We could've (should've) had Drew Brees

[jfkbengals]

For those who don't know, Paul Alexander has a weekly call in spot with Moving the Chains on SiriusXM NFL Radio. I caught his segment today, and told a story about Brees.

So in the preliminary meeting for 2001 draft evaluation, Mike Brown walked in and stated that he wanted the Drew Brees as our pick at the top of the first round. Paul said we were picking 3, but it was actually 4 overall. Apparently all of the coaches who had input on QB evaluation started trying to talk him out of it, pointing out arm strength and other perceived weaknesses, while pointing out that we already had Akili Smith on the roster. It seems that they continually had to fight to change his mind throughout the entire draft process. Ultimately the coaches won out and we took Justin Smith instead. Paul then mentioned that he ended up at the Perdue Pro-Day evaluating someone, and that Drew through some balls that day. Paul stated he watched him throw some and told other staff members, "His arm is stronger than Akili's arm is".

I wonder what could've been had Mikey not given in...

[GreenCornBengal]

Drew Brees should consider himself lucky! We’re known to kill QBs careers here!

[SunsetBengal]

Wait, so you're telling us that Mike Brown was actually right, and the idiot coaches that he hired talked him out of doing the best thing for the team?

[*jason*]

There's actually a video on YouTube about this... The subsequent moves we would've made, and all that. Oh... And we won a Super Bowl or became a dynasty with him... I don't remember because I'm not buying it.

Drew Brees never becomes the Drew Brees we know today if he were drafted by Cincinnati... Especially THAT Cincinnati.

[*bengalfan74*]

(01-19-2021, 10:07 PM)jason Wrote: There's actually a video on YouTube about this... The subsequent moves we would've made, and all that. Oh... And we won a Super Bowl or became a dynasty with him... I don't remember because I'm not buying it.

Drew Brees never becomes the Drew Brees we know today if he were drafted by Cincinnati... Especially THAT Cincinnati.

Agree

I remember like 3 years ago one of the big AD debates. Somebody brought up Brady. I don't believe for a second Tom Brady would be the GOAT we know today had he been drafted by the Bengals. Would he still have been good/great ? Sure, to some degree anyways. But 100 playoff wins or whatever lol ? 6 Super Bowl wins ? nope.

Same with Brees

[Bengal Dude]

I remember Hobson talked about that 2001 draft. I didn't realize that Mike Brown wanted Brees at #4, but I know he mentioned that Brown and Co. were holding their breaths thinking they could nab him in the 2nd round. The Chargers nabbed Brees and we wound up with some WR named Chad Johnson.

[wildcatnku24]

(01-19-2021, 09:42 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: For those who don't know, Paul Alexander has a weekly call in spot with Moving the Chains on SiriusXM NFL Radio.  I caught his segment today, and told a story about Brees.

So in the preliminary meeting for 2001 draft evaluation, Mike Brown walked in and stated that he wanted the Drew Brees as our pick at the top of the first round.  Paul said we were picking 3, but it was actually 4 overall.  Apparently all of the coaches who had input on QB evaluation started trying to talk him out of it, pointing out arm strength and other perceived weaknesses, while pointing out that we already had Akili Smith on the roster.  It seems that they continually had to fight to change his mind throughout the entire draft process.  Ultimately the coaches won out and we took Justin Smith instead.  Paul then mentioned that he ended up at the Perdue Pro-Day evaluating someone, and that Drew through some balls that day.  Paul stated he watched him throw some and told other staff members, "His arm is stronger than Akili's arm is".

I wonder what could've been had Mikey not given in...

Could be one of many stories we (at least I) didn't know about MB that paints a better light than we normally see.  Imagine Brees, then we pick chad in 2.  Of course, does ML come?  Perhaps not because we would've started improving I'd bet.  Could've altered everything!  

MB also loved Palmer.  And he mailed Burrow a Jersey along with a letter, right?  

If he yielded on a QB, you gotta wonder if he's really as stubborn as we always hear.  Because he loves QB most of all from what I can tell.  

[BengalsFanRealist2855]

I would of took drew brees over what we had with carson

[Nicomo Cosca]

Is this like the opposite of when they had to supposedly talk Mike out of Kaepernick and Mallet.

[*SHRacerX*]

(01-19-2021, 10:07 PM)jason Wrote: There's actually a video on YouTube about this... The subsequent moves we would've made, and all that. Oh... And we won a Super Bowl or became a dynasty with him... I don't remember because I'm not buying it.

Drew Brees never becomes the Drew Brees we know today if he were drafted by Cincinnati... Especially THAT Cincinnati.

