Saints QB position review

As promised I am going to look at every part of the Saints team and roster going into the off-season. I won’t talk draft or free agents yet for two simple reasons; I refuse to do so before the seasons official end for personal reasons, and I think it is important to look at what you have and try to see it for what it is/could be before looking elsewhere. With that in mind I am going to start off by looking at the strongest area on the team, and as such the one that caught the most vitriol from certain parts of the fanbase.
QUARTERBACK:

Drew Brees: Brees was, is, and at least for the immediate future, will continue to be one of the best in the game. There are only two quarterbacks in the entire NFL that I would trade him for at this moment and the Saints aren’t getting Luck or Rodgers anytime soon (for different reasons I will be happy to explain in the comments if anyone is curious). Let us look for just a minute at the totality of his season.

Stats:
Completion %: 69- league high (I believe)
Yards: 4952- tied for league high
TD: 33
Int: 17 (8th time in his career he had 15 or more and had 14 in 2011)
Sack: 29 (37 last year)

What do they mean:

Drew didn’t have by any means one of his better years, but as football remains the ultimate team game the struggles of the team around him were exacerbated by key mistakes. In a weird way Drew had a ‘Romo’ year, and not in the way many of you think. Romo is one of the highest rated QB’s in the league in the 4th quarter and has been for most of his career. But, a few bad plays in key spots after being brilliant for most of a game has caused his teams to lose some high profile games so he has been given a somewhat unfair label as a subpar QB. In a similar way Drew was often very good, and even brilliant throughout the year, but nobody can remain perfect forever and the teams struggle as a whole brought our superstar down to the level of a mortal frequently.

He did have some bad games this year and is certainly in the twilight of his career (I don’t use the word decline because much like ‘elite’ it gets misinterpreted/misused too often). If you look at his stats Drew was still one of the top five QB’s in the league without question, and considering Graham was hurt all year lacked his biggest matchup for the whole season. No other top QB had that issue this year. This isn’t an excuse, it’s a reality check. He isn’t what he once was because it’s not possible to maintain THAT level of brilliance forever, especially with declining talent around you. However, Drew (health allowing) should have about another 2 years where he is able to perform at a rough approximate to his current level. Go back and watch the games and watch the way he saved himself from literally dozens of sacks this year with his incredible footwork and pocket presence, the fact that he was the most accurate QB in the league on passes beyond 20 yards, and the fact he played behind an embarrassingly bad O-line (by their standards) at times this year, and then tell me he is done. Drew Brees IS one of the reasons that the Saints were a 7-9 team…but he is ALSO the reason they weren’t a 4-12 one (or worse). I very confident that he and the front office will work out a way to significantly free up some cap money, and the odds are very good this will be done through a short extension that guarantees he is a Saint through the rest of his career. Provided this occurs, as well as other moves, the Saints should still have a top 5 (top 10 at worst) QB for the next 2-4 years, but should be able to reinvigorate a line that was substandard all year. I think many of you would be amazed to see how ‘young’ Drew looks with a better line. Afterall nearly every backbreaking play he made this year was heavily influenced by immediate and significant pressure.

Ryan Griffin: Payton seems to have seen something he likes in the kid, and while I haven’t seen anything that makes me think ‘QB of the future’, I do think he could be a competent backup for years to come. The verdict is definitely out for now on him, but we will learn a lot next year in training camp. If he doesn’t enter the pre-season as the number 2…he is probably gone IMO.