[Ed. note: Promoted from the FanPosts.]

This thought has been flitting around my mind since the Eagles made the trade with the Rams. As Chip Kelly had said after the Sam Bradford trade:

"I think he's got an outstanding skill set. He's a big, strong, physical quarterback. He's over 6-4, he's 240 pounds, he's smart, he's intelligent. He's one of the most accurate throwers when you see him throw the football. I think he's smart; I think he's wired right. We had some inside information because Pat Shurmur had an opportunity to coach him for a year and he understands how he’s wired. He’s an unbelievable competitor. I talked to Kevin Wilson, now head coach Indiana, who was his offensive coordinator (at OU). I talked to Bob Stoops, and they both said the kid’s wired right. The Saints, their revival had a lot to do with Drew Brees, who was hurt. A lot of teams didn’t do enough due diligence with him. Give (Saints coach) Sean Payton and (GM) Mickey Loomis credit. They didn’t count Drew Brees out and look how it paid off for them. We wouldn’t have traded for (Bradford) if we didn’t believe he didn’t have a tremendous upside."

After hearing this, and letting free agency and the draft die down, I began thinking that maybe we really had found our own Drew Brees to lead us to the promised land. But just how parallel are the careers of both, and how likely did we get a QB that can play at the caliber of a Drew Brees?

This article will focus on the 4 years that both QBs were starters on their teams: Brees from 2002-2005 on the Chargers, and Bradford from 2010-2013 on the Rams. Let's see how likely it is.

The Tangibles

Drew Brees

Career Stats Season Team Passing Rushing Fumbles G GS Comp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Sck SckY Rate Att Yds Avg TD FUM Lost 2005 San Diego Chargers 16 16 323 500 64.6 3,576 7.2 24 15 27 223 89.2 21 49 2.3 1 8 5 2004 San Diego Chargers 15 15 262 400 65.5 3,159 7.9 27 7 18 131 104.8 53 85 1.6 2 7 2 2003 San Diego Chargers 11 11 205 356 57.6 2,108 5.9 11 15 21 178 67.5 21 84 4.0 0 5 3 2002 San Diego Chargers 16 16 320 526 60.8 3,284 6.2 17 16 24 180 76.9 38 130 3.4 1 2 0

Sam Bradford

Career Stats Season Team

Passing Rushing Fumbles

G GS Comp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Sck SckY Rate Att Yds Avg TD FUM Lost 2013 St. Louis Rams 7 7 159 262 60.7 1,687 6.4 14 4 15 97 90.9 15 31 2.1 0 3 1

2012 St. Louis Rams 16 16 328 551 59.5 3,702 6.7 21 13 35 233 82.6 36 124 3.4 1 7 1

2011 St. Louis Rams 10 10 191 357 53.5 2,164 6.1 6 6 36 248 70.5 18 26 1.4 0 10 7

2010 St. Louis Rams 16 16 354 590 60.0 3,512 6.0 18 15 34 244 76.5 27 63 2.3 1 7 2

Results

At first glance, there are a lot of similarities here.

They've both played every game they've started, with Brees playing in 58, and Bradford playing in 49.

They've missed play either due to lackluster play (Brees being benched for Doug Flutie in 2003), or injury (Bradford a high ankle sprain in 2011, and ACL in 2013). Chalking up the lost year in 2014 for Bradford as equivalent to the year Brees didn't start in 2001.



Their completion percentage with arguably minimal weapons to work with in their respective offenses was 62.2 (Brees) and 58.4 (Bradford). Seems 2011 was more an outlier than anything else as Bradford has been consistent at around 60%, while Brees also saw a sophomore slump in his second year starting.



Theirs yards were 10,019 (Brees) and 11,065 (Bradford). Surprisingly enough, Bradford surpassed Brees with yards thrown with 9 less games.



Their average yards per play were 6.8 (Brees) and 6.3 (Bradford). Not too far off here.

Their TD/Int were 79/53 (Brees) and 59/41 (Bradford). 20 More TDs for Brees gives him the edge, but projecting out the 2013 season for Bradford would make it pretty close. If he ended at 28/8, that would put him at 73/45 which puts him pretty much at the same ratio.