I will take a different approach.  Drew Brees was always a very good QB, but what really drove him was when he injured his shoulder and teams thought me might not be the same (or even capable).  Miami taking Daute Culpepper as a FA over Brees set that franchise back a long time, and he was a perfect marriage at the Saints with Sean Payton.

That being said, I think Burrow is as much of a "chip on the shoulder" guy as anyone I have ever seen play football.  He wasn't slighted, but he has carried that misfortune of the broken hand at OSU and losing out on the starting job with him.  Is Taylor and Burrow a perfect marriage?  Time will tell, but even Joe commented how the WFT had the best defensive line in the league and he had over 200 yards passing against them at halftime.  

Protect him, surround him with weapons, and I think the Bengals will be in the conversation every year until Joe retires.  Which, if all goes well, will be when I am in my 70s (gulp). 

[*SHRacerX*]

(01-19-2021, 11:28 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Agree

I remember like 3 years ago one of the big AD debates. Somebody brought up Brady. I don't believe for a second Tom Brady would be the GOAT we know today had he been drafted by the Bengals. Would he still have been good/great ? Sure, to some degree anyways. But 100 playoff wins or whatever lol ? 6 Super Bowl wins ? nope.

Same with Brees

Dead on.  Same with Piggy.  Played for an amazing team most of his career.  Aaron Rogers does the most amazing things I have seen as a QB but has one Super Bowl win.  It is the epitome of a team sport.  

[Wes Mantooth]

What's truly amazing about this (if it is indeed true) is that even though Mike valued him so much that he never traded up to get him when he continued to slide down the first round.

You would think if you had a guy marked as being potentially worthy of being taken 4th overall that you'd move up and go get him late in the round.

But nah, let's just play it safe and hope somehow he falls all the way to us at #36. We can't be bothered with making a trade to grab a guy we had top 5 on our board.

[mas_fuerte]

(01-19-2021, 10:07 PM)jason Wrote: Drew Brees never becomes the Drew Brees we know today if he were drafted by Cincinnati... Especially THAT Cincinnati.

Exactly. 

Hell, even though we took Justin Smith in that draft, he didn't become Justin Smith until he went to San Francisco. Made 5 straight Pro Bowls with the 49ers. 

[shanebo]

I've never heard that story before. Really interesting. A couple of tangential observations:

- That 2001 draft was LOADED! We got four pro bowlers in Smith, Chad, Rudi, and TJ. But others had even better drafts. Chargers got LDT and Brees. Falcons got Vick and Crumpler. Pats got Seymour and Light. Cards got Leonard Davis and Kyle Vanden Bosch. Panthers got Dan Morgan, Kris Jenkins, and Steve Smith. Colts and Ravens got Reggie Wayne and Todd Heap with the last two picks of the first round. And even some of the teams that drafted total busts ended up with a good player -- Seahawks totally struck out with Koren Robinson, but drafted HOFer Steve Hutchinson 8 picks later. We can only hope this years' draft has as much talent (and that we get some of it ...)

- IIRC, Brees was considered a fringe first-rounder in 2001. Vick was the consensus 1OA, and Brees was solidly in that second tier along with busts like Chris Wienke, Quincy Carter, and Marques Tuiasosopo. He was not in Kiper's top-25, which is the only archived pre-draft rankings I can find. So it's certainly believable that Mike Brown wanted to draft him at 4OA, lol. BUT, if you really think the guy is worthy of 4OA, WHY THE HELL DON'T YOU GIVE UP A 5TH (Vic Leyva), 6TH (Riall Johnson), OR EVEN A 3RD (Smokin' Sean Brewer) TO MOVE UP FOUR LOUSY SPOTS TO DRAFT HIM AT THE TOP OF THE SECOND????? This defies reason and makes me not want to believe the story, until I realize, oh yeah, it's Mike Brown! Of course, if we had traded up and taken Brees, we would have missed out on Chad, my favorite Bengal from the 2000s ...

- I think Brees was significantly motivated when the chargers drafted Rivers in 2004. He made his first Pro Bowl that year. Then he flat out developed the FU mentality when they selected Rivers over him. First year in NOLA - All Pro + Pro Bowl starter + MVP runner up. Who knows how he woulda done in Cincy ... interestingly, he's the only 2001 draftee still in the league.

[Bengalitis]

The Cards dumped their bad high draft choice for QB and chose another high QB the following or 2 yrs later and are winning.

You need to admit you chose wrong and move on.

Ross should have been traded.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Drew Brees is a great HoF QB, but he wasn't the Drew Brees that we know until he left San Diego and met up with Sean Payton in New Orleans for his 6th NFL season.

SD Brees: 62.2% Completion, 209 YPG (6.8 YPA), 1.51 TD per INT, 84.9 QB Rating
NO Brees: 68.8% Completion, 298 YPG (7.8 YPA), 2.58 TD per INT, 101.5 QB Rating

I highly doubt HC Dick LeBeau and OC Bob Bratkowski got NO Brees out of him rather than SD Brees.

