All QB projections   •  Current QB rankings   •   All NO projections   •  NO team report   •  NO Stats

QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

HT: 6-1, WT: 220, Born: 1-15-1979, College: Purdue, Drafted: Round 2

2009 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of June 29th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: A Johnson (11), S Slaton (12), Drew Brees (13), R Moss (14), C Johnson (15)
Position: Drew Brees (13 - QB1), T Brady (19-QB2), P Manning (25-QB3)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

Best Case

Drew Brees is coming off one of the finest fantasy seasons ever for a quarterback. More than 5,000 yards and 30 TDs put Brees in statistical territory only occupied previously by Dan Marino. He achieved these figures despite missing his top WR, top RB, and top TE for significant periods of time throughout the season. With the supporting cast in New Orleans largely intact and all key players at 100 percent, there is no logical reason why Brees cannot continue his fantasy success again this season. Having just turned 30, he should be at the top of his game, and the attack minded Saints offense is unlikely to change a successful formula.

Worst Case

It is often difficult to replicate or even get close to a year of fantasy excellence. Some of the more recent great QB fantasy years have resulted in disappointing follow ups or worse. Tom Brady, Daunte Culpepper, Steve Young and Kurt Warner were all hit by the injury bug in the following season, while Peyton Manning saw his TDs decline from 48 to 28 and his passing yardage drop by 700 yards. Maybe Brees can buck the trend, but it's hard to repeat dominant stats in back to back years. Additionally with ANY improvement by the Saints defense, maybe Brees won't have to throw the ball over 600 times a year to keep the Saints in touch with opposing offenses.

Outlook

In his three years with the Saints, Brees has clearly established himself as one of the finest fantasy quarterbacks available. He makes good decisions considering the Saints' aggressive approach, although last year's 17 interceptions is not a career anomaly. While it would be difficult to match last year, he has been a Top 5 fantasy QB for three straight seasons. Brees is easily one of the safest options at the position, but it will cost you a high draft pick.

Relevant Articles

Why he is overvalued

Sigmund Bloom - Brees should be the first QB off the board, no doubt about it. But almost a full round before Brady and Manning? Two before before Rodgers, Warner and Rivers? The group of QBs with top three potential is eight deep this year so there's no need to be the first team to take a QB unless your leaguemates let Brees fall to the third round. Brees is also due for an injury if he keeps dropping back to throw 40 times a game.

David Dodds - It's hard not to like Brees. He gets the most out of his body and has always over-achieved. And when you could get him as the fifth best QB, he was a safe selection that still had some potential to outperform his ADP. At QB1 (and an ADP of 11 overall), all Brees can do is underperform. This year the quarterbacks are deeper than ever (Garrard has an ADP of QB20), so even if Brees was guaranteed to throw for 4,000 yards and 40 TDs, he likely could not justify an 11th overall selection. Let others reach in the early rounds for QBs that overachieved in 2008. Use those early rounds to stockpile RBs and WRs (the positions that will win your fantasy league).

Will Grant - To say that Brees is overrated at No. 14 overall is more a knock on taking a QB in the first two rounds than on Brees specifically. Brees is an excellent QB, who will put up some impressive stats. Yet by taking him at the turn between the first and second round really puts you under the gun at WR and RB. You may land yourself a top flight QB, but if you took a RB in Round 1, you're looking at second tier talent at RB and WR. If you took a WR in Round 1, you might be OK at receiver, but your RBS will be the worst in the league without question. Drafting in the eight to 12 slots is hard enough without making matters worse by taking a QB that high. Focus on the best RB-WR combos that you can and leave QB to a later pick.

Latest News

Saints | QB Harrington has failed to impress (Sun Jun 21, 06:41 PM) - Jeff Duncan, of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, says that QB Joey Harrington has failed to impress at the Saints 3rd-string QB.

Our View: Harrington was supposed to be a special reclamation project for coach Sean Payton, but so far has been a disappointment in New Orleans after showing flashes during his short stint in Atlanta. The Saints would be in trouble if starter Drew Brees went down with an injury as they'd have to rely on 38-year old backup Mark Brunell.
link to story   

2009 Schedule

2008 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Drew Brees showed just why he is a top fantasy option at QB, throwing for 343 yards on 23 of 32 passing and adding three touchdowns against one of the better, most physical defenses in the league. He took advantage of all of his weapons, connecting on scoring strikes to WR's David Patten and Devery Henderson as well as RB Reggie Bush. Those scoring plays came from 39, 84 and 42 yards out, respectively. The only negative for Brees for the game was his first quarter interception that Tampa Bay DB Philip Buchanon returned for Tampa Bay's first score of the game. Brees did lose a fumble, but fortunately for the Saints they were able to recover it.

