"Bling" From the Brand New Ring is Nice, But Carson Wentz Still Isn't Better Than Drew Brees

Saints QB Drew Brees is considered one of the greatest NFL QB's of all-time; so why exactly is he ranked lower than Eagles QB Carson Wentz?

Barry Hirstius | Jul 22, 2018

"Bling" From the Brand New Ring is Nice, But Carson Wentz Still Isn't Better Than Drew Brees /

A week from now, both the New Orleans Saints and the defending World Champion Philadelphia Eagles will be participating in their respective Training Camps; as both of the two NFC Super Bowl contenders once again this year begin their preparations in earnest for the upcoming 2018 NFL Regular Season.

But until next weekend's arrival of the first padded practices for the two respective squads, their fan-bases are still embroiled in a hotly-contested debate with each other that continues to rage on Social Media: the ranking last month of Eagles QB Carson Wentz over Saints QB Drew Brees.

In case you missed it somehow, late last month the NFL revealed its Top 10 Players on their annual Top 100 Players in the NFL rankings; which rather surprisingly to some had Wentz listed as the 3rd best player overall and 2nd best QB currently in the entire NFL, over Brees; who was ranked the 8th best overall player and 3rd best QB behind Wentz (and #1 overall player and QB, Patriots QB Tom Brady).

Wentz wasn't even IN last season's 2017 rankings. Brees on the other hand, actually rose 8 spots in this year's rankings — not too shabby for an "old guy" who's allegedly close to being "washed up".

Some Saints fans have scoffed at the ranking, given Wentz's relative inexperience in comparison to Brees, who turns 40 in January and will be playing in his 18th NFL season and is on the verge of breaking several NFL passing records this season and probably again next year in 2019.

But Eagles fans counter that argument by pointing out Wentz is the starting QB for the current and defending World Champions, and was responsible for a majority of the Eagles' success last year, on their way to a (13-3) record and a Super Bowl title win over the Patriots in Super Bowl LII a few months ago.

In other words, Eagles fans argue that Wentz is a better player than Brees because not only was Wentz the best player in the NFL last year prior to his injury (although Texans rookie QB Deshaun Watson could make a strong case for himself before his own season-ending injury); but also because Wentz now has won a Super Bowl ring just like Brees; and is the younger (and presumably is the more athletic) of the two.

However..........

The "bling" from the brand new Super Bowl ring for Wentz is nice, but he's still not better than Drew Brees.

In fact, Carson Wentz couldn't even hold Drew Brees' jock strap.

Hell, Wentz didn't even PLAY in the Super Bowl, so it's hard to say he actually won anything.

He was more or less a part of the Eagles TEAM that won it.

Now grant it: Wentz was their starting quarterback last season and was on track to become the league’s MVP before he tore two ligaments in his knee last December during a Week #14 contest at Los Angeles against the Rams.

It ended up being a costly win for Philadelphia; but after Wentz's injury, the Eagles rode the strength of their dominant defense and the passing accuracy of back-up QB Nick Foles to a World Championship.

Foles, who has had a mediocre career up to this point, had a surprising and career-changing Playoff run, which ended up with him winning the Super Bowl MVP, while Wentz was out.

Nevertheless, Wentz is very much the future of their franchise, and they have made it clear that he will start as soon as he is fully healed. But that also means Foles could end up as the Eagles 1st-string quarterback throughout Eagles Training Camp, which begins Thursday (as well as the Pre-Season games).

Presumably, Foles will then take a seat on the bench if Wentz is ready to start their opener on Sept. 6th.

But.....is that supposed to make him BETTER than Drew Brees somehow? Seriously???

He might not even be as HEALTHY as Brees this year, even though Brees is damn near old enough to be Wentz's Dad.

That aside?

The notion that Wentz deserves to be ranked ahead of Drew Brees strictly from a pure quarterbacking / pocket passer perspective, is downright hysterical.

We won't even mention the fact that Brees has thrown for 70,445 yards in his brilliant career and is only 1,495 passing yards away from breaking the the all-time NFL passing yardage record, which is currently held by recently-retired QB Peyton Manning (who threw for 71,940 total passing yards).

Based on the 270 passing yards Brees averaged per game last season, he should break the record in the Saints' 5th game of the upcoming 2018 season — an October 8th contest at the Superdome on ESPN Monday Night Football against the visiting Washington Redskins.

By comparison: Wentz so far has thrown for 7,078 yards in his first 2 NFL seasons. That's an average of 3539 yards per season, meaning that at this current pace, the 25-year old Wentz (who turns 26 in December) would have to play 22 MORE NFL seasons (until he's age 48) to break Brees' record.

Suffice it to say:

Wentz has about as good of a chance of catching and passing any of Brees' records himself one day, then probably you or I have of winning the weekly Saturday night Powerball lottery drawing — for an entire month straight.

Let's call it for what it truly is: Brees in spite of his age, is still playing at a very high level regardless of the prevalent notion (especially among National Media types) that he likely only has a few "good" seasons left before a physical decline becomes imminent.

In fact, most NFL QB's are already done playing football at his age.

However, Brees just set the all-time NFL record for completion percentage in a season last year at 72%; and he topped 4,000 passing yards for the 12th consecutive year in a row — something no other player in the League's entire 98-year history has done in more than 8 consecutive seasons.

So the long-expected "decline" hasn't happened yet, but when it does?

Chances are that it won't be until Brees has even further distanced himself from any accomplishment that Wentz can achieve, outside of winning multipleSuper Bowls; an accomplishment that Brees no doubt would have had at least a few more times if he'd had a much better defense in the past several years.

Could Wentz end up winning more Super Bowls than Brees? Sure he could.

But will we look back at NFL history and say one day that Carson Wentz will be remembered as a BETTER QB than Drew Brees?

That's borderline delusional.

But probably not unexpected from a Philadelphia sports fan-base (Eagles, the NBA's 76ers, the NHL's Flyers, and Major League Baseball's Phillies) that's very well known for its passionate takes on its home teams.

The Eagles have seen both the benefits and downfalls of playing in the city of Philadelphia with a fan-base that is not only passionate about the NFL, but has a history of 'over the top' viewpoints and observations that are strictly indigenous to the "City of Brotherly Love" (Philadelphia's nickname, just like New Orleans and the "Big Easy") and their sports teams.

Eagles fans certainly are feeling very good about themselves right now, and that's perfectly understandable after having just won the Super Bowl a few short months ago.

But believing Carson Wentz is a BETTER QB than Drew Brees?

There's only one word for that: embarrassing.

The "bling" from that brand new Super Bowl ring that the Eagles won a few months is very nice, Philly sports fans. But Carson Wentz still isn't better than Drew Brees — and chances are, he NEVER will be........

Published Jul 22, 2018

BARRY HIRSTIUS