[3wt]

(01-20-2021, 11:30 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: What's truly amazing about this (if it is indeed true) is that even though Mike valued him so much that he never traded up to get him when he continued to slide down the first round.

You would think if you had a guy marked as being potentially worthy of being taken 4th overall that you'd move up and go get him late in the round.

But nah, let's just play it safe and hope somehow he falls all the way to us at #36.  We can't be bothered with making a trade to grab a guy we had top 5 on our board.

It's a very good point.

I think the story points out Mr. Brown's upside and downside.   He was right about Brees, and I'm certain that Brees was always going to be good.  The only way Brady is not Brady is if he's never given the chance.  Burrow is a stud on a bad team and the essential future of the team is how we go about (or not) protecting and equipping him.

But as much as he believed in Brees Mr. Brown should have broken the bank to make the trade that would have brought Brees to Cincinnati.   You have to do what it takes to build a franchise.  There can be no passivity.  And you can't listen to fools like Troy Blackburn.  If you're going to be the big dog you have to know when to be decisive and take a risk.

[*SHRacerX*]

(01-20-2021, 12:03 PM)shanebo Wrote: I've never heard that story before.  Really interesting.  A couple of tangential observations:

- That 2001 draft was LOADED!  We got four pro bowlers in Smith, Chad, Rudi, and TJ.  But others had even better drafts.  Chargers got LDT and Brees.  Falcons got Vick and Crumpler.  Pats got Seymour and Light.  Cards got Leonard Davis and Kyle Vanden Bosch.  Panthers got Dan Morgan, Kris Jenkins, and Steve Smith.  Colts and Ravens got Reggie Wayne and Todd Heap with the last two picks of the first round.  And even some of the teams that drafted total busts ended up with a good player -- Seahawks totally struck out with Koren Robinson, but drafted HOFer Steve Hutchinson 8 picks later.  We can only hope this years' draft has as much talent (and that we get some of it ...)

- IIRC, Brees was considered a fringe first-rounder in 2001.  Vick was the consensus 1OA, and Brees was solidly in that second tier along with busts like Chris Wienke, Quincy Carter, and Marques Tuiasosopo.  He was not in Kiper's top-25, which is the only archived pre-draft rankings I can find.  So it's certainly believable that Mike Brown wanted to draft him at 4OA, lol.  BUT, if you really think the guy is worthy of 4OA, WHY THE HELL DON'T YOU GIVE UP A 5TH (Vic Leyva), 6TH (Riall Johnson), OR EVEN A 3RD (Smokin' Sean Brewer) TO MOVE UP FOUR LOUSY SPOTS TO DRAFT HIM AT THE TOP OF THE SECOND?????  This defies reason and makes me not want to believe the story, until I realize, oh yeah, it's Mike Brown!  Of course, if we had traded up and taken Brees, we would have missed out on Chad, my favorite Bengal from the 2000s ...

- I think Brees was significantly motivated when the chargers drafted Rivers in 2004.  He made his first Pro Bowl that year.  Then he flat out developed the FU mentality when they selected Rivers over him.  First year in NOLA - All Pro + Pro Bowl starter + MVP runner up.  Who knows how he woulda done in Cincy ... interestingly, he's the only 2001 draftee still in the league.

A lot of people will just breeze by this comment without knowing at all what you were referencing, but I choked on coffee because I laughed so hard at this...

I couldn't find a picture but I remember one that I saw that showed he had corn rows!!!  He did that before Bronson Arroyo!  Crazy and horrible pick, but hilarious.  

[XenoMorph]

(01-19-2021, 10:07 PM)jason Wrote: There's actually a video on YouTube about this... The subsequent moves we would've made, and all that. Oh... And we won a Super Bowl or became a dynasty with him... I don't remember because I'm not buying it.

Drew Brees never becomes the Drew Brees we know today if he were drafted by Cincinnati... Especially THAT Cincinnati.

who was the coach for all of that?  would Dick have still hung around?

[XenoMorph]

(01-20-2021, 11:30 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: What's truly amazing about this (if it is indeed true) is that even though Mike valued him so much that he never traded up to get him when he continued to slide down the first round.

You would think if you had a guy marked as being potentially worthy of being taken 4th overall that you'd move up and go get him late in the round.

But nah, let's just play it safe and hope somehow he falls all the way to us at #36.  We can't be bothered with making a trade to grab a guy we had top 5 on our board.

Hard to know...  But you cant hate a guy for Deferring to his coaches decision's especially if he has as little football IQ as most here claim.

Coaches convienced him we had a QB.... So why break the bank to get another?