Week 2 - It was not a day Drew Brees will remember fondly. In his defense, he completed an impressive 66% of his passes and neither of the 2 interceptions were his doing. The Washington defense was able to generate a sufficient pass rush to limit his time in the pocket to look down the field for big plays. Many of Brees completions were of the short variety. He was frequently checking the ball down to his RB's. It was clear that he missed injured WR Marques Colston's big body and frame to throw to. He led a drive just before the half that was ruthlessly efficient and ended up with the Saints kicking a field goal. The lone touchdown pass of the contest went to Robert Meachem when the Saints went to a four wide set.

Week 3 - Brees put the ball in the air nearly 50 times as the Saints had to come from behind early and often, playing catch up all afternoon. He was pressured occasionally, but only sacked once. Though Brees wasn't intercepted he did have a couple hiccups in his day, a muffed exchange from center on third and goal that resulted in no points and a two point conversion pass that sailed above and just out of reach of Reggie Bush. No Marques Colston, so Brees hit nine different teammates with the most passes going to Bush, including his lone TD toss, but the most yardage to Robert Meachem, thanks to a 74 yard connection.

Week 4 - Drew Brees did not seem to be affected by the loss of two of his main receiving weapons. He was given plenty of time to throw by his offensive line and he used that time to find receivers three times on deep passes that led to three touchdowns. Brees started slow, only connecting on five of his first thirteen throws, with an interception. The passing game began to open up in the second quarter as Brees began hitting his receivers in stride on short routes. The success in the short passing game led to openings on deep passes and Brees took full advantage by connecting with his receivers on two long touchdown passes, and almost had a third one when the receiver was tackled at the one yard line.

Week 5 - Brees was a little off balance all night, being forced to move around the pocket frequently. While he was able to do this and make some amazing throws, he was unable to lead his team to victory. He fumbled a ball which was returned for a touchdown and threw two interceptions, one of which was not his fault. He displayed his ability to fit the ball in tight windows and take advantage of the opponent, but it did not end up winning them the game as he was responsible for three turnovers.

Week 6 - Brees performed laser surgery on the Raiders defense. At the end of the first half he had completed 17 of 19 passes for 196 yards and a QB rating of 109.7. Then he got hot. Brees finished the game completing 26 of 30 passes, good for three touchdowns and a QB rating of 144.4. Using multiple formations and interchangeable personnel, Brees methodically guided the Saints offense up and down the field all afternoon. In all honesty, there were times when it looked more like a scrimmage.

Week 7 - Brees had a rough afternoon against the Panther defense. He had three passes knocked down, two more dropped, and was the focal point of a blistering pass rush. He was held without a touchdown pass for the first time this season and threw for 231 yards after four straight 300 yard games. He also threw one interception on a pass intended for Colston.

Week 8 - Brees played extremely well, but was also given a lot of help by his offensive line. He was nearly sacked twice on the opening drive, but that was the extent of any pass rush mustered by the Chargers. He was afforded tremendous protection, which gave him extra time on every pass to make the best decisions. Brees completed passes to eight different receivers (would have been nine had Pierre Thomas not lost a reception due to a penalty). He never locked onto one player, because he didn't need to. If the Chargers focused on one guy, the Saints simply threw it to someone else that was wide open. His day could've gone even better, but Lance Moore was tackled down at the one yard line following a reception (Deuce McAllister ran one in on the next play). And soon after, Brees badly misfired on a deep pass to Devery Henderson that should have gone for a 49 yard touchdown. Henderson had beaten his defender, but Brees underthrew him and it fell incomplete. That said, Brees caught a couple of breaks along the way as well. There was a ball that deflected off the hands of TE Billy Miller that was seemingly intercepted by Steve Gregory, but the play was ruled an incompletion. Later, S Eric Weddle jumped a route and came up with a diving interception. New Orleans challenged the call, however, and it was ruled that Weddle failed to maintain possession of the ball all the way to the ground.

About the only real negative on the afternoon for Brees was the unfortunate result of a strategic decision by HC Sean Payton. With the Saints leading by seven, Payton opted to have Brees take the snap and run the ball into the end zone before throwing it away for the intentional safety. Since Brees needed to throw the ball backwards, that made it a lateral and Brees was hit with a 26 yard rushing loss and a fumble on the play.

