Senior Bowl Director: Jake Fromm Reminds Me of Drew Brees

The Bills selected Jake Fromm with the No. 167 pick in the NFL draft.

Former Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm dropped to the fifth round of the NFL draft, but it doesn't mean that's an indication of his potential.

While discussing Fromm's potential in the NFL, Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy told team reporter Bill Huber that he thinks the new Bills quarterback resembles another successful signal-caller.

"I think Jake Fromm reminds me a lot of Drew Brees. That sounds like crazy talk but you're not comparing him to the Drew Brees who's a first-ballot Hall of Famer," Nagy said. "You're comparing him to a guy that fell to the second round for a reason. You're comparing him to the guy that the Chargers gave up on for Philip Rivers."

Fromm surprisingly wasn't selected in last weekend's draft until the Bills took him with the No. 167 pick in the fifth round. During his three years at Georgia, he totaled 78 touchdowns to 18 interceptions with 63.3% completion. Fromm left the Bulldogs as the all-time leader in completion percentage and second in wins (36) as a starter, behind David Greene, despite playing just three seasons.

Brees' NFL career didn't have a storybook beginning when the Chargers waited to select in the second round of the 2001 draft. He earned the starting job in San Diego in 2002 and went to the Pro Bowl in 2004. However, he suffered a dislocation in his right shoulder joint and tore his labrum and rotator cuff late in the 2005 season before leaving for the Saints as a free agent that winter. 

Brees found immediate success in New Orleans and Philip Rivers became the Chargers' longtime starter. San Diego's decision to let Brees go has become one of the major "what-ifs" in the NFL. Buffalo hasn't drafted a quarterback since taking Josh Allen in 2018, but Fromm could be a sneaky pick with a bright future.

Analysis from Brooks Austin of BulldogMaven: Brees is quite literally the most accurate NFL quarterback to ever play the sport, while Fromm missed his fair share of throws this past season. Is the comparison warranted in terms of decision making, frame and processing ability? Perhaps. But I’d compare him more to Kirk Cousins than Drew Brees.