Saints: Where does the NFC South rank when it comes to quarterbacks?
The New Orleans Saints are entering year one of the post-Drew Brees era and they haven’t made a decision as to who will be his successor in 2021. The rest of the NFC South has their quarterback situation figured out but the division as a whole isn’t thought of highly when it comes to the position.
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports ranked every division by quarterbacks and put the NFC South at No. 6. Here was his reasoning for putting them near the bottom:
"At 43, Brady is sharper than he was at the tail end of his 20-year Patriots career. He could easily hit 40 touchdowns for a second year in a row. Ryan, at 36, frankly looks like the elder, with far more good than great outings in recent years, though he’s still experienced and savvy, if not poised to improve under Arthur Smith. Darnold can’t be much more frenetic than he was in New York, but his ceiling is unclear. In New Orleans, Winston feels like the front-runner as the more prototypical QB, and under Sean Payton, he could easily post gaudy passing marks; the question is whether they’ll accompany good decisions."
Benjamin mentions the Saints last and says that he feels Jameis Winston is the front-runner in the quarterback competition that’s being had in New Orleans. It’s not hard to see why, as Winston is the more traditional quarterback while Taysom Hill is typically used more as a Swiss army knife in the Saints’ offense.
The Saints’ division isn’t highly thought of at the quarterback position.
It isn’t surprising to see the NFC South rated so low because aside from Tom Brady, the rest of the group isn’t exactly on the up-and-up. Matt Ryan isn’t the same guy he was just a few years ago and it’s showed and the Panthers have Sam Darnold as their guy after trading for him over the offseason.
The Saints might not have a great situation at the quarterback spot but it could be a heck of a lot worse. If they had Drew Brees, the division maybe gets bumped up a spot but probably not by much, as Brees was definitely regressing in the final years of his career.
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The division not having strong quarterback play works in the Saints’ favor, as their defense is talented and had no problem limiting Brady a season ago. They should be fine against both Ryan and Darnold in 2021.