Hey guys, it's been a while. I have been caught up doing other things in my own life to find time to write anything that has some kind of substance. Maybe this is sour grapes, but after the brutal loss to the Seahawks; I was thinking about how much different Drew Brees is on the road rather than at home in the Dome. This thinking begs the question that I have been pondering for a while now: "When will it be time to draft the future QB to replace Brees?"
Now I know what you may be thinking, "How can you say this when he brought the Saints their only championship?" Drew Brees playing on the road is like watching an average to below-average quarterback playing. Drew Brees playing at home is for sure like watching a future hall of famer, which I do think he will be. Brees at home is completing 73.2% of his passes with 23-3 TD-Int with a QBR of 122.5. On the road, there's a significant drop-off; He's completing 64% of his passes for 12 TD to 9 Int with a QBR of 84.8. That is almost a 40-point drop in QBR. That kind of inconsistency is pretty dangerous when it comes to quarterback play and being the face of the franchise. It's possibly the difference of making the playoffs and not making them.
I'm not saying replace him right this instant with a rookie next year. All I'm saying is I think the time is drawing near for the Saints to start thinking about the future and stop taking QBs in the later rounds and in free agency. If you remember correctly, the Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers a couple years before he actually started for the team. Brett Favre did a good job to help develop him into the seemingly hall-of-famer to be. I imagine Drew Brees could do something of the same thing with a young, talented quarterback.
With all that being said the Saints could go in 2 directions. They could either draft a somewhat balanced quarterback (much like Aaron Rodgers or Alex Smith) who can run the ball if they have to and get a respectable chunk of yardage or get a complete pocket-passer with no set of wheels (Like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady). If Sean Payton really wanted to flip the script, he could go outside his comfort zone and draft a Cam Newton or RG3 type quarterback and completely change the offense to fit the trending scramblers. The latter I don't see happening. Drew Brees has shown signs of getting away from pressure, but not lately. There are some sacks that looked like he could have spun out of or done something to avoid them.
Maybe I'm just being too pessimistic due to the heartbreaking losses on the road, but just maybe I have a couple points?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