Week 10 - The final numbers will show the Brees had an excellent day, but the statistics do not tell the entire story. Brees had to create his own opportunities as he was facing a strong pass rush that was constantly in the backfield. The pressure applied had an effect on him, with two of three interceptions the result of him trying to rush his throws and force passes into areas where his receiver was double covered. The other interception, on the opening play of the game, was entirely his fault as he had plenty of time to throw but threw the ball deep downfield to a well covered receiver. Most of his yards came in garbage time when the Falcons were playing in a prevent style defense with a two score lead for most of the second half. He was able to lead the team to two second half scores, but the final score came on a fluke play where Lance Moore was able to catch a tipped Hail Mary pass in the end zone.

Week 11 - Brees averaged 40 pass attempts in his first nine games. He threw slightly less often against Kansas City. He completed 69 percent of his passes in the game. Brees benefited from good pass protection and an anemic Chiefs pass rush and was not sacked in the game. His prettiest throw was a bomb down the right sideline that Lance Moore snagged in stride for a 47 yard touchdown. Brees had one pass intercepted. Devery Henderson slipped while Jarrad Page read the route and picked the pass off.

Week 12 - QB Drew Brees was nearly flawless against the Green Bay Packers. He connected on two passing scores of 70 yards and hit WR Lance Moore for two scores on the way to a resounding victory. Brees and the Saints eased up offensively in the fourth quarter but the damage was already done.

Brees led the team on a series of impressive scoring drives by mixing up long and short passes. He exploited mismatches when possible and seemed to be in control of the game from the start. After falling to the ground in the first half, Brees limped around for a few seconds but stayed on the field and appeared fine for the rest of the game.

Week 13 - Against a stingy Tampa Bay defense, Drew Brees did his normal thing. He finished 25 of 47 for 296 yards and two scores. Brees connected with WR Lance Moore on a 13 yard scoring play and later hit Pierre Thomas for a 20 yard scoring play. On the negative side, he did throw three interceptions, one of which came in the red zone on a play intended for TE Jeremy Shockey, and two others that came in the crucial fourth quarter. The weather conditions were definitely a factor with the Saints passing game, where their receivers had a number of key drops due to the weather.

Week 14 - Drew Brees only threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns as he rarely took any deep shots downfield. The game plan was for Brees to take what the defense gave him and to use formations that would take advantage of mismatches with Jeremy Shockey and Reggie Bush. Brees was able to move the ball downfield by mixing in short and medium range passes with an occasional deep pass to keep the defense honest. He made no mistakes and did not face much pressure as the Saints would keep an extra blocker in to help out on deep passing plays.

Week 15 - Brees had a poor first half to his standards even though he threw for a touchdown. He threw an interception and he completed only ten of 24 attempts for 93 yards. Brees threw a two yard touchdown pass to RB Pierre Thomas out in the flat after a Chicago turnover in the first half. He also threw an interception to S Mike Brown in that that half and had a couple of other passes that probably should been intercepted. Chicago got good pressure on Brees in the first half and forced him into some bad passes. Brees had another big interception in the second half when it looked like the Saints were driving for a score, when he threw the ball to DE Adewale Ogunleye. Brees did drive the Saints late in the game and hooked up with WR Marques Colston on an 11 yard touchdown pass for his second score of the game. Brees looked much sharper late in the game but, he did not get an opportunity to win the game in overtime as the Bears scored on their first possession.

Week 16 - Brees leads the NFL in passing yardage and touchdowns. If he can pass for 402 yards in the season finale, he will break Dan Marino's single season mark of 5,084 yards. Brees had an easy and efficient game against the Lions. He was not sacked and averaged 8.8 yards on his 40 attempts. Brees threw two second half touchdowns to Marques Colston. Brees was credited with negative three yards rushing on three kneel down plays to end the game.

Brees set a career high for passing yards and broke the Saints' record for touchdowns in a season.

Week 17 - Brees needed a total of 402 passing yards to break Dan Marino's single season passing mark and came within one pass completion of breaking the mark. With the Saints falling behind early they needed to go to the pass in order to get back in the game. They almost succeeded when they took a one point lead with just over three minutes left in the game. Needing only 16 yards after the final score the Saints got the ball back with one second left on the clock. Brees had an open receiver to his left and instead threw the ball deep downfield to his right, with the ball being off target. Despite coming up short of the record, he had an excellent game passing for 386 yards and four touchdowns. He did face pressure from a good pass rush that forced him to dump the ball off early to his backs and tight ends, and sometimes before his receiver was ready for the ball. The Panther defensive backs did not make it any easier as they did a good job of double covering the main receivers and would hit the receivers after the catch was made. The coverage was responsible for the first interception and almost came up with a second pick, but the pass was ruled to be incomplete upon review.