Overall they're pretty close in completion percentage (edge for Brees by a little), 1000 yards better for Bradford with less games (and that amount would increase if he hadn't gotten the ACL injury in 2013 with how well he was playing), pretty close on average yards per play (edge for Brees by a little), and arguably similar in TD/Int if Bradford had completed what looked like a great 2013 year.

The Intangibles

From a statistical standpoint, one could make the argument that there are striking similarities between the two QBs pushed into teams with less than ideal players. One could also make the argument that an elite QB makes plays regardless of the players around them, but I would like to see Brady or Manning play to that elite caliber behind our 2012 offensive line. There's a reason Vick needed a Kevlar vest to survive the year. At some point, an elite QB is going to crumble if the talent around them breaks a low threshold. They may not need Megatron and Adrian Peterson but at least a competent line, and enough offensive weapons to get the job done. You can see some examples of their play at the college level below:

When looking at the intangibles of Brees and Bradford, we see more similarities between the two QBs:

Both are first round pedigree. If it wasn't for perceived height limitations with Brees causing him to fall in the 2001 draft, one could argue he could've been picked before Vick.

Both succeeded in spread offenses in college.

Both had rather debilitating injuries that put to question whether they could continue in the sport. While ACLs are rough, as Chip has said, you don't need your legs nearly as much as your arms/shoulders for a QB (and your intelligence on the field), and the injury Brees took to his shoulder was substantial.



Both were under the care of Dr. James Andrews. Two others Eagles that had their injuries worked on by Dr. Andrews: Mark Sanchez and Kiko Alonso. And I'd say Sanchez didn't show any issues from injuries last year. He just couldn't tell a WR from a CB at times. Its interesting reading articles about Dr. Andrews (like this one) where the assurances from him were enough for teams to trust in the players he has healed. This is coupled with the pushes recently on the Eagles team to have a stronger sports science and reconditioning program which could go a long way to keeping Bradford healthy long term as well as allow us to get injured talent that other teams have left behind to build a stronger team.



While this is a situation after Brees was on the Saints, both have broken multiple records and received many awards. In college both had many awards (including a Heisman Trophy for Bradford), while in the NFL Bradford has broken the most consecutive passes without an interception and overall completions in his rookie year (surpassing the almighty Peyton Manning), while Brees has a laundry list of NFL records over his illustrious career. Interesting note: while Bradford has the record for most completions in the rookie season, most completions in a season is held by Brees.



Both have a certain poise and command on the field. They're intelligent and know where they want to get the ball quickly (unlike some of our previous QBs). You saw great improvement with Brees when he was put on a team that worked best with his skillset, and was given weapons to work with. One could argue that Bradford is being put into an offense that should substantially increase his potential.

A lot of that poise and command can be seen in their play over their careers. While its not always pretty (with Brees having a decade and a Super Bowl win under his belt in his highlights, and a multitude of drops by receivers with Bradford), the following videos show the similarities between the two:

The End Game

The big question we're left with is whether the parallels continue when Bradford begins to play for us this year. But, there are some hopeful pointers if this is the case when looking at the career of Brees since joining the Saints:

He has missed 1 game (2009) since the debilitating shoulder injury that could've ended his career.

He has brought the Saints to 11 playoffs games in his career.



He has been to the Super Bowl and won.

He has broken many records over the 9 years with the Saints.



He could easily play to 40 as he's shown no real drop in performance yet.

Now going by these metrics above, and with Sam Bradford being 27, we could arguably have a franchise QB for the next decade. This is a potential QB that gets us that Super Bowl win we've dreamed over for a long time, and keeps us in the running for the playoffs every year (and that's in addition to the way Chip Kelly runs the offense coupled with big improvements to our defense).

I won't lie when I say that I am very excited to see what Bradford can bring to the plate this year when he's finally on a team that can give him that base threshold of talent to win. While simply breaking down all of the above doesn't mean that he could be a Drew Brees level of talent that's simply been hidden from the NFL until Chip Kelly got his hands on him, there's enough similarities to see that what we've seen of Bradford in a lackluster offense is not the whole picture.

Did Chip Kelly really get the QB he wanted for this offense with Sam Bradford moreso than Marcus Mariota? That answer may very well be yes.