toughness, and games started/played than Favre. Knew him as a young teenager on the MS Gulf Coast where I spent my summers. My first draft man crush, friends laughed at me when I wanted the Saints to draft him in 1990; I cited things like only QB to be Auburn and Alabama in the same year and did it six weeks after having 30inches of small intestine removed post-MVA; tough, tough, tough... 5 - Tom Brady Game Manager often gets a negative connotation as a don't-lose-the-game attachment, but it's hard to ignore Brady's success as a passer when you look at Career PaTD:Int ratio; and then there's the 5-3 SuperBowl Record - that's eight (8) Superbowl appearances; but again, he's been the beneficiary of having Bill Belichick as HC and having 13 Top 10 scoring defenses in 17 of his seasons; and while that comeback vs the Falcons was amazing, it was the Falcons... 6 - Joe Montana The only pairing of Head Coach:Quarterback better than Payton:Brees was Walsh:Montana. The 80's 49ers were in every single game. You never counted them out (80's/90's Saints fans can attest); and no one was cooler on the big stage than Montana; and Montana was the proto-type of Bill Walsh's innovative West Coast Offense corrected the flaw of the Air Coryell offense (mentioned later) and tamed those innovatiosn back to control the time of possessions, resting the 49ers defense, winning Championships... 7 - John Elway Used to have a lot of bias against Elway because of the way he, his Father, and agent refused the Colts and insisted playing out west in Denver. As I've gotten older, and as a Father, I can say that bias is no longer there. Elway really altered NFL history changing the careers, fortunes of many good teams, players, coaches - especially the Browns. But the Broncos rarely had divisional challengers and was exposed against better teams in the playoffs, Superbowls; finally had Superbowl success with a dominant running game to support him... 8 - Steve Young NFL - Not For Long - is usually what happens with these dual-threat, athlete quarterbacks, but no quarterback with the dual-threat package to pass and run was more impressive than Young; would like to have seen what he could've done with Walsh his entire career; he was also pretty awesome in the USFL... 9 - Warren Moon Even in a world flawed with bias, Warren Moon still had few that could pass his teams to victory as he had. Though he had few years in the Run and Shoot offense where his numbers soared and the team lost a lot games from wore-out defenses, even in the conventional offensive years, Moon was an exceptional passer who played on poor teams; and to the public, he was humble quarterback... 10 - Dan Fouts As Marino was the predecessor to the Manning-Brees-Brady era, so was Fouts to the Marino-Montana-Moon era; Dan Fouts was the ultimate test pilot of the Air-Coryell offense which is where much of the modern-era forward passing game really took off. Fouts led teams ran up and down the field so much that both his teammates, as well as opposing defense, had to use IVs to keep players not only on the field, but to prevent serious dehydration. Again, a great passer who had no complementary defense... I'd also mention that Brees and Brady are not done yet, and they'd only climb on my list; if Brees and the Saints win it all, I'd move him ahead of Manning; Brady's ranking is admittedly a tough-sell to biased folks, but he's only had rare instances in the past three years, of taking the team on his shoulders the way many on this list have... |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
But even if you exclude overall historical ranking wouldn't you still consider the 5th best winning percentage of active coaches conclusive evidence of being better than mediocre? Only 6 winning seasons out of 11, is also only 4 losing seasons out of 11. And of those 4 losing seasons, the Saints have not finished worse than one game below .500. And if you're saying Payton is riding out years with mediocre football then I have to completely disagree. Payton's record since winning the Superbowl is .603, which again, is still the 5th best winning percentage among active coaches. And in the top 20 in the entire Super Bowl era. (And not to pick nits, but after winning the Super Bowl in 72, the Dolphins repeated in 73 and went back to the Super Bowl in 82 and 84. And in his 26 years as head coach of the Dolphins, they only had 2 losing seasons, in 76 and 88. Only Bill Belichick has a higher winning percentage in the Super Bowl era, ((again 5 season or more)) |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Not counting Payton's suspended season (which was still his staff, his players), he was still 4 winning seasons: 3 losing seasons, since...
And my point was to emphasize what Payton, not only the HC, but de facto general manager hadn't done since winning the Superbowl... The other point of emphasis was that unlike other coaches, markets, Payton has been able to enjoy an unusually long tenure because of the Saints prior historical futility... Even Tom Coughlin, winning Two (2) Superbowls still found being called for dismissal by NYG media, fans and even players alike... Whereas, Payton was going no where because of the Superbowl success AND because the league tried to tell Benson how to run his team by firing Payton... |
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
|
Re: Unpopular Opinions: Drew Brees is most underrated player ever
Quote:
Do you know that his career QB rating is worse than the NFL average during that time span? You know what that makes him? Slightly less than mediocre. The stats say he's mediocre, the eye test certainly says he's at best mediocre. He should not sniff the HOF. I will be totally disgusted if he makes it. |
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:30 PM. |
Copyright 1997 - 2020 - BlackandGold.com