October 16, 2015

Highlighted Year: Drew Brees, 2006

Quarterback, New Orleans Saints


Age:  27
6th season in pro football, 1st with Saints
College: Purdue
Height: 6’0”   Weight: 209

Prelude:
Chosen by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft, Brees spent a year as backup to veteran Doug Flutie before taking over as starting quarterback in ’02. A good first year as starter was followed by a season in which he had difficulties, and the Chargers swung the deal that brought rookie Philip Rivers to San Diego in 2004. Brees bounced back that year with a Pro Bowl season in which his passer rating was 104.8, but he badly injured his shoulder in the last game of the ’05 season, the final year of his contract, and with the team committing to Rivers, he signed with the New Orleans Saints.

2006 Season Summary
Appeared in all 16 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Passing
Attempts – 554 [5]
Most attempts, game – 52 vs. Cincinnati 11/19
Completions – 356 [4]
Most completions, game – 37 vs. Cincinnati 11/19
Yards – 4418 [1]
Most yards, game – 510 vs. Cincinnati 11/19
Completion percentage – 64.3 [5]
Yards per attempt – 8.0 [4]
TD passes – 26 [3, 1st in NFC]
Most TD passes, game – 5 at Dallas 12/10
Interceptions – 11
Most interceptions, game – 3 vs. Baltimore 10/29, vs. Cincinnati 11/19
Passer rating – 96.2 [3, 1st in NFC]
500-yard passing games – 1
300-yard passing games – 8
200-yard passing games – 10

Rushing
Attempts – 42
Most attempts, game – 6 (for 9 yds.) at Tampa Bay 11/5
Yards – 32
Most yards, game – 14 yards (on 4 carries) at Pittsburgh 11/12, (on 3 carries) vs. San Francisco 12/3
Yards per attempt – 0.8
TDs – 0

Postseason: 2 G
Pass attempts – 81
Most attempts, game – 49 at Chicago, NFC Championship
Pass completions – 47
Most completions, game – 27 at Chicago, NFC Championship
Passing yardage – 597
Most yards, game – 354 at Chicago, NFC Championship
TD passes – 3
Most TD passes, game – 2 at Chicago, NFC Championship
Interceptions – 1

Rushing attempts – 4
Most rushing attempts, game – 3 (for -2 yds.) vs. Philadelphia, NFC Divisional playoff
Rushing yards – 6
Most rushing yards, game – 8 at Chicago, NFC Championship
Average gain rushing – 1.5
Rushing TDs – 0

Awards & Honors:
1st team All-NFL: AP, PFWA, Sporting News
Pro Bowl

Saints went 10-6 to finish first in the NFC South while leading the NFL in total yards (6264) and passing yards (4503). Won NFC Divisional playoff over Philadelphia Eagles (27-24). Lost NFC Championship to Chicago Bears (39-14).

Aftermath:
Brees started poorly and the team didn’t do as well in 2007, but he recovered to lead the league in pass attempts (652) and completions (440) while throwing for another 4423 yards. He had another Pro Bowl year in ’08 in which he led the NFL in passing yards (5069), TD passes (34), pass attempts (635) and completions (413). Brees went to the Pro Bowl for the third straight year, and fifth overall, in 2010 after throwing for 4620 yards and 33 touchdowns and leading the NFL in completion percentage (68.1). However, he also threw a career-high 22 interceptions and, while the team qualified for the postseason as a wild card with an 11-5 record, the Saints were upset in the first round of the playoffs by Seattle. Brees set a new NFL record with 5476 passing yards in 2011 and topped the league in completions (468), completion percentage (71.2), and TD passes (46). He broke the record long held by Johnny Unitas for consecutive games with a touchdown pass in 2012, which finally ended with 54 straight, on his way to recording a third 5000-yard passing season (5177) and again topping the NFL in TD passes (43) although also in interceptions (19) in a difficult year for the club both on and off the field. New Orleans rebounded in 2013 and Brees led the NFC with 5162 passing yards and 39 TD passes. He topped the NFL in passing yards for the fifth time in 2014 (4952) and tossed over 30 TD passes for the seventh consecutive year (33). Overall through 2014, Brees has completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 57,337 yards and 402 touchdowns and has been selected to nine Pro Bowls, including a string of seven straight.   

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose: Total Yards
Defense: Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff Returns: Average
Punt Returns: Average
